http://blink4626069.friendlinkup.com/ Experiencing New Zealand en http://blink4626069.friendlinkup.com/2008/08/23/yeeha-at-piha.html Thursday, February 21st Shawn as well as I departed from Auckland at 7:25 this morning to embark on our very first surfing experience.  Upon arrival at Piha, we bundled up in our wetties (wet suits), grabbed a board as well as a quick 15 minute lesson on the sand, as well as began to shred! Well shred might not be the best verb to describe the first hour of our surfing initiation, but at the end of a couple of tumbles we began to understand how important balance was on a surf board.  Shawn as well as I both had long boards (Shawn’s was the Cadillac of all of the boards) as well as were both able to ride a few waves more than just a second or two.  The Blue Crush wave ride of the day definitely goes to Shawn.  He hit a swell at its peak as well as he was immediately thrust into overdrive (our instructor said he easily got to about 40 km/hour) — but he didn’t stop there!  He popped up on the board as well as cruised it all of the way into shore. After about 2 1/2 hours of surfing our instructors gathered us up as well as we BBQ’ed up some food to feed the serious hunger we just worked up. Totally Rad, Shawn as well as Scott Next up:  Bay of Islands Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:33:21 -0400 blink4626069