Tsunami hits Christchurch, tow-in surfer spotted

With all the news of the tsunami coming from Samoa and hitting NZ, there were the plans to evacuate from our home in South New Brighton, which would have been challenging to see the least with a broken ankle and three dogs. I had plenty of advance notice with my very own early warning system – a phone call from my lovely wife at the council, which was just as well since I had been sleeping off a late night and a healing ankle.

But as I was packing up, news came through from the most reliable source known to man, Twitter, that the warnings had been downgraded and nothing was happening further up the country so plans changed to actually head down to the beach and see if there was a bit of a circus. I wasn’t disappointed. Both carparks at New Brighton were packed, including media with cameras and plenty of surfers. A sad, but true, reminder of human nature in the face of natural disasters, but I couldn’t talk – I was down there hoping to see the giant wave, or at least a bearded lady … something, anything to make the trip worthwhile.

I did get to see a tow-in surfer, usually only seen at places like Pipe or Mavericks but you can’t be too careful when there’s a tsunami on the way. It’s probably fair to say they were disappointed with the 2ft waves at the pier, but there were plenty of others making the most of it. It was actually nice just to get out of the house and get some fresh sea air, so not a wasted trip and a pleasant chat with (soon-to-be) local real estate agent Darrell.

But for all you wave hunters out there, don’t despair – there are reports of more waves to come.