When our Stray bus rolled up at the Kariori Lodge we had a quick introduction about our accommodation for the night before it was time for us to get ready to do what we came there to do, which was surfing.
Board and surfboard hire was super reasonably priced at 20 bucks for an hour which then also included driving to whichever place had the best waves and rinsing of the wetsuits afterwards. I have always had to do that myself before, so that was nice for a change!
The beach we went to was right between town and the lodge. The sand was black and the waves were rough. I was there on quite a windy day, so it all was a bit messy with waves coming from all sides at the same time but I managed to have a couple of long rides all the way into the shallow waters. I still wish I would have come on a more calm and sunny day though to see what New Zealand’s most famous surf spot is like on its best.
A really cool thing about the Kariori Lodge was that lots of glowworms could be seen on its driveways at night. They also had a house calles “the barn” that was separated from the rest of the camp so that the ones who wanted could party all night and the rest could just have a quiet night around the bonfire or resting for morning surf sessions.