Poem

Sun-dance Surf Break

Running down soft maroon coloured sand.
Lucid sun rising slowly over the horizon.
I jump over sharp obsidian rocks, mussels piercing my skin.
Light blue water reflecting the almost blinding sun into my eyes.
I paddle further out to sea,
arms thrashing to fight the push of the waves,
trying to take me back to shore.
I paddle past the break.
Relief floods my tired body.

I sit and watch the sun rising
higher and higher into the sky like a lost kite.
I see a swell growing in the distance.
It comes closer and closer,
like gigantic turtles rushing towards me.

I paddle
the lip of the wave lifts me up
towards soaring gulls above me.
I turn
slicing the roaring, thundering rush of water
filled with immense power
beneath me.
I pull off the wave
getting small air
as I soar over the top of its large body.
I paddle back out towards the break.
My mates are running down the beach behind me.
Today is gonna be a good day.

Miko Ginivan-Barrow

Surfing OTJ 1

                🏄Surfing🏄

During the weekdays and weekends I enjoy surfing.

Surfing is something most people don't like to do either because it's to hard or they think it’s dumb but in fact it’s AWESOME! I really enjoy surfing because you get to be constantly out in the water paddling, swimming and surfing. Surfing is a water activity. There is specialized equipment for surfing. A surfer must know about the weather and the waves. I learnt to surf when I was 9, It is a fun activity that all can take part in under the age of around 75.

(Equipment/Weather) it involves a Surfboard which you stand on and a wetsuit which you wear to keep you warm.

Surfing can be done in all weathers: wind, rain,Suny whether,  Stormy And snowy depending on how stormy orwindy it is. The waves that we surf on are formed by either wind from miles away. Because the wind blows across the ocean it can form a wave wherever there's a sand bank. Or from wind forming close by.

       

I try to get out out in the surf any day possible. Occasionally we go surfing in new places like just recently I went to a place named Sky Williams in Opunake near New Plymouth. My favourite place to surf is right here in Greymouth at Cobden beach. It is a reasonably good break and it's not to big or heavy. It's easy for learners and occasionally you get to see the odd Dolphin.

In surfing you learn different turns. There are many to learn but some of the easier ones is a bottom turns. A bottom turn is when u hop to your feet at the top of the wave and do a swift turn to the right or the left. Another is a cut back. A cut back is where your going one way on the wave and you and you cut back into the white wash and slash the top of the white water.

Some time when I'm out in the water I pretend that there's a GREAT WHITE!! But the only way I can get away is to catch the biggest and best wave. Or sometimes I like to pretend that I'm Kelly Slater the best surfer in the world surfing on the biggest wave ever. “Wohoooo go Miko!” My friends call when I'm on the wave making me feel more confident and pumped to out and catch more waves. Sometimes it feels like I’m flying like a seagull soaring through the sky. Or like a dolphin swimming through the sea jumping and flipping in the bright blue Ocean.

I really enjoy surfing and I would definitely recommend it for all who want to give it a try it helps with fitness and weight loss and is lots of fun. You can go down with your mates and spend the whole day down there. It is an awesome experience and as my surfing friends would say I've got the bug (Which means you can't stop and you're out every day).