If you are not following the adventures of @insta_susi yet, then we highly recommend that you should. We met Susi through our MI OLA Brand Ambassador search and we just can’t get enough of this adventurous chica and mother of two beautiful girls. From surf trips in Bali, hill bombing in her MI OLA suit, to braving the freezing cold weather to take the pledge picture for #checkyourselfie, Susi keeps us on our toes for what she is up to next!
We recently chatted with Susi about helping us to do a surf guide on one of the amazing places she has surfed. First location up is Sumner and Taylor’s Mistake in the Christchurch area of New Zealand. Check out the details from Susi herself!
My greatest passion in life is surfing and travelling and these two seem to go hand in hand nowadays. My surf adventures have taken me to Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Bali, Hawaii, Taiwan, Maldives, France, Spain, Norway and of course I have tried river-surfing on Munich’s famous Eisbach in Germany. My first local beach were the beaches of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Although I have settled down in Norway, surrounded by beautiful mountains and stunning coast lines with the occasional day of great surf, I still miss my New Zealand surf buddies and the fact that it was so easy back then to cross the street and be out in the surf. Growing up in southern Germany – more than 1500km away from decent surf it was like a dream come true to finally live by the sea in New Zealand.
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand: Sumner and Taylor’s Mistake
New Zealand is blessed with 15,000 kilometers of coastline featuring a variety of breaks, waves, points and reefs. The diversity and consistency of surfing conditions is as remarkable as the stunning coastline itself. Christchurch is the largest city on New Zealand’s South island and within a 30-50 minute drive are several great breaks.
Where to Surf:
Sumner
I lived in a little suburb just outside of Christchurch called Sumner. It is right at the beach and is charming with its palm trees and small cafes. It has a nice vibe going and this is where I learned to surf.
I surfed a lot at Sumner the first few months, however it is a bit of a sluggish wave and best ridden on a map (longboard). The beach break offers both left and rights and it is all over sand bottom. It works best at low or mid tide, as it gets a backwash at high tide. Also it can be tricky getting back in at high tide when the water is up on the rocks. Your easiest access point then is the boat ramp at Scarborough where you can easily get in and out off. On bigger days there can be an extremely strong rip dragging people out along the breakwater. The waves are best with ENE swells and it is offshore with SW winds.
If you happen to travel there and want to try out surfing – surfcoach Aaron and his learn to surf crew hire out equipment along the Esplanade and give great surf lessons. They are super friendly and professional, which I know first hand, as I occasionally worked there as a surf instructor.
Taylor’s Mistake
My favorite and true local however wave is Taylor’s Mistake, where I surfed most of the time. It is just around the hill from Sumner, a small bay on Banks Peninsular. The waves are of better quality, however this place gets super crowded. You can surf Taylor’s on all tides and it needs a good ENE groundswell and W winds to really fire. But when it’s on it’s on. If it gets bigger, you can use the rip along the rocks on both sides of the bay to help you get out.
If the waves weren’t good on my doorstep, there were endless options up or down the coast, but most my road trips where to the wild and breathtaking West Coast, where you’ll nearly always find surf.
Water temperature:
Water temperatures are fairly cold on the East Coast of the South Island ranging from 6 degrees Celsius in the winter to 21 degrees in the summer. So from end of January till the end of February, you have about 1 month to surf in your MI OLA bikini ; ) The further north you go in NZ, the warmer the water.
Crowd Factor:
Watch out for crowds as surfing has definitely gotten super popular at both Sumner and Taylor’s Mistake.
Apres Surf:
If you feel like a bite to eat after your surf Sumner has plenty options, but you won’t find anything at Taylor’s. Coffee Culture does great coffees, I used to love getting a takeaway chai latte and a sweet treat and walk along the beach or the Esplanade while looking at waves. Often my hubby and I used to surf till it was pitch black, so we would grab some yummy Indian at Indian Sumner or Little India or Thai from Redcliffs or Ferrymead (both really close). I haven’t lived there in nearly 4 years and after all the Earthquakes things have changed a lot, so I don’t know what’s still there and what’s new.
How to get there:
There is only one main route to Sumner from Christchurch and is well sign posted. Sumner is just twenty minutes drive from the centre of town If traveling by bus take the No. 3 Bus to Sumner, get off at the Stoke St stop in Sumner and walk 200 metres to the beach.
For Taylor’s Mistake, drive to the coastal suburb of Sumner, and then continue on to the Port Hills via Evans Pass Road. It is approximately a 50 minute drive from the centre of Christchurch. Public transport stops in Sumner, which is then a 45-60 minute walk over the hill.