Back on Board

In the days previous to leaving OR, I had planned to leave my skateboard behind. Honestly, I thought it would be an encumbrance, since I would be living in the mountains there would be no place to use it and if I found a place to skate then I’d just buy myself a new one.

Fortunately the Nicks both insisted that I would be miserable if I didn’t bring it. They kept saying how much I would regret it whenever I saw anything remotely skate-able. Reluctantly I gave into their banter, and strapped the damned thing to my bag. As expected, it was a nuisance. They made me put it in a big plastic bag and tape it up. Basically it came out the other end looking like Chris Farley’s “suitcase” in Tommy Boy.

Nuisance and all, I couldn’t be happier that I brought it. My first day in Auckland, I found countless spots and a few skate parks. Nearly every city I’ve been to, big or tiny, has had a skate park of some sort. Also, skateboards here cost twice as much as they do back home and for the most part the selection has been terrible.

The most recent addition to the Maruia Maintenance team, Eisuke, saw my board and told me he too skated when he was younger. Next time he went to town he came back with his own board and we’ve been taking regular trips to skate parks since. Though it means my scab collection has increased exponentially, it feels so good to have my feet back on the board.

The following may be meaningless to most, but for those who might understand…

Reefton Rollerpark (love the name) is a huge for the size of the town. Twice the size of Ashland’s and everything is huge. Steep hips, weirdo 25 foot wide miniramp (all but 3 feet of one side is a spine), two bowls (one is a 7 foot square, the other has three sections: 6, 7, and 8 feet) crazy funboxes (managed to front lip the flat down), ledges, rails, and more.

Moorehouse Park in Christchurch is my favorite so far, but the vibe sucks. Lurkers all over, and kids drinking and asking for cigarettes and/or pot. As with any other park of the sort, we got there in the early morning to avoid the pests. The park is fantastic. Medford sized. Nearly 100 feet of 3, 4, and 5 foot perfect mini ramps, perfect hip, step up with ledge that can be hit from either side, multi level manny pads with ledges (best trick I saw was kickflip onto pad, nollie back tail 360 front shuv out. Bolts.), punkwall pocket, and so much more. I’ll take pics next time. I was too stocked to hit the miniramps when I got there and by the time I remembered to take some shots, it was overrun with lurkers and scooters.

There are little parks and miniramps scattered throughout Christchurch, but we only had time to check one out. It was just out of town, practically empty and super fun. Weird little figure eight “bowl” (it was 4 feet but pretty damn fun), sketchy hip, up-down rail, flatbar, two foot ledge, traffic barrier, and the craziest little nipple in the “bowl.” I’ll get a picture next time.

Also, the scooter scene in NZ is crazy! They outnumber boards at the park 4 to 1 at least. Makes me sad to see the lack of skaters, but there are some kids who can seriously rip.