The JUCYxMonsRoyale Roadtrip is our way to take the Mons Royale “dawn till dusk” approach to the road. A radventure that would see us visiting all of our epic retailers throughout New Zealand whilst ticking off every activity possible on the way.
After our sweet mountain bike stop in Christchurch, the activity enabled Mons Royale convoy hit the road again with our sights set on the east coast. This rugged stretch of coastline is a highlight for most visitors touring the South Island for obvious reasons: it’s amazingly beautiful. Crisp mountain peaks stand out against the fierce and rocky coastline where wildlife wander around disdainfully ignoring the hordes of tourists glued to their camera viewfinders trying to capture it all.
Our friends at Coastal Sports received us enthusiastically at the beach and local legend Rusty showed us the best dive spots (for seafood), dive spots (for manus) and lookouts (for looking…out). Scoping the mountains from the line-up, the opportunities for fun in Kaikoura area seem boundless. After some fireside chat with Rusty, we have penciled in a re-visit in mid-winter when it’s possible to ski tour amazing terrain in the morning before hitting the coast to surf mind numbingly cold water.
We parked up our Jucy Campa at Rusty’s place where he fired up the BBQ, turning our freshly kidnapped Paua and Crayfish into a forager’s banquet. We sat down for a late dinner under the stars which sparkled luminously above us all, blissfully unaware that the earth would move so violently beneath this little town just days after we visited.
News of the Kaikoura earthquake came as a shock to everyone at Mons and left us scraping for ideas of how we could repay some of the kindness they had offered to us on the JUCYxMonsRoyale roadie. The community and friends we have there are all working so hard to rebuild and recover from the quake damage – their life at the moment is far from normal.
It was suggested to us that in order to help the community rebalance their lives and offer some respite from the stress of post-quake life, funds could be raised towards the rebuild of the damaged community swimming pool. An activity centric charity donation from our crew seemed only appropriate. This pool is at the centre of the community and is a place where the young and old meet to swim, train and play.
With help from Harcourts Wanaka and legendary snowboarder turned producer/mastermind Dani Kiwi Meier, we premiered a screening of the latest Patrick Trefz film: Surfers Blood. Attendees from Wanaka’s snow and surf community came along to stoke out on this moving surf documentary and donate some koha to the Kaikoura swimming pool fund. We were pumped on the generosity and good vibes of those who attended, with one and all sending their spare cash and best wishes to our rad friends in on the east coast.
Kia Kaha Kaikoura.
PHOTO’S BY MARK BRIDGWATER
KAIKOURA POOL REBUILD FUNDRAISER: DANI KIWI MEIER (CENTRE) LINKING UP WITH THE OG CREW IN WANAKA TO PREMIERE THE EPIC PATRICK TREFZ FILM: SURFERS BLOOD.
A big thank you to Harcourts Wanaka and Dani Kiwi Meier for screening Surfers Blood and making our Kaikoura Fundraiser possible. Cheers to everyone who donated – for anyone who also wants to share the love with our friends in Kaikoura, see the bank account details below.
Donations can be made to the Kaikoura Combined Sports Clubs.
Westpac Kaikoura Branch
03 1586 0001442 00
Ref: New Pool
