Graffiti attack over surfing's Dream Tour
BY MATT RILKOFF
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Protests against next month's Dream Tour surfing event have sunk to a new low.
Popular coastal surf spot Rocky Point near Okato has been defiled with angry orange graffiti against the ASP Women's World Tour surfing event to be held at New Plymouth's Fitzroy Beach next month.
It is the first time the tour has come to New Zealand and it has been condemned by some Taranaki surfers, who fear the international media exposure will attract surfers to their favourite breaks, causing overcrowding.
Coastal resident and surfer Chris Wilkes, who supports the event, was so disgusted by the anti-tour graffiti he planned to cover it with a mural today.
The graffiti which, among stronger phrases, asks people to "Say no to ASP" and "Leave our beaches alone", has been scrawled on road signs, fences and the public toilet at the end of Paora Rd, from which many surfers access the popular surf break, Rocky Point.
"There is already a lot of tension out there on the water because of these guys who are against the tour, but this is just too much. It ruins the beauty of the place. There have been no waves at all for the last month and a half and it's like this has all put a curse on the place, with the way they have been going on," Mr Wilkes said.
Nicknamed the Dream Tour, the international event will involve the top 17 female surfers and will be held during the TSB Bank Women's Surf Festival, from April 10 to 16.
Surfing Taranaki executive officer Craig Williamson, who was instrumental in bringing the event to Taranaki, said the ongoing and often nasty opposition was difficult to cope with.
"I think there are just one or two people who are out of control. I don't think that is how the people of Okato feel and I don't think it is how a lot of surfers feel. We hate it when this happens. It ruins a beautiful place. This is just not on," he said.
Despite the often personal attacks against him and others involved in bringing the event to Taranaki, Mr Williamson said he believed they had been right in securing it for Taranaki.
Surfing Taranaki has signed up to stage the festival for at least two years, with rights of renewal for six more.
Protesters have previously threatened to paddle out and disrupt the tour. Last month Taranaki surfing star and Dream Tour member Paige Hareb, 19, was shaken after being confronted by a man against the event.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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