Duke Festival of Surfing helps drive business in New Brighton
Video / NZ Herald
Christchurch is a year-round destination with plenty to offer visitors in the cooler months as well as the height of summer. With an easy 1.5-hour flight from Auckland, Grant Bradley hops down for a weekend of unique events, surfing and entertainment.
On a chilly February day in 1915, Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to a jam-packed New Brighton in Christchurch.
Now, a hardcore group of volunteers keeps alive the legend of Hawaii’s ultimate waterman and provides a great day out or whole weekend for those keen on making the short drive to the seaside suburb 15 minutes from the city centre.
Held towards the end of March, the Duke Festival of Surfing embodies aloha/aroha that Kahanamoku represented — “the universal spirit of real hospitality”.
Kahanamoku — an Olympic champion swimmer who won three gold and two silver medals for the United States, a lifeguard, and one of Waikiki’s original beachboys — is widely regarded also as the father of modern surfing.
His ancestors had ridden waves for centuries in Hawaii, there were also reports of Māori surfing in other parts of Aotearoa in the 1830s, but in both countries, it had gone into decline, not least because of a crackdown by missionaries on people having too much fun.
But Duke and his friends revived surfing in Hawaii early last century and brought a new approach to the sport to a curious audience in New Zealand and Australia in the summer of 1914/15.
At the excellent New Brighton and Districts Historical Society museum on Hardy St, on the edge of what once was a lively shopping centre, enthusiastic volunteers created a tribute to The Duke, with surfing memorabilia and written records of his visit.
The Canterbury Times wrote that his visit had been anticipated for a year and while the surf wasn’t pumping on February 24, his performance on a solid wooden board aroused ‘’considerable interest’' among the thousands gathered.
Duke Kahanamoku introduced modern surfing to Aotearoa in 1915. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)
While accounts vary as to just how much surfing was possible, the Times records: “He showed a few other fancy touches of surf riding, manipulating the board in various ways as he rode it.’’ After the centenary of his visit, the New Brighton Pier and Foreshore Society erected a replica Hawaiian wooden surfboard and commemorative plaque.
On the first day of this year’s Duke Fest, the surf was pumping – a solid 1m to 1.5m with an offshore wind. At the heart of it is a surfing competition – which is great to watch from the pier, a 300m long driver of New Brighton’s revitalisation. The festival is an example of grassroots enthusiasm, accurately promoted as the most inclusive, welcoming and fun surf festival in New Zealand. ‘’We do it because we want to have a fun festival in New Brighton, we’re not the richest suburb in town so we want to have as much free stuff as possible. We try to put events on that aren’t cost prohibitive,” says one of the extremely busy crew of organisers, Roxanne McKerras.
‘’The weather is unpredictable – we’re renowned for having really bad surf and really bad weather but people still come because it’s fun. Sometimes we get some really good surf (as on the opening day) which is amazing.’’
There are categories for under-12s to over-70s. ‘’We try to have a festival with aloha and aroha so it encompasses the spirit of the Duke,’’ says McKerras.
Mike Pimm moved to Sydney 58 years ago. He comes back every few years to surf the Duke and at 77 reckons he was the oldest competitor.
The wider festival includes a kids’ art competition, an art exhibition, a market, the Salty Sessions music gig, a skate comp with live youth bands, a beach clean-up, a sandcastle competition, free surf lessons and the surfing competition running over three days. Dog owners are invited to send in pictures of their pets wearing a Duke Fest bandana, and they appear on the organisation’s very active social media sites.
In the spirit of aroha a local, Russ, loaned me his rather nice longboard. I got a hammering in the meaty easterly swell but briefly enjoyed soaking up the vibe out the back near the pier. It was a good way of sharing in the spirit of the Duke.
The sea temperature at New Brighton in late March was a little over 16C, full wetsuit weather. Just back off the beach, with a stunning view of the ocean and pier, you can soak in waters of up to 40C at He Puna Taimoana. The five hot pools have been open for the past five years and the uncrowded complex also has a sauna (with a floor-to-ceiling view of the beach), steam room and a cold water plunge pool – kept at 8C to 10C.
Pools manager Merryn Skipper says the icy plunge is popular with sports teams including the All Blacks, Crusaders and Canberra Raiders NRL side in town for a game against the Warriors.
We just love having all of the elite athletes, and we sort of have a wee wall of fame of all the different teams that have come through,’’ she says. And it’s not just for athletes who like the cold water therapy.
“It’s actually super popular right now - people might even pop out to the beach and have a cold water plunge.’’
The Christchurch City-owned pools cost $11.3m to build. Heat energy from a 200m-deep bore nearby supplements the power needed to heat them.
Mocktails served during a sunrise soak at He Puna Taimoana hot pools at New Brighton, Christchurch. Photo / Grant Bradley
The premium experience is a sunrise soak where you can enjoy two hours in the pools, a soft robe to wear, a mocktail to toast the sunrise as you soak and an optional guided meditation in the sauna. It’s a unique, boutique experience.
All sessions are limited to two hours. Adult prices range up from $14 off-peak for Christchurch residents to $79 for the sunrise soak for those who don’t live in the city.
There are discounts for children and families and the pools offer accessible features, including ramp access into the active fitness pool and hoists for other hot pools. There’s a water wheelchair available.
A hot pool watching the sun come up – every city should have one.
Sailing at 80kph – when you don’t want to see dolphins
High-tech SailGP boats, rare, protected dolphins, billionaire sponsors and Sir Russell Coutts are ingredients for a great story and so it will keep playing out. The return to Lyttleton of the event is uncertain but if and when the event does go back to the harbour town anyone half interested in sailing, high-tech elite sport or just a colourful spectacle on the water should put it high on the bucket list. It’s a great sports watch.
The organisers have created an amphitheatre with temporary stands for thousands and hospitality areas which sold out in minutes. The shape of the harbour and deep water right up to the park hosting the fans, means you’re very close to the racing. You can hear the boats cutting through the water or in the case of the unfortunate Australian boat this year, clattering into a marker buoy.
Spectators in the grandstand cheering the New Zealand SailGP at Lyttelton. Photo / Brett Phibbs for SailGP.
Big screens keep you fully informed of how the racing is playing out. There are a range of hospitality options but in the stands you feel the energy of the crowd (it was similar to the enthusiasm of fans at the Warriors versus Raiders game at Apollo Projects Stadium in Addington two days earlier). Three fleet races with a 10 minute break between them leading to a final makes for a short but intense afternoon of sport. The sailing lasted about as long as a rugby game. For those wanting more there was the prize giving – made that much sweeter by a Black Foils victory – and plenty of rocking to Shapeshifter to celebrate. Even Sir Russell got into the spirit of it.
Black Foils wing trimmer Blair Tuke reflected the buzz among the crowd: “It was absolutely unbelievable; best day, without a doubt, in SailGP, probably one of the best days ever in sailing.”
Getting to and from the event was seamless. A steady convoy of buses from Te Pae convention centre in the middle of the city got fans to Lyttelton in less than 25 minutes. After the racing, there was a wait of about 30 minutes among a good-natured crowd before boarding a bus for a clear run back to the city.
Cruising at Akaroa - when you do want to see dolphins
With a heightened awareness of Hector’s dolphins, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get up close to them on the water. Akaroa Dolphins runs two-hour cruises up the long harbour, home to multiple pods of the world’s smallest and rarest dolphins, as well as white-flippered penguins and New Zealand fur seals.
We saw all three types of creatures the day we went out. Buster the dog was aboard to help spot the dolphins. The miniature schnauzer, replete in his own life vest, is one of a team that can hear and smell the dolphins before we can and will indicate when a pod is close by. Buster’s preference for cuddles and snoozes reflected skipper Stew’s assessment that the dolphins were ‘tricky’ that day, and we didn’t see a lot of them.
Still, it was magical when three or four surfaced near the bow wave and swam with us for a few minutes. They are much smaller than the dolphins most people are familiar with, measuring no more than 1.4m in length and weighing only 40-60kg. They have a distinctive rounded black dorsal fin shaped like a Mickey Mouse ear, are coloured grey with black and white markings, and have a short snout.
They live to 20-25 years old, which in human years is 85-90. Named after Sir James Hector, who examined the first specimen in the 1870s and founded the museum which would become Te Papa, they are called Maui dolphins in the North Island. There are about 15,000 Hector’s dolphins and only 55 Maui dolphins in the north.
The cruise company owners, Hugh and Pip Waghorn are fifth and sixth-generation locals who switched from farming to tourism 20 years ago and now employ 10 people in the award-winning business. Hugh speaks passionately about the dolphins and the role of the company in helping raise awareness of their endangered status.
Stew was not only an adept skipper but also a terrific guide, outlining the geography of the area as well as showing us its wildlife. A family of fur seals observed us lazily, perfectly camouflaged against rocks that erupted from a volcano long ago.
Drinks and home-baked cookies came out as we cruised past salmon and mussel farms on the way back to base. And if you want a bird’s eye view of Akaroa Harbour – from an ancient volcano – there are plentiful water views from Shamarra Alpacas. From the farm (and home to 170 of the adorable animals), you see right down to the harbour entrance where you’ve just been spotting dolphins. Doing both the dolphin tour and the hour-long alpaca experience is an easy day trip with lunch in between.
West End Stories is a great spot for breakfast, and if you’re out at the Duke, Switch New Brighton is your best bet; finest hot cross buns this year (and a surf event sponsor). For lunch and dinner and a view of the Avon River and Bridge of Remembrance, King of Snake is lively with a menu packed with locally sourced produce and other NZ delicacies such as the Chatham Island crayfish sliders. Dig in.
