“Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be genuine. But most of all. Be thankful.”
Latest update
I’ve been working on loading up with Taranaki Strength and Conditioning. This is where I’m learning how to load up specific muscle groups which enables me to have more explosive turns leading to higher scores and it also makes the wave much more exciting. A challenge I’ve been working through is when I returned home from a recent surfing competition my dog Inca wasn’t very well. The news from the Vet was heart-breaking. Inca had been a huge part of our family for nearly 9 years and I miss him heaps. A highlight since my last blog is that I’m super stoked to be playing Hockey again this year after having last year o and being selected for the NPGHS Junior A Hockey team. Can’t wait for the season to start next term.
Competitions
Early April I travelled down to Kaikoura for the Surfing NZ Kaikoura Grom Comp. The competition took place at a remote rocky beach just north of Kaikoura. It was a pretty cold and wet for the weekend, even getting snow on the ranges behind us. I surfed in the U16 and U18 girls divisions and I was pretty happy to come away with a 2nd in the U16 and a 3rd in the U18’s. It was a pretty fun weekend with fun, powerful and bowly waves. Despite the weather the comp had a really good vibe and everyone was really chilled and happy.
The next weekend I was in Raglan at the world famous Manu Bay for the
Ripcurl Pro. This was an Open Women’s event and is one of the highest rated competitions in New Zealand with 6 stars. In my first heat I was competing against previous NZ title holders and I was happy to make it through to the quarter finals against some amazing competitors and in pretty fun waves. The comp was full of NZ’s top female and male surfers including World Junior champion Ella Williams. It was cool to watch them all ripping whilst also enjoying the local relaxed vibe. everyone was having so much fun. Following this comp I’m 2nd nationally in the U16 division as well as 5th in both the Open Women’s and U18 divisions.
I’m really looking forward to going back to Raglan at the beginning of May for the Backdoor Oceanbridge Manu Bay Pro.
Local news
Locally over Easter we had the Fisher and Paykel Easter Masters with competitors from all over the country. The first two days were held in South Taranaki at Arawhata Road which a rocky point break and the final day was at Fitzroy Beach. So many of the competitors have helped my along my journey and continue to do so and I was stoked to be able to give back to them all my helping judge over the weekend. Everyone was having a ball and the weekend was full of sweet vibes, laughter and good times.
