The Irrom Northland Tour
Text and photography by David Read
First published in Manual #37, March 2011.
Let’s make it clear, I am using the words Northland and tour in the most general way. We did in fact travel to Northland on this trip, at least part of it, but I want to be sure to not offend any Kaitaians or Dargavillians, or anyone in between, by claiming that we explored the far reaches (or should I say beaches) of Northland on said tour. Whangarei and Kerikeri provided such extraordinary skateboarding delights, that it consumed what time we had—a short four days—plus we didn’t want to soak up too much time in the backwaters of Broadwood disproving Morri’s claims of epic spots to be. That was another trip.
The January heatwaves of the north made themselves apparent no later than eight each morning making our beverage consumption and swimming count high on the trip. We hungrily circled Whangarei’s inner city and industrial tracks for a few solid days, only capturing hints of the abundance of spots that she possesses. As we had had our fill, at least for now, we headed further north for more out of the way spots of both the swimming and skateboarding variety.
On the second day of our travels, and post Big Day Out, Christian Low, Mike Bancroft and Reuben Baker—who were travelling in my car—were joined by Amiel Day and Simon Gemmell. We also had the pleasure of the appearance of none other than Craig Bycroft, Rhys Campbell, Morri and Brett Band for a day. During our stay in Whangarei, Richard Agnew and Kerrod Lewis were impeccable hosts and tour guides, as were Tom Kelly and Herbie in Kerikeri, and Dave in Crab Cove. Many thanks to them all.
Christian Low needed a little coaxing to step up to this frontside 50-50 off this drop. The round bar, closeness of the wall, and high potential of body checking the ground would be enough to put most people off, but Christian was one of the newbies on the trip and had to prove his worth, especially since the bosses were watching. With the first attempt there were no doubts and he popped his photo cherry for the trip.
The best thing about shooting photos on private property is when the owner kicks you out moments after you finish up shooting. Any sooner and this perfectly caught 360 flip over gap into bank from Mike Bancroft would never have happened, Kerikeri.
You know when you go on road trips with people you don’t really know that well, and it’s always tense as to whether or not everyone is going to handle your music taste? This is always a gamble, but after Reuben swiftly selected Kyuss from my iPod, I was well stoked. Kickflip over a rail at a picture perfect spot in Whangarei.
Thankfully the digger workshop where Richard Agnew works as a mechanic is two doors down from this spot. With some hasty handywork using a forklift and logs borrowed from work, Rich custom made this dumpster ledge for Amiel Day and this burly frontside boardslide, which he stomped in a similar fashion.
Our host for our stay in Whangarei definitely outdid himself on this setup, having prepared this incredible spot in the finest non-makeshift manner. We were pleasantly rewarded with one of the more ballsy rock to fakies I’ve ever witnessed. Richard Agnew ain’t no joke.
Thankfully we got to skate this spot before Brett had reached double digits on his beer count. Balance is definitely one of his finer attributes, but I’m not too sure how he retains these skills when the bottle tops start to fly. Rhys may have a few things to say too, as he was sober driver on their trip back to Auckland later that day, and although he looks calm and collected on this frontside nosegrind, his back seat antics were apparently far from this.
Herbie and his custom machete made short work of the bountiful gorse that was obscuring this hip at this Waipapa waterway. This kickflip however, was not short work for Reuben. An unpredictable takeoff and thirty degree heat meant a trying but well worthy session to stomp this kickflip over the hip.
Having rolled his ankle on his first day of the trip Simon Gemmell was relegated to filming duties for a few days. This was our last stop of the trip, and a spur of the moment one at that. While Mike tried his best to get arrested for public urination this Warkworth bar got the 50-50 transfer treatment, in a last ditch and slightly out of character manner.
