• March 9, 2016
  • Alastair McLeod
  • Travel

A short trip across the Tasman to the land of the kiwi, lots of sheep, overzealous camp rangers and more importantly a bunch of long, rocky left hand waves. A sweet as sample of some New Zealand windsurfing. I’ll be back.

alastair mcleod windsurfing weld rd taranaki new zealand

alastair mcleod windsurfing weld rd taranaki new zealand

Weld Road, heading South from Taranaki, offered surprisingly large swell and strong wind. I couldn’t figure out why I was windsurfing this fun, chunky left all to myself – until I drove past Pungarehu.

Pungarehu is easily one of the best waves I’ve windsurfed, long, big, clean and rippable. I was a little annoyed I had wasted time and energy on ‘fun’ conditions at Weld Road when Pungarehu was epic!

alastair mcleod windsurfing weld rd taranaki new zealand

alastair mcleod windsurfing pungarehu taranaki new zealand

The rocks around Taranaki are brutal. Get caught inside on a big swell and your gear and body is on the line.

I learned this the hard way on a light wind session at Pungarehu, skinning my hand down to the tendons. Unfortunately that meant the rest of the trip was a write off for windsurfing.

alastair mcleod windsurfing weld rd taranaki new zealand

new zealand windsurfing road trip taranaki with wicked campers

All photos thanks to Olivia Hughes / Untracked.Media

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