Former Olympian snowboarder Christy Prior escaped the frozen south to loop Northland in a Wilderness motorhome, chasing the surf. Anna King Shahab caught up with them between waves.
Due North
With the July school holidays approaching, Olympic snowboarder Christy Prior and her partner Si Dickie knew the slopes in New Zealand’s popular ski regions would be packed, and the midwinter ocean decidedly chilly at their home town in St Clair, Dunedin. Not the types to stay still for long, they plotted a surfing
roadie in the (slightly) warmer climes of the Far North.
The flight to Auckland brought about a few nerves as between them the couple had to check in six precious surfboards – but thankfully all of them made the journey intact. When they picked up their Double for 2 motorhome from Wilderness Motorhomes in South Auckland, they were chuffed to discover it had ample storage for their boards. “As well as fitting the barbecue, chairs and so on, the storage section also perfectly fitted our four medium and shortboards – they just slotted right in, without even having to take the fins off”, Christy says. “The longboards were a bit more niggly, but we were able to fit them inside without taking up too much room.”
Swell time
The couple headed north with no set bookings, guided by the swell and the wind direction, in search of the best surf. A first stop at Orewa yielded a wee gift from Christy’s home town: “There was a bit of a swell, which is really unusual at Orewa, and we were able to get the longboards out to ride a knee-high novelty wave!” A little further north, at Mangawhai Heads, the blessings continued. “We were in the car park by the surf club; I was cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast and gazing out the motorhome window when I spotted orcas.” The couple rushed out to watch as a large pod of orcas headed about 10-15 minutes down the estuary, “probably hunting stingrays, we heard”, before about-turning and heading back out to sea. The size of them – even the dorsal fins alone, they were just huge!” says Christy.
Next on the trip was Matakana, where they visited friends and the village’s famous weekend market in between stints on the water at Omaha, then they continued north to Pataua and then Sandy Bay – the latter is one of the couple’s favourite spots – and they camped there for several days soaking up the serenity and the swell.
Taupō Bay was one of the most remote spots they visited, a good detour off the main highway. Mangonui’s famous fish and chips were a must before the couple, keenly watching the weather, noted that “the wind was changing direction,” says Christy, “so we struck a path over to
the west coast.”
They parked up at Ahipara, at the southern end of 90 Mile Beach. “The campground at Ahipara had such a good feel about it,” remembers Christy. “It felt really established and had a bit of character: every site had its own established garden, and the amenities were great.” Spotting wild horses on 90 Mile Beach was another highlight of the trip.
Looping back to the City of Sails, the pair managed to tick one last break off, spending a night at Piha, one of Auckland’s beautiful West Coast black sand beaches. “In total, we were in the motorhome for 12 days. There were only two or three days where we weren’t able to surf…but then other days we fitted in several sessions,” says Christy.
In between all the surfing, the couple dropped into a few yoga classes – in Whangārei and in Auckland City. “The stretching helped straighten us out after all that surfing,” says Christy, who is a yoga instructor herself – she mostly teaches private sessions online for clients overseas. Prior began practising around the same time she started snowboarding. “I reckon doing yoga is one of the key reasons why I’ve been able to keep going relatively injury-free.”
Road life
Christy and Si have taken off on some surf trips previously, camping in their Toyota van. The Wilderness Double For 2, Christy says, was “such an upgrade from how we normally travel!” Being in and out of the water so often, they relished being able to jump straight into a hot shower – and they loved the fact the motorhome had plenty of space for hanging things up to dry.
“There was a really good pop-down rack in the shower which we used to hang our wetsuits, so they could just drip away in the shower…The hooks by the door were great for our rain jackets, and there were so many hooks all over the camper to hang up towels to dry. A little cubby hole under the bench seat was so handy for storing our shoes so they didn’t clutter the area by the door and leave sand everywhere.”
In between fish and chips and ice creams from beachside stores, the couple did a fair bit of cooking in the camper. “We mostly lived off bacon and eggs, which I wasn’t mad about!” laughs Christy. “We made a few stirfrys, Si cooked pizzas, and we toasted croissants in the oven.” As for the driving – Prior entrusted that to Si, who she says reckoned the Wilderness was “big, but easy to handle”.
In remote areas in the Far North, they avoided narrow gravel roads as well as crossing bridges that looked like they could flood – there was a lot of heavy rain coming down. “There was only one quite hairy bit: the road down to Piha,” says Christy. “It’s steep, windy, and narrow, with no shoulder – then at the bottom of it the low-hanging branch meant we were too high to enter the carpark at the south end, so we parked up at the north end.”
Taking the Wilderness motorhome created plenty of opportunity for the seasoned vanlifers to reflect on what they liked about the vehicle. “Si and I kept talking about how all these little things had been thought through. There was really nothing we felt we were missing in the camper – the only thing we’d add if we had our own personal vehicle would be roof storage for our longboards! But overall, this was one of the best trips
we’ve ever had.”
Snow Queen
Christy Prior grew up by the beach in Orewa, but when as a teenager she moved out of home and down to Wanaka where she hit the snowy mountains like she was born to it. “Starting snowboarding at 17, I was a late bloomer – most professionals start as kids”. By 21 she was travelling the world on the competitive snowboarding circuit – working nights and off-seasons to fund the dream before catching the attention of sponsors. She specialised in both slopestyle and big air, and gained podium places from the get-go. Selected for the New Zealand team, she went into the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi with strong medal chances, but an injury in practice for the semis put paid to that campaign. She continued to clock up wins at the world’s key events, like X-Games, World Games and the Burton Open – up until four years ago when she retired from competitions aged 29.
Christy still snowboards professionally for a few brands she represents, but these days the athlete spends much more time on another type of board (or several), along with her partner Si, who surfed competitively until his early 20s before beginning his career as a builder. The couple built their own home at St Clair, Dunedin, enabling them to surf to their hearts’ content – in winter wetsuits of course.
Follow Christy’s adventures on Instagram @Christyprior.
Looking for motorhomes or caravans for sale in NZ? Browse our latest listings here.
