Our most decorated Olympian, Dame Lisa Carrington, talks about her love for her childhood home town in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
This story originally appeared in Air New Zealand's Kia Ora magazine
Lisa at Carrington Lane in Ōhope - named for her in December 2015
"I was born in Tauranga and my family moved to Ōhope Beach when I was eight. It was an idyllic place to grow up, being able to enjoy the ocean was amazing. I remember being around 12 years old and the surf seemed really big (it was probably quite small). Another time, when it was quite stormy, my brothers, cousins, friends and I spent hours on our boogie boards in the rain, then we piled inside for a hot pie from the oven. I live in Auckland now, but being able to return to my roots is amazing.
Westend, Ōhope Beach
I followed my brothers into surf lifesaving from about the age of 10. It’s so social, so I was making friends with kids from different schools in the community. In Whakatāne there’s a fair bit of multi-sport, and when I was around 16 my dad came across kayaking. It was initially a way for me to improve my paddling during the surf lifesaving off-season, and in my last year of high school, I was kayaking up and down Whakatāne River and on Lake Matahina.
Ōtarawairere to Westend section of Nga Tapuwai o Toi walkway
Family time is important. My parents still live in Ōhope and my husband, Bucky, and I own a place down the road from them so we go back when we can. We mostly spend time at the beach, whether that’s fishing or surfing or relaxing and catching up with family and friends. We’ve been doing some DIY on our property down there so that keeps us quite busy. It’s good to be there, get on the beach and just enjoy it. I appreciate getting away from the routine of appointments, meetings and training. Because I grew up there, it’s a real feeling of being at home and at peace. A handful of the friends I grew up with still live there and others come back for holidays. We also have friends not from there who come too. It’s nice to be able to accommodate them.
Ōtarawairere Bay
In terms of eating out, quite a few new places have popped up in the past five years. One’s a Mexican restaurant in Ōhope called Cadera and that’s my favourite. I really look forward to one of their fish tacos. Any occasion – with Bucky, with my parents, out with the girls – I just love it. There’s a lovely cafe not far away called Moxi Cafe. I love having breakfast there with Mum and Dad and there’s a burger joint in Whakatāne called The Wagon. That’s my husband’s favourite burger place so we have to go there every time we go home. I really like the fried-chicken burger.
Bush walks in the Eastern Bay are fantastic. There’s a really nice walk from Ōhope West End over the hill to Ōtarawairere Bay. Sometimes I run back from Whakatāne. It’s awesome that I get to follow the most beautiful track all the way back to Ōhope. Honestly, it’s another world when you’re up on the cliffs running along and looking down over the ocean. It’s just magic. It’s a section of the Kōhī Point walkway, which is part of the network of walks forming the Ngā Tapuwai o Toi/ Footprints of Toi loop walkway.
Ōhope Beach is super small and so quiet. I actually love living in Auckland – the energy, the busy lifestyle, the people, and having everything at your fingertips. I love never having to check whether a cafe is open – we just go – but what a small town lacks is also really good. The Eastern Bay is super peaceful and I don’t get distracted. All the noise goes away, and you seem to have so much more time in a small town. We get back as often as possible, maybe every few months, and definitely over Christmas and a few times over summer. I think the family connection and being somewhere special to me fills my cup.
Ngā Tapuwae o Toi - The Footsteps of Toi walking trail
