Ocean Beach Hat

Only six weeks after arriving in New Zealand we found ourselves at the annual Ocean Beach Hat frisbee tournament, surrounded by friends and people we know. The beach is near Whangarei (pronounced fung-ge-day), the main city in the Northland.

We arrived Friday night after a 2.5 hour trip turned into a 4 hour journey from Auckland which included some supply stops and getting lost. Arriving after dark we were glad that we simply had to park and fold out our bed, rather than pitching a tent like many of the other players. Most of the players at the tournament camped in an overflow car park a few minutes walk from the beach.

A hat tournament is a tournament where individuals sign up and the teams are chosen semi-randomly. Ocean Beach Hat had about 70 players, split into 6 teams. Alex and myself were on the same team somehow... Team Unicorn, wearing purple! The organisers have a deal with the local surf lifesaving club, so we had access to their bungalow for preparing meals, hanging out and partying for the weekend. It's a pretty good deal.

On the first morning we went for a wander up the sand dune at the South end of the beach. This was our view.

Ocean Beach, looking South

North of Ocean Beach

It was good to play some more beach frisbee, something we've missing since leaving Wollongong, although we were frustrated at times how the kiwis don't seem to grasp some of the tactical changes you should make coming from the grass. We spent the weekend playing, swimming, eating, sitting in the shade, partying a little and sleeping in the van.

The tournament is touted as the best social tournament in New Zealand and it has definitely been one of our highlights so far. There's no tournament I've been to that is quite like it, yet it still brings that sense of family and familiarity that comes with the sport. Hopefully we will be back for next year!

James

Some fancy photos