Daisy Thomas Surfer

DAISY THOMAS - SURFER

Daisy Thomas is a competitive Christchurch surfer and one of NZ's most talented female surfers. She won the Open Women's Shortboard Champs last year and has won the Open Women's Longboard Champs for the last three years and also competed in the ISA World Surf Champs!

Spaceships is stoked to sponsor Daisy in her adventures - look out for Daisy in her Spaceship camper van coming to a surf comp near you and watch this space for news and updates.

Spaceships – the perfect vehicle for surfers’ adventures

UPDATES

April 17th 2010

There we have it, a close to a very long but exciting summer, finishing with a bang at the TSB Womens Surf Festival in Taranaki over the last week. Hundred of ladies from all over NZ joined the top 17 women on the ASP World Surfing “Dream Tour” in Taranaki last week. NZ’s finest were all battling it out for the number one spot where a wild card into the “Dream Tour” event was up for the taking. Young 15 year old Sarah Mason was the winner of that wild card and very accurate at that, she surfed all the way through to the semi finals in the WCT knocking out current and three time world champion surfer Steph Gilmore!

 

There were no easy heats during this contest,  I did however feel that my first heat was definitely one of the most stacked coming up against Sarah Mason (final winner of the wild card entry), Sophia Moore (NZ rep), Angie Koops (2008 National Champ) and myself (2009 National Champ). I must admit, usually I will look at my competitors as just colours in a heat but I could not help but feel a tad syched out when I first looked at the board to see this line up. Thankfully I got my head together and went out in the 2ft clean conditions and surfed my way through to round 2 along with Sarah. Round 2 did not feel quiet as good, my foot placement was out of sync and I just could not find the rhythm so unfortunately my run was over. I had feelings of disappointment and what if’s etc but I then though to myself, just go out and have some fun, enjoy your stay in the Naki! That is what I did, Meesh and I took out the longboards and after watching a documentary on Rell Sunn, a Hawaiian woman who is a surfing legend who died of breast cancer a the age of 47, we felt so inspired by her zest for life, style and grace we headed out into the ocean having so much fun!

 

Before our surf we cranked the Spaceships sounds, which by the way are absolutely amazing, hula hooped, danced and ate kiwi fruit for energy (not that we were lacking) before getting suited up and hitting the water. I have spent basically the whole entire summer living out of a Spaceship camper van, actually every summer for the last three summers and I can say with absolute confidence that I would recommend Spaceships to any body, young, old, families, couples or singles. If you are thinking of coming to New Zealand, if you have family who is coming to New Zealand or if you are cruising on over to Oz or the UK, go and hire one, you will realise how much fun they are and how comfortable camping can really be! Thanks Spaceships for your unreal support, I really don’t think I could have achieved the things I have with out the support and amp from you guys. Loving your concern for the environment and the way you are constantly thinking up ways of improving the impact you have as a business on mother earth!

 

Yeeee ah owwww!

 

April 8th 2010

Good morning Space cadets!

Sorry it has taken me this long to report the news but my first weekend back up in northern waters was the final event of the Pro Longboard Tour and I was to be defending my circuit title. It came down to a close race for first with my good friend Mischa Davis in a hotly contended second position so whoever won the event would end up taking home the National circuit title. The whole weekend Tangaroa sent us huge west coast waves as we were in Port Waikato. As usual there were fun antics going on all weekend and everyone was making the most of their time together because some would not see each other until next summer.

It was time for the ladies to head out for the final, the waves were still pretty solid but we pushed each other and headed out the back, we were amping, hooting and singing the whole way out the back and when that hooter went we were off, catching some solid waves and winding some nice turns. None of us had a clue what positions we got, that news was to come at the party later on that night.

Later on that night the party started! Firstly the award ceremony took place with Christchurch crew taking out four titles! Shane Baxter who won the stand up presented a wooden carved paddle to Surfing NZ complete with a huge haka, blowing everyone away, it was definitely something very special. After the awards were finished it was kai (food) time, then we were ushered down to what looked a secret garden. We wandered down and there were the Feelers, one of New Zealand’s top bands playing live!! Up on the dance floor I went and stayed until they stopped, well so we thought, but really it was just a half time break. Huge cracks and booms started and sparks were lighting up the sky, here we have a casual fireworks display bigger that your local at guy fawkes!! Could this party get any bigger you ask?? Well yes it did just that, the Feelers came back on, once they were finished we were led back up to the main house where funky tech beats were basing and Peter Urlich, again one of NZ’s top DJ’s was up there spinning. I think you can guess the rest of the night…dance dance dance until the feet can’t dance any more.

Since then there has been heaps of wave riding and catching up with friends. The nationals were the next big event in Gisborne. This time things did not pan out quite like I had planned getting knocked out in my first heat due to not catching any good waves. It was a real pity but I had fun after that anywho. The waves were pumping. The comfort of mu Spaceship camper van got me through the huge drive from Auckland to Gisborne and back again, thank you so much!!

It is now time to start the mission to Taranaki for the Womens Champs, the winner of this contest will receive a wild card entry into the World Championship Tour event which will be held next week. Exciting stuff

My Spaceship campervan is going fantastic and I’m loving how economical the Hybrid is with petrol doing such long missions!

Til next time!

Daisy

 

Congratulations Daisy on taking out another National Longboard Championships from all the crew at Spaceships – yeeeahh!  Legend!

March 11th 2010

Talking about environmental issues is almost as touchy as talking to people about religion, we are scared we are going to be preached at but really it is a current issue with a heck of a lot of importance, in fact our future relies on the actions we take now. Spaceships are taking a step or two to help out Mother Nature and I was lucky enough to experience one of their new Hybrid model Spaceship Campervans.

Machina Electrica definitely looked pretty high tech and space aged, I was excited. Having the Hybrid model run off a battery as well as fuel was friendlier on the environment along with the wallet; it let me travel further on a tank of gas than if it were to be running straight off the petrol put in. Stop number one took me to Raglan for the Raglan Pro, and this trip was going to be a different one I told myself. Every other visit to Raglan has been crowded and the connection with Manu Bay had never really existed, this is where the contest was to be held.

The waves on Friday, day one of competition was predicted to be the biggest and Thursday night had shown this by picking up from knee high to overhead in an afternoon. Friday morning was looking good, only the Open Men were going to be surfing resulting in a lay day for us ladies so we set off on a mission. We went searching for a water hole and in the end we ended up at the Bridal Veil Falls, gobsmacked by how huge the falls were. We walked down to the bottom of the falls where a water hole lay, staring up at this huge amount of water come crashing down and reading the history behind it was crazy, especially trying to imagine how this place was when the Maori people lived here, living off nothing but the land.

 

Saturday the ladies were up and surfing, pretty much first thing in the morning and the swell had diminished. Still there were some fun 2ft clean waves coming through on the sets but it was definitely a game of patients and using the wave you had to its full potential. I managed to pick off a few goodies feeling in rhythm and surfed through to the semi finals. The semis were held later on that day and conditions just kept deteriorating, I couldn’t find myself any set waves and that was the ticket through to the finale. Sunday consisted of a super fun session at one of the other points with a solid handful of chic a dees shredding the 3-4ft left handers. Stoked!

I then picked up a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for yonks and she hitched with me to Whangamata for the National Longboarding Champs. We decided to swing by Whakatane where her surfboard was and ended up staying for three nights at Ohope Beach.  We were lucky enough to stay with her Aunty and Uncle who own Seaview Motels a stones throw away from the ocean. Moko even comes up to steal a boogie board or two but we didn’t get to see him. After an awesome morning surf, escaping the sun before it got too intense we missioned to the local hardware store to get some plastic piping to make ourselves some hula hoops. That was us set for the day, hula madness on the beach!

We shot off to Whangamata and I competed in the National Longboard Championships, where the surf was a completely different scene to Raglan. When we arrived it was super fun waist to head high waves, until….Saturday sent us HUGE swells and they weren’t backing down. Ladies first up again, woohooo this will be fun I thought…if I make it out there! Turns out there was a good rip to send us out the back but it also involved a run down the beach and with a longboard, that is hard work! The whole weekend was challenging conditions but everyone was in the same boat and we all made the most of it. The final was a challenge, I caught two waves quick and managed to scoot out the back again but it wasn’t until the third wave that Tangaroa didn’t want to let me back out there but I kept paddeling and It felt as though it was a solid 10 minutes of paddling until the waves calmed and let me through to head back out and catch one more wave. This determination brought me another National Longboard Title! Yay! The saying is true what you put in you get out J

The rest of the trip consisted of four hour hikes through the beautiful Waitakere Ranges and bathing in magic waterfalls. Thanks Spaceships Campers for the opportunity and support getting me to these amazing places around Aotearoa.

Feburary 19th 2010

A big chunk of summer has already passed by but fear not as there is still plenty more sunshine and waves on the horizon. I am now in the comfort of my own home here in Christchurch after a huge month on the road tripping all over the North Island of Aotearoa, seeing some beautiful nooks on the coromandel coast, as far north as Whangarei and even a small town in the middle of nowhere in the Taranaki district where we had a err lets say interesting WWOOFing* experience.

Our wonderful Beta Spaceship “Papatuanuku” took us to each destination giving us plenty of comfort and supplying everything we needed to cook up yummy meals most nights in absolutely amazing places with spectacular views, where else could you get all of this right in front of you at one time! Of course this trip was not all about just moving around NZ from place to place checking out what was around but to compete on the New Zealand Pro Surfing Circuit in both Shortboarding and Longboarding. After winning the National Title last year for both divisions there was going to be a lot of pressure on board this season, but I have vowed to myself only to have the time of my life, pressure free and surf hard. This vow has worked out nicely so far, competing at two events, Whangamata (Shortboard) and Sandy Bay (Longboard) with Sandy Bay coming out on top on the fun metre. We parked up the Spaceship camper  under the shade of an old Pohutukawa Tree overlooking the golden sand beach and solid surf rolling through. The whole week supplied us with ample waves and sunshine until a weather bomb came through from the Poor Knights Islands and called the contest to a halt for a few minutes. Gradually the recently empty island of grass became packed to the rafters. Leroy Rust pulled up and camped up with us creating an epic wind barrier with our awning coming off the side of the Spaceship and his camper van sheltering the other side. Good times were had with music sessions, hula hooping, huge guacamole feasts (made in a cooking pot) and lots and lots of surfing.

Once Sandy Bay was over it was time to work our way back down south and the idea was to keep WWOOFing but as I said earlier in the piece a rather interesting experience had put us off for a while. We moved our way to the coromadel to hang out with Tom’s Aunty, Uncle and wee Cuzzie. The sun was there but being shaded by the clouds so we set off for a fish. A nice mission over a few jagged rocks and we set up, for me this was my first real time that I had been fishing so I was excited but anxious as I felt like if I caught a fish what would  do with it! Sure enough after setting up, having a yarn and a few casts (more like 10 or 15 for me) something hooked onto my line and with a yank and a reel there I had a fish struggling for its life on the end of my line. My heart sank and it really made me think seriously about meat eating. We did eat the fish for dinner which was pretty cool to be able to know exactly where the fish came from and that it was perfectly kosher. As Chris told me if you are fishing for you and your family it is ok, I agree.

After homemade pizzas in Kuatunu we then cruised over to Raglan that night to pick up my longboard which was being fixed by Mickey T at Raglan Longboards as it got creased over the weekend. We picked up the board in the morning and shot off to Wellington to stay one more night in the north, then it was off on the early morning ferry and home. A little bit of sea sickness was swirling around the rough seas but nothing major.

On a different subject and to wrap up my review, a hot topic in the news at the moment is freedom camping. I think New Zealand has been one of the most lenient countries with letting campers enjoy either their homeland or internationals to come over and experience a slice of NZ but unfortunately over the years it has become even more popular and perhaps with people who are little less educated about living in the outdoors. I have no idea of any statistics on who poos in the loo and who doesn’t but I know there will be more freedom campers who know how to look after the environment they are enjoying than those who don’t. Tom and I have just spent a month travelling in our Spaceship and enjoying spots which we both enjoyed when we were younger and new spots which are just as beautiful, along the way we were disgusted with the amount of human waste and toilet paper that floated around after a minority of campers (tents, vans, under the starts, campervans) had spent a night or two enjoying the surroundings and spoiling it for people to come. We picked up a heap of glass in places there should never be broken glass and random rubbish from spots we were enjoying. It is so much fun cruising around in a campervan and having the freedom to park up in a lot of beautiful places but if we are not careful that privilege will not be here for us all to enjoy if those people who are culprits of letting their litter fly away and errr drop turds freely on tracks and public spots don’t change their ways. I know Spaceships agree with me as they give their campers information on where to camp and to keep it clean. Please look after what we have, who wants to camp in other people’s waste.

Leave only footprints.

Dunedin Longboard Pro Contest is coming up this weekend and then it is back off up north for the Longboard Nationals in Whangamata and the Raglan Pro. A huge thanks goes out to the team at Spaceships because without them I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.

*WWOOF= Willing Workers On Organic Farms.

January 14th 2010

Daisy is off on the first of many surf and eco-adventures around NZ for 2010!  Look out for her smily face and awesome skills on the roads and waves near you!

28th September 2009

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Daisy for winning the Cleo Magazine 'Young Achiever of the Year' Award!!! You go girl!

22nd September 2009

A Day at the Beach Festival took place in Punakaiki on the 11^th - 13^th of September. Tom, Michelle  and I drove from Dunedin through to Christchurch, picked up a Spaceship and flew off to Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island. The weather was forecast to be windy and rain but you know what, we got the complete opposite.

We arrived in Punakaiki to meet up with festival ideas men Guy Ryan and Louis Brown who had already walked from Karamea and planted a whole bunch of trees in Westport earlier on in the week. They had their Spaceship who kept them comfy, his name ¨Tane Mahuta¨ who also carried their camera gear and supplies. The beach clean up was first on the list so we got out our recycling and rubbish bags and combed the beach for plastics and junk that had washed up onto our shores. It was surprising how much was found in such a stunning remote area of coastline. We were surrounded by a wild ocean, stony shores and luscious native plants and trees, what more motivation was needed to pluck rubbish that pollutes this beauty from the shores of Aotearoa.

Saturday morning and Sunday was consisting of lots of surf, fun and family time at different beaches along the west coast. We entered in the Paparoa Coast Surf Festival which went off! The surf fest was 100 percent mobile so this meant we were free to pack up the gears and head to another break once the conditions deteriorated or we just felt like a new spot. The families came down with little ones running around, mums and dads supporting the day and soaking up the beautiful sunlight that Mother Nature graced us with.

On our last night in Punakaiki we set up the Spaceships and a bonfire ready to cook up some kai with the wonderful travellers we had met throughout the last few days. The sky was clear with millions of stars scattering the sky and our tummies were full from a yummy pasta feed.

 

Good times and comfy sleeps were had.

 

Have a great spring,

 

Daisy

A Day at the Beach West Coast Festival brings together an assortment of entertainment, education, adventure, and engages in powerful positive action for the environment. Spaceships were pleased to help sponsor this event and provide a Spaceship for the organisers for their good work and adventures down the West Coast. Find out more at their website here

 

24th August 2009

 

A big thank you goes out to the team at Spaceships! The trip has been amazing, seeing plenty of pumping waves, talented surfers from all over the globe and lushiously green forests. The ISA World Games was a huge event for Costa Rica and it showed with the amount of people who flocked to the beach, especially in the weekends! We were graced with waves everyday of the contest at Playa Hermosa.

 

My result unfortunately did not go to plan but I still made 21^st position out of a pool of 70 or so girls, so I guess it ain't all that bad! It would have been nice to have something heavy hanging from my neck for NZ though. The team placed 11^th which is a good result also. 

We hid from rain storms even though it was sweltering hot. We were always out supporting our team members in the water, go the kiwis! At one point we were the only team on the beach supporting.

Once the contest was out I had one more week to make the most of the Costa Rican life of rice and beans (Gallo pinto) and running from crocs. I met up with my buddie Sam from NZ and we travelled with my board strapped to the roof with leg ropes, up the coast to Tamarindo, where the Endless Summer lads surfed back in the day. On the way we managed to sight some crocs...they were well fed...but looking for more!

 

The roads are mad over here! Absolutely insane, passing on blind corners, double yellow lines and going like the clappers! It was a white knuckle four hour drive that's for sure. On my travels I spread the word of the Spaceship adventures people can experience. After we were stuck in traffic for a good hour we got out and walked to the contest sight, handing out Spaceship pamphlets on the way and repping the customised.

Thank you for your support in getting me to the ISA World Games, without it fulfilling my dream wouldn't have been quite so possible. Look out for the September issue of Cleo magazine, there should be an article featuring.

Daisy~*

31st July 2009

Hey Space Cadets!

Here we are in a small Costa Rican town, Jaco. The Kiwis stepped foot on Costa Rican soil late on Tuesday after a solid 24+ hours of aeroplanes, airports and dodgy aeroplane food. We are settling in and have hit the oceans for some good practice.

Jaco is a small seaside town on the pacific side of Costa Rica 10mins away from the competition site at Playa Hermosa. The waves are super fun beach breaks and warm water, although I was expecting beautiful clear blue water because of the rainy season it has turned brown, a perfect habitat for the crocs....hmmm.

If I had one word to describe Costa Rica it would be 'Lush'- luscious trees, forests, animals, colours and rain. Coming from a 12 degree heat and delving straight into the 25- 30 degree humidity was quiet a shock to the system but I have happily adjusted now.

The ISA World Games will kick off tomorrow with the opening ceremony, over 30 countries will be gathering to share their customs and spread the love of their country by combining sands from different parts of the globe.

Enjoy the journey,

Daisy

9th June 2009

Just letting you know i have been selected for the New Zealand Team to compete and travel to the ISA World Games in Costa Rica this July! Woohoo, Amping :)

21st April 2009

Hey Space people!
Just a quick note to let you know the South Island Champs were held here in Dunedin over Easter weekend and I won the Open Womens. The weekend was firing the whole time!

I hope you all had an awesome Easter!

Take it easy,

Daisy~*

26th February 2009

Hey Team,

My feet have finally landed in my homeland of Christchurch, after a decent dose of humidity and some torrential down pours.

Sandy Bay, Mount Manganui and Raglan were the three main destinations with a little bit of Waihi inbetween. Absolutely fell in love with the lush green bush surrounding the beautiful ocean, and might I add THE best fish and chip shop not far fom the surf club as well as the goodie goodie gum drop ice creams in a cone...go Waihi!!

Currently sitting in Dunedin Airport, my first experience and quiet possibly not the last as I have enrolled at Otago University for 2009! Spur of the moment decision but hey isn't that what life's about! It is going to be an interesting year with sociology as my main paper and lots of other exciting papers to keep the brain ticking along. There is going to be a lot of surfing to be had down here and yes very very cold but geee ChCh is cold too but Dunedins waves are gonna crank!! Even if it does mean snow capped sand dunes and being top to toe in wetsuit! Haha, an interesting experience for sure!

Hopefully the summer is going off for everyone all over Aotearoa!!

 

12th February 2009

Here I am in Mount Manganui, where I started off in January but now I am back for the fourth event on the Corona Crown Series. After finding waves after the contest in Sandy Bay which I came 4th in, the weekend was fantastic with fun waves and fun people. The new Beta Spaceship camper I have is so luxurious! I just love it!! Extra leg room.. ahhhh and extra chiller room as well as watching a few dvds on the new set up.
So after the contest was over we ventured over onto the west coast of the far north to score some really super fun head to over head high waves, clean as a whistle with only our crew out! Dreamy.
By lunch time we had had two surfs and were on our way back up the road to munch down on goodie goodie gum drop ice creams. It was perfect timing too as the rain started coming in, the clouds coming over and the wind turning around onshore to mess the ocean up. We were stoked!

I stayed over one night in the stunning Waihi beach and had a fun surf in the morning then set off for the mount. Yesterday was awesome rocking on up to Omanu Beach and seeing a whole bunch of little yellow rash tops floating around the beach with surfboards, it was the mount girls surfing club! Jo Young and Rach from the mount here are teachers and take a whole bunch of girls surfing for school, lucky wee things! They have got a wicked thing going and i went down to say gday and gave a little talk to the girls which was really cool. Also going for a wee wave with them and taking a few snap shots with the crew. I am going to donate a couple of things to their auction they are holding to fundraise for three new surfboards for Bethleham School!

Well thats enough chit chat,

Daisy

 

 

18th January 2009

A feeling of enjoyment and satisfaction is running through me at the moment after finishing the Hyundai National Champs presented by Quiksilver with the National Longboard Open Womens Title and the National Open Womens Shortboard Title! If you checked up on what was going on over the last eight days there was alot of wicked surfing going down by all, big and small, young and old..er.

The divisions ranged from under 14's to senior womens to the "fossils", and even a new division which stepped it up with some great stand up paddleboard action. The stand up division made history, being the first time holding this division in a national event!

This whole week payed off with the whole 'positive thoughts' thing, it's unreal how powerful the mind is. I took things as they were rolling and enjoyed the surfing as well as hanging out with awesome crew!

Mountain Dew was stacked in my Spaceship camper's fridge nice and chilled! Our finals day was full on, the surf didn't really pull through but we did manage to work the 2ft high tide right handers that were on offer.

Next stop will be Whangamata for the Corona Crown Series contest stop #3! Its looking like the surfs going to pump which will be a bonus!

A huge thanks goes out to ROXY, MOUNTAIN DEW, SPACESHIPS, MICKEY T aswell to the friends, family and supporters who have given their ongoing motivating support - you are all amazing!

Enjoy your summer missions, keep safe in the sun and live it up!

Daisy

 

Congrats Daisy from the Spaceships campervan NZ crew on winning both the longboard and shortboard titles- what a legend!!

 

14th January 2009

Heya,

We are into day five of the Hyundai Surfing Nationals presented by Quiksilver and the surf has been pretty fun with 2-3ft of ripable waves coming through South Piha. Yesterday I surfed my first Open Womens Shortboard heat and came out with the highest heat score progressing on through to the semifinals. Today the Longboarding Chicas got their time to shine this morning with some great surfing going on. I was coming in third until coming through with a fun runner finishing the heat in first,  progressing into the semifinals which should be held within the next couple of days.

The sun is shining and the waves are fun so if you're around and about the west of the 09 come on out and check out the action here at the Hyundai Surfing Nationals!

Yeow, enjoy your summer fun!

Daisy

 

6th January 2009

Mount Manganui is the first stop on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour and what a stop it was! The surf may not have been the perfection we were hoping for but it did pull through some small summer swells for us to ride. 2nd of Jan was an early start with a 5.30 wake up call and onto the plane by 7am. Everything was smooth as milk chocolate and I went off to pick up my Spaceship from the new Auckland depot in Penrose, so easy to get there and not far from the airport at all, perfect!

I had to pick up two more southerners from the airport and off we flew in "HUBBLE" all the way to the Mount to find warm water and fun little longboarding waves.

The thing about the surfing community is that everyone is keen to share their homes and hospitality, because it always comes back to you. We parked up at Jo's whare (house) on the beach front with the boys setting up their tent and me rolling out the awning for "HUBBLE" so excited to get into bed for a good sleep.

Four Southerners turned up to the contest so we had each other to support, it was great! With some wicked surfing, I made it through to the Finals of the Open Women and came out with a win! Stoked with the good start to the circuit!

Next up it's off to Piha for some grunty west coast goodness,

Stay tuned for updates, adventures and pics!

Cheers Spaceships, "Hubble" is rockin along!

Daisy

 

29th December 2008

Kia Ora Spacetrippers!

I have seen alot of Spaceships around lately while on the road, and the new models look awesome!! Last Friday, after the chrissy festivities with the whanau we headed for a quick roadie to the westcoast to score some waves. Anybody who has done the drive to the west coast of the South Island will agree that the drive is absolutely stunning! The rain was present but it all adds to the atmosphere it's great. If you haven't yet discovered the beauty of it, grab yourself a Spaceship camper van and get to it, you will be blown away!

We charged up with some whitebait sammies in Kumara and hit the surf in Greymouth, good fun waves with only two of us out!

Amping up to start the NZ Circuit and share it with NZ Spaceship campers!!

I hope you are all recovering after the Christmas cracker jokes and excessive chrissy ham consumption over the past week!

Keep discovering, see you on the road,
Daisy

 

27 November 2008

Hey Guys,

It has been an interesting 6 weeks, starting off in Portugal for the ISA World Games. The Kiwi Team flew out together on their mighty 32 hour or so mission to get to Europe. When we arrived bewildered and tired we all found our rooms and crashed, good thing it was night when we arrived. We had buffet breaky and pumping waves beckoning us the next day so we slowly eased into it all.
The air warm but deceivingly the water had a refreshing chill to it. After coming from the last part of the Christchurch winter the water was almost tropic for me downgrading from a 4/3 to a shortarm.

Once the contest time started rolling around things were getting exciting, there was the opening ceremony where we marched into a hall with a portuguese grommet holding our sign and the National anthem booming. The mixing of the sands was my favourite part, all different sands from around the world all mixed into one small glass box! Our time came to mix our NZ sand with the rest of the world and to accompany it what better than the Haka, the boys threw down their shirts, the teams where yelling and hooting with excitement and then a silence fell on the crowd as the vocals echoed through the hall, the slapping of bare skin in time with the stomping feet.

When my heats came around the surf had dropped off but still there was something out there to be ridden, i surfed through my first heat to get through to the second round which i surfed and thought i had made it through with my last wave but unfortunately the judges did not think so, i then went to the repecharge and came out with a 25th at the ISA World Games. Team Kiwi got a 10th placing which was great, but i think with everyone competing to their potential we may have made a higher placing, but the team did well and for my first World Games it was a good start.

Portugal is an amazing country with a lot of beautiful coastline to be surfed, the people are social and the breads and cheeses to die for!

I parted from the team and headed over to the UK meeting up with family and seeing my 88year old gramps. I made my way down to Cornwall to surf and see what the cornish coast had on offer, excitingly enough it has a lot of rugged coastline with a lot of potential, unfortunatley i had to witness the pumping days only through magazine articles and travel books but we still had a few fun days surfing. I do have a word of advice for anyone who's parking their car around cornwall to check out the signs otherwise you'll find yourself with a big yellow clamp on the side of your car and 80 pounds out of pocket..hmm yes i did learn the hard way.

I also competed in the last British Surfing Contest of their year and came out in second place in the Open Womens division. Later that week it was time to board my plane all the way back to the little place i like to call home, New Zealand.

I would just like to say a big thank you to Spaceships for helping me get to the Worlds this year it was a great time and an excellent gauge on what i need to work on.

Next on the agenda is the New Zealand Nationals in Piha, i am recovered from the travels and am working in Christchurch selling loads of Roxy gear and will also be out on the beaches again coaching people to surf in Sumner and New Brighton.

Enjoy your summer, and i will be in touch with more summer adventures.
Daisy

10th July 2008

A big congratulations to Daisy for making the New Zealand surfing team to compete at the ISA World Surfing Champs in Portugal this October.
We're stoked for her and wish her all the best!

5th June 2008

Hey!
So I thought my experience was over in the Spaceship...but only temporarily. Last weekend, the long Queens Birthday weekend that everybody loves, my older bro and I picked up a Spaceship with a 'pod' attached to the roof and off we went.

Every Queens Birthday weekend the South Island holds a surfing event called the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, cold water it is and classic it was with Kaikoura bringing out the best in itself once again! Three days of classic Kaiks, no wind, calm glassy sea with beautiful 2-4ft waves rolling through the rockie shores, love it!

We arrived late on Thursday night and I had expected a few campers to be around but when we rocked up it was like a little seaside city! We parked up, set up and went off to bed. I was semi thinking uh oh it's going to be a bit of a mission setting up in the dark... but little did I know how easy it really was! We turned on the inside light, uncliped the pod and wound it up, it was great! So simple! Llew stayed up in the pod and I was snug as a bug in the double bed downstairs.

Being able to wake in the morning and peer through your window out into the ocean is such a magic feeling! It was a crisp morning but we were up and out in the water as soon as. There were campfires nearby and even a hot bath! One of the local families had brought down an old bath, put a fire underneath it and filled it with sea water...genius idea!!

We had a fantastic weekend, I came out with a first in the Open Womens with Hayley Coakes (Dunedin) coming in 2nd, Leilani Morgan (Kaiks/Chch) 3rd and Hayley Baxter (Kaiks) 4th. My Brother came out with a brand new 4/3 O'Neil wettie for doing a nude surf! Haha, thank god I was paddling out for my heat and was focused on the waves and not the half naked people in the water! Haha, about 14 people took part in it, with the criteria being whoever could surf with style and on the best waves, but NO WETSUITS ALLOWED! ...there were boys in pink silky boxers, safety roadworker vests and gruds, boys in girls boardies and bikini tops... all battling it out for the wettie, very entertaining! And game! It was cold enough in a thick 4/3 wetsuit!

Thanks again guys for your unreal support! I hope you all had a good long weekend!
Daisy

28th April 2008

The summer adventures have come to a close, yesterday was a sad day to say goodbye to RADAR who had served me well for the past three weeks...and before that LIKA, CYBERMAN and the very first VOSTOK.

They took me away around the countryside spotting unreal coastline and viewing the inner farm land when taking shortcuts that end up taking longer than what the normal way had. But it was all worth it, seeing places of your country that you had not seen before and probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for those split decisions or ...good decisions

Port Waikato was my last destination, I had been there once before but had forgotten its beauty.
I arrived on the Thursday night and met up with my buddie Dunc, a fellow longboardian, we munched on wasabi peas, carrot sticks and shapes listening to The Presets on the Spaceship sound system.

The Friday morning brought a small swell but looking so fun so we hit it on the longboards, the sun was beaming and the coastline lit up.
We headed in for some brekkie... pancakes to be exact, not bad eh?

The surf just got better and better and we surfed all day it was great, other competitiors joined us and soon Port Waikoto was teaming with longboarders like ants to a sugar bun.

Saturday and Sunday were to be the last two days on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour. Saturday kicked off with small waves but still the juniors and the women ripped it and then the Open.

There was tension in the air as there had been talk of a party tonight as the celebration of the end of tour, and everyone was eager to be there! There were fireworks an amazing dance floor filled with rockin moves including the signature backspins and catapillers performed by Mr Thomas Kipplewhite, and a wicked spread of food put on.

Finals day really turned on, everyone was expecting the ocean to be a mill pond but as it happened there were swell lines pumping through, still small but enough and we were happy!

There was hot surfing going on and the finals were over, young grommie Rick won the Juniors, Claire Norman the womens, Jackson Close the Open mens and Mickey T the over 40's and 50's!

The prizegiving was done and dusted all in good time as the rain and wind just kicked in and that night felt like we were sleeping in a hurricane!! But our little ship kept us warm and safe :)

Overall for the tour Darren McBride (Spaceships artist extraordinaire) won the Open Mens Circuit Title and I won the Open Womens Circuit Title.

Thanks Spaceships for all the support, without it I couldn't have done what I have this season and every part of the travels has been fun, safe and comfortable!

The whole weekend we were set up with the boot up, bed out and watching the surfing from the warmth of RADAR cooking up milos for after surf energy :) love it!

Would love to go on a snow holiday in a Spaceship this winter they are definitely the best option for campervan hire in New Zealand!

Thanks again guys,
Daisy

1st April 2008

The Shortboard series is over for the summer! Last weekend had the top 16 guys and the top 8 girls battling it out for the top dog spot!

It was held at Piha and the surf was great! I know we were all praying that it wasnt going to be 10ft close outs!

It was a nice 2-3 the first day and getting a little bit bigger on the Sunday but staying offshore for the duration of the weekend and ahh yes the sun was showing its gorgeous face!

Us women had three rounds to surf and the points were to be added up for the last two spots in the man on man or should I say woman on woman final...this consisted of two chickadees battling it out for number one!

I unfortunately fell three points short of making the final , which was pretty gutting because I really wanted a good result as it was a 6 star, to boost my final rating. But the ratings stayed pretty much the same with me in third, Jess Santorik dropping back into 2nd and Mishca Davis taking it out.

The South Island also brought up a team to do battle with the North Island team. We had a strong team and definately shook those northies up - with one of our riders Manu Shaffer scoring a perfect 10 point ride!!! Wooo hoo.

We came in bridesmaids but it didn't matter we had a great battle and had heaps of fun!!

I am now lying with the awning extended in my Spaceship listening to the rain at Waihi Beach it's so cosy.

Tomorrow I am off to the Mount and working my way down to Wellington for the second to last Longboard Series contest.

Catch ya soon,
Daisy

17th March

This weekend brought some awesome waves at the Mount!! A solid swell with off shore winds majority of the time and lots of sunshine! Love it!

Day one of the Rip Curl Clean and Clear Womens Pro kicked off with a nice arrival of a new swell because the evening before all us girls were out in the water grovelling in small onshore waves. Our prayers were answered when we rocked down to Tay Street and nice lines were rolling through out in the ocean. My Open round went well and made it through to the semi finals which were to be held on Sunday. I also surfed my longboard heat and surfed through to the semifinal as well. So a short and sweet Saturday.

Sunday...wow! The surf had picked up bigger and was clean as! It was an earlier start this morning with the Open Women Semi Finals... I shot out for a free surf and ran half a mile down the beach to paddle out because the current was so strong!! I surfed through to the final today along with Mischa Davis from Piha.
Then it was the longboard semifinal...oh what a mission that is paddling out a 9ft surfboard out through solid 4ft surf! Haha good fun though.

Two finals were made and the jelly arms were kicking in..
Some of the grommie (younger) girls surfed ALOT of heats with surfing in divisions as well as their own.

The final result had me in 1st spot for the Open Womens Longboard and 2nd spot in the Open Womens Shortboard along with Jess Santorik in 1st, Rosa Thompson in 3rd and Mischa Davis in 4th.

Back in Auckland now, getting the Spaceship ready to give back :( tomorrow is a sad day!

Loving the Ipod input to crank the sounds before a heat and get amped up though! :)

Thanks Spaceships!

Daisy.

12th March 2008

Hey Guys!

I am currently back in Mount Manganui preparing for the Rip Curl Womens Pro this weekend, the surf is flat as a pancake but the water is beautiful! This morning I woke to the sun shining through and the ocean was so crystal clear, so i went on a wee walk around the beach to collect some shells, there are so many amazing ones!

The last update I think was when I was in Taranaki get pumped for the ASP Junior Pro contest which ended up being held at Stent Rd, one of my favourite waves in NZ! The surf was small but contestable. My heat went well but was unfortunate to get a third. Only the first two surfers progress through to the next round.

" I would move out of my flat to live in a Spaceship" haha that was a quote from one of my buddies.

Well best be off,
Good to see summer is still ticking along!

Daisy

24th February

Hey Guys,

Part two of my summer in a Spaceship has kicked off! Last weekend was the Hyundai Longboard Event number 4 in Christchurch, nice to have a home town comp for a change :) I came out with a first place there, the surf was very very small and it was as though winter had come early but it was a fantastic weekend!

Last Friday I left Christchurch airport... a little later as our flight was CANCELLED haha never had that before, but they sussed us out quickly and jumped on the next flight to Auckland.

Right now I am in Mount Maunganui for the Corona Crown Series Event number. We have surf! Yesterday was a challenge... battling against gale force onshore winds and pretty solid surf it was a good testing the fitness. I won my heat and today are the semis and the finals. The Open mens are out at the moment ripping!

The surf has dropped down, still onshore and raining but it looks pretty fun out there!

Its awesome having a nice dry base down at the beach...apart from i just ran the battery flat by keeping the window wipers on....oooops :S

Righto, hope all is well.
Daisy

11th February

Hey Space Travellers,

We had a successful weekend down here in Christchurch for the Canterbury Womens Champs. I've see a few Spaceships flying about the streets of Canterbury in the past few days too which has been great!

The Canterbury Women's surf comp was held at Scarborough beach on Saturday and Sunday because the surf was pretty challenging at New Brighton beach with solid whitewater washing through the pier!

Sumner produced some fun waves for us. I was competing in the Longboard and the shortboard, Saturday was fine with only one heat to surf through but Sunday was full on with the Open Quarters followed by the Open Longboard quaters then Open Shortboard semis then final. Along with the Longboard semi then final. It was jelly arms by Sunday night.

I came out with 1st in both divisions. Now looking forward Hyundai Longboard Event 4 in Christchurch this weekend - I'll keep you posted.

Have a goodie,
Daisy

- Congrats Daisy!!