Don’t add water if surfing indoors
Some could keep their balance but others fell off straight away when they tried a wave surfing machine that has been entertaining kids during the school holidays.
Called a Super Surfer, it’s a small mechanical surf board set in the middle of a large inflatable base.
The surf board, at Centre City in New Plymouth, has 10 speeds, operator Brent Turner said, and he put it on level one or two for most kids to try and ‘‘ride’’.
‘‘One young guy got to 10. He was running all over it.’’
But two girls, aged 12 or 13, from Sacred Heart Girls College stayed on for five minutes at level 10.
‘‘I stopped them after that. They would have stayed there all day. They had incredible balance.’’
One showed off by taking her sweatshirt off and putting it back on while she was surfing, he said.
‘‘They were just phenomenal. They were as good as I’ve seen.’’
The two girls had a similar style, he said. ’’There’s been a lot of different styles. I let people do it rather than coach them. I see what they do first, then I can tell them what helps them.’’
The wave surfing machine was in action for four hours a day during the two weeks of the school holidays.
Riding the Super Surfer was free for kids, because the machine had been hired by Centre City, he said.
‘‘I don’t think we’ve done many shopping centres like this, it’s been pretty successful.’’
Turner has been busy and at times there were crowds lining up, he said.
‘‘Lots of kids have had lots of fun on it. And I’ve managed to get a few adults up there.’’
People hire the Super Surfer for Christmas, birthday parties, and a lot of work parties, he said.
‘‘That’s a lot of fun - when people get a few drinks in them.’’
But the last two weeks had been fun, he said, at yesterday’s final session.
‘‘I’m packing up at 3pm and driving back to Palmy.’’