Its Monday morning, enough said. I’m up early seated at the table studying for my exam scheduled for tomorrow morning. On the other side of the scale, my brother is on holiday having himself a dreamy sleep in.
After a couple of hours of intense study, the temptation is too strong not to check the surf report. The report displays a clean 2–4 ft swell for the West Coast breaks today. I make the call to speed up my study for the remainder of the day and organise the crew to head out west, to Muriwai, for a sunset session.
On the descent down the hill into Muriwai, we pull over to the side of the road, seeing the lines of swell filtering into the bay, helping to determine which breaks are picking up the most of it. The sun has already started to drop beneath the clouds hinting that time is not on our side.
Pulling up to the car park looking out over the bay, we check out the banks and see which ones are working best. Heading down to the bay, the trail is steep and rocky, forcing us to concentrate hard on the placement of our feet.
There’s no other feeling like getting into the water on a Monday afternoon with the sky fading into a light orange, washing away that day of study. Dipping into the water, the salty wind whips my hair around my face, leaving a hint of salt on my lips.
Squinting as I paddle out over the shore break, the sun descending, I sink the tail and nose of my board for the first duck dive of the session, getting that rush of water coming down through my wetsuit, sending a shiver down my back. Paddling out, you see familiar faces from previous sessions shared out west. Surfing is a unique sport which allows you to meet people from all walks of life. Listening to groms hooting at each other when one scores a wave, you can’t help but grin.
Sitting out the back moving with the pulls of the current, my eyes are set on the horizon monitoring the lines growing closer, sifting through each wave, selecting the one I want to go for. There is never a silent moment out at Mud Bay, screeching gannets hovering around you, making sure you know you’re in their territory.
Satisfied with my quota of waves, my arms grow heavy, making the paddle back out to the line up tough. Positioned amongst the line-up waiting for my last wave, my mind drifts focusing on the current of the water around me, suspended in time.
After riding high along a wave and floating back into shore, the hike back up the hill to the car park takes my breath away. I turn back to catch the last glimpse of the sun setting beneath the water until I see it submerge again the next day.
