Basil Harrison; classic backhand bottom turn Follow Surf & Adventure Co. crewman Shaun Devine on his surfing adventure through New Zealand. Words and photos by Shaun Devine. “You guys should meet Ace!” says Steve, a lifelong artist, fisherman and our Flat Point host. Steve leads us just out back on the property and we wander down a winding path through the paddock towards Ace’s domain. Ace runs things around here. Ace is a very large pig who’s initial presence is quite intimidating. Steve and his daughter Sarah ensure us that he’s friendly and with that affirmation we give Ace a warm hello and scratch his back. At this point I’m still a little hesitant, but remind myself that he’s just Pumba in real life. Later on that evening Steve made a remark that caught my ear, he said, “If you look deep into Aces eyes you can see a human in there — a personality who just wants to hang out with some friends.” A couple hundred meters walk over the dunes and initially there’s not much happening with the surf. We walk a bit to the north and to our surprise, theres a fun looking left peak coming through. Upon closer examination, the sets look really fun. A long barreling left paired with a punchy right. It only takes two sets to break before we are rushing back through the paddock to suit up and get out there. Ace led the boys to this gem. On the way back out to the beach, we stop to cross through Ace’s turf and toss him an apple to chomp on — some sort of consolation for passing through so quickly. Running up the beach with fun surf in sight I ask Rick, “Does this spot have a name?” He answers, “No, I don’t think so.” So I reply, “I reckon we call it ‘Aces.” Sean Bollinger, tucked in. Basil. Ace’s Place. Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment.
