Surfing Waves

For Thanksgiving (end of November), we're planning a sightseeing trip to Auckland and then a couple spots in the South Island (Queenstown, Wanaka, Mt Cook).

I figure it's only possible to squeeze in a surf near Auckland

Can someone recommend good spots? We'll have a rental car, but will need to rent boards when nearby. Piha?

I was there in December last year. Piha has a bit of a nasty rip allegedly (although I never went there myself). I surfed at muriwai nearby and loved it. Hired boards from muriwai surf school which was right on the beach by the car park. From memory there were a decent selection of boards and it was pretty cheap. Really nice owners too.

Thanks for the tip - will keep an eye on Muriwai