April 6th... a grey morning

I woke up, on my first day back in Gisborne, feeling pretty hopeless. But, wait. I didn't hear any howling wind. I threw back the curtains to see the trees were barely moving. Whaa?

I ran out the door and down to the beach. Hey, wait a second. I could ride those! It looked big, but it was glassy, and ... look at that set! Whoa, that looks kinda big. No one out.

I walk to Makorori Point. It only took me fifteen minutes. I can survive without a car! The waves look smaller here. There is no one out, one guy checking it from his car. I hightail it back to the house, where Wayne is preparing breakfast and getting ready to leave for work. He looks at it, and admits to blowing the forecast. He says the paper is saying it is two meters... hmmmm, that is six foot. Yes, it looks like six feet to me. I am a little nervous, I admit. Where's Andy, for crying out loud? I have to paddle out in this spooky scene alone? Yes, and I do.

Now, once I got outside (it took me a full fifteen minutes), I was a little more than spooked. I was thinking this is the biggest stuff I have been in since Hurricane Bill. In fact, these waves feel the same size as that Saturday morning when it took me some time to even catch one wave due to unwarranted intimidation. Once I did it, I was fine. It's just that initial thing of getting over that jacking ledge when your confidence is in the crapper. Add to that, the fact that you can't see another human being anywhere in sight and yes, it took me some time to grow a pair and go for it.

There were a few times when the outside grew dark, and these mackers rolled through, and I was thinking of getting the hell out of there. I threw my board on one really big ass set, I admit it! Finally, three young rippers came out near me, and that made it so much better. They were charging and hooting, and I watched them from the beach as I left. They must have been from the Nationals because they were good! I could see why I was spooked when I saw them drop in, and saw how big it actually was. It was way over their heads, and the sky had clouded up adding to the spook factor. I had worn my full suit to be extra warm. The water felt about 65, so I could wear the spring suit if the sun was out. As it was, I was never cold, so I was glad I had worn it. They looked like they had fulls on, too. Okay, so how long are you guys actually in spring suits, a freaking month at the most?

After a warm shower, I jumped on Wayne's bike and headed off for town for a hot meal and some exploring. The town of Gisborne was twenty minutes away on the bike. I locked up the bike by the Police station and took off in search of food. I found the place Colby and I had found when we were here. I had a yummy spinach feta cheese pie with almonds on top. It felt so good to have something substantial to eat, for a change! I went to the bank and changed money, the young Indian guy was so sweet and cute! Everyone seems so nice here, just so polite and kind...

After a stop at the grocery store for that great Sanitorium (I love that name) cereal and some soymilk, I was back on the road again. Stay left, stay left!

I stopped by Pine Trees to take a picture, and realized I forgot my camera. The waves looked even bigger. Oh, man. I hope it gets smaller tomorrow. I like fun rippable surf, not the scary macho stuff, these days.

I rode back, and just missed the rain. As afternoon faded, I did some painting, listening to all that great music Colby put on my i-pod for me. I wondered how Bruce and Karen's trip out west was going, and how Bruce spent his birthday today...