\u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t have asked for a better afternoon,\u201d Hareb told the Herald. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe lake was so still, the sun was creeping through the clouds and, somehow, two rainbows appeared while we were there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has to be a good sign, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
The professional surfer organised a picnic at Jack\u2019s Point, overlooking the region\u2019s snow-capped mountains, and insisted the couple take a walk at a particular time.<\/p>\n
That immediately aroused Scullin\u2019s suspicions.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe later told me she thought it was so weird because I\u2019m usually so cruisy and definitely not the planner, so she had a feeling something was up,\u201d Hareb said.<\/p>\n
The couple officially had both rings on August 13, when Hareb proposed.<\/p>\n
Paige Hareb and fianc\u00e9e Cait Scullin toast their engagement on the Queenstown waterfront. <\/p>\n
A week earlier, Scullin proposed during an otherwise ordinary Sunday walk in Australia, when the couple went out for a coffee and bite to eat with their dog Yarrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grabbed a sandwich and sat by the water, and Cait had secretly clipped a little ring pouch on to Yarrow\u2019s shell collar,\u201d Hareb told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very sweet, but also slightly chaotic because Yarrow got so excited she ran straight into the ocean. Thankfully Cait had already proposed by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, Hareb staged her own proposal during a family trip to Queenstown.<\/p>\n
They had discussed marriage and each selected their own ring, but kept the timing and details of their proposals secret from one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew it was coming but still didn\u2019t know the exact day each other was going to do it, or how,\u201d Hareb said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo there was still a nice element of surprise for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hareb said she had known the rings would be ready before the Queenstown trip and was determined to propose to Scullin in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I wanted to propose to her in my country \u2013 and Queenstown is such a beautiful spot to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018We just talked \u2014 a lot\u2019<\/p>\n
Hareb and Scullin initially matched on a dating app while living on opposite sides of the Tasman.<\/p>\n
Scullin, a marketing manager, was based in Australia, while Hareb was living in New Zealand and travelling extensively for her surfing career. <\/p>\n
The distance meant they spent the first few months of their relationship communicating through FaceTime rather than meeting in person.<\/p>\n
Newly engaged couple Cait Scullin and Paige Hareb sit beneath a double rainbow following the Queenstown proposal. <\/p>\n
\u201cLong distance definitely sucked, but looking back, I think there was something really special about how it all started,\u201d Hareb said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have the usual distractions that come with dating \u2013 we just talked. A lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arrangement allowed them to get to know each other deeply and confront significant questions early in the relationship, Hareb said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we finally got to be in the same place, everything just clicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur lives on paper are pretty different, but I think that\u2019s part of what makes us work so well. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe balance each other out, we\u2019ve built a life that feels really ours and, after all those months being apart, getting to actually do everyday life together still feels pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018She feels like home\u2019<\/p>\n
Hareb, who became the first New Zealander to qualify for surfing\u2019s elite World Championship Tour in 2009, said Scullin had given her a life outside the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that Cait isn\u2019t from the surfing world and doesn\u2019t have a surfing background,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we\u2019re together, most of the time we\u2019re talking about everything and anything except surfing, and I really love that. She gives me a whole other world outside of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, Scullin remained one of Hareb\u2019s strongest supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both hate when I have to leave for a competition without her, but she\u2019s still my number one hype girl. Knowing that she genuinely believes in me makes me want to do well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hareb said her fiancee offered support when she needed it but was equally capable of delivering blunt advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the person I can be completely vulnerable with, the shoulder to cry on, the person I can talk everything through with \u2013 but she also knows when I don\u2019t need sympathy and just need someone to tell me to sort my shit out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe supports me, challenges me and keeps me grounded. No matter where surfing takes me, she feels like home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Taranaki athlete has spent more than 15 years competing at the top levels of international surfing. After becoming the first New Zealander to reach the World Championship Tour, she remained on the elite circuit for six consecutive years and fought her way back on to the tour in 2018.<\/p>\n
Her career highlights include winning the Nias Pro in Indonesia in 2022 and claiming national titles in the open women\u2019s and over-30 divisions that same year. <\/p>\n
In 2023, she became the first woman named New Zealand\u2019s best surf athlete in a New Zealand Surf Journal poll.<\/p>\n
For now, the couple are in no rush to turn their attention to a wedding.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo plans yet,\u201d Hareb said. \u201cWe just want to enjoy the engaged stage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI honestly couldn\u2019t have asked for a better afternoon,\u201d Hareb told the Herald. \u201cThe lake was so still,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[31047,286172,286171,78,111,139,69,19194,3587,20930,71044,286173,213,2564,61,1237,13797,18457,2963],"class_list":["post-580838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-beneath","tag-cait","tag-hareb","tag-in","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-paige","tag-proposes","tag-queenstown","tag-rainbows","tag-scullin","tag-sports","tag-surfers","tag-to","tag-two","tag-used","tag-winning","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}