Waiting for the Wind

Nice pic from Muriwai - this was epic. It's 45mins from Auckland on the wild west coast. I keep on reminding myself, you just gottta ring people ... you can spend 3hrs piss-arsing around on the internet, or call the local kiteshop and they'll tell you in two minutes where's good to go and what the issues are. Souwester, Muriwai's the go, will be gnarly out there but likely to be a few locals, kit up 2km south of the surf club, just past the golf course. I got that tingly feeling as I arrived, not from the customary double caffeine shot ahead of a cold session, but just from the sight of kites in the distance. 6m and 7m kites against my smallest which was a 9m. 50km long beach. Kite it  a couple hours either side of LOW tide - - it's got a gentle sand slope so that way you get the MASSIVE waves out the back but there ends up being this nice flatwater close to shore. Weird to kite as the space was moving so rapidly, sometimes there was hundreds of meters of butter flat 1ft deep water, then the waves would come in and smash it all up. I got dumped on numerous times by misjudging breaking waves, and misjudging the depth of the water I was in. Really black sand so the water visability was pretty low. Friendly crowd out there on the water. I had a ball for my allocated 1hrs water time before we took the nephew & niece back home. All twimtips out there til one surfboard as I was leaving. 8 kiters at rush hour (5pm). 9m did me proud.

The spot is shallow, slimy (slippy) but hard sandy bottom. There's really nice changing rooms. And a bus stop with direct buses to the city - this is a great spot to come if you are passing through Auckland. Wind was 10kt ish souwest gusty, off and on. I had 5 whole minutes powered properly though. Got a little cruise about round to see the sights of the city - Sky Tower and the bridge. And managed loads of backloop kiteloop things, and little jump with kiteloops, and downlooping and popping around. Nice little fun session. Two blokes teaching two a piece. This is a great spot to teach and to be a beginner."

waitingforthewind.com We took another 5 students up the coast to some of our super spots for an awesome weekend of kitesurfing. Pure rock n roll, we forced sickies on the punters and took off at Friday lunchtime to catch the forecast Noreaster before night fall - that worked out great and we got our intermediate (Thomas) out on the water at Blacksmiths, while our two newbies (Neil & Joris) got to practice kite skills on the 6m foil on the large empty sandy beach. The instructors also managed a quick session into a stunning sunset. Margot stuck at work arrived Sat am as did Gen.

Saturday was hard to call, the forecast for a very light southerly early came true early and unfortunately kept the promised noreaster at bay most of the day. We played around at a beautiful spot though - just at the tip of "Penis Point" [you gotta see it on google maps, Map view, to see what we mean]. Light breeze and perfect shallow tranquil water for practicing water relaunch, deep water packdown and self rescue - - and some body dragging for the newbies. Good to get that stuff outta the way before we get the real winds. Tried for a late dash to the ocean side to catch some noreast knots before dark but to no avail. Classic - running up the dunes, like a movie, everyone rushing, then, at the top. Stop. No wind. Amble back down - to the great house - and the lamb chops, snags and pasta salad - washed down with plenty of red and a game of Articulate.

Sunday was epic. That noreaster came in early and we spent the morning body dragging and doing serious kite practice on the large sandy ocean-side beach at Blacksmiths. Was really good to get the guys to practice landing and launching over & over again - partly as you can't reinforce enough good technique for both - and also it teaches good control skills. Then messing around in the water, bodydragging - low tide made it nice.

And of course the moment Neil lost my camera - what! Yep - in the water, loosly attached, he legged it to help Joris and lost the Pentax in the shallows. Waterproof but still no where to be seen. Fortunately for all of us the local swimmer had more patience and nouse than us lot put together and went a good 300m south following the cross current and found it! Phew, Neil looked like he was gonna kiss the man. Nick taught Thomas out the back. Next stage was water starts and the shore break was not suitable, so Divine style, we got the crew to agree to a SUPER FAST pack down and jump in the van and head to our flatwater shallow noreaster spot in the Swansea Channel.

The big boys - Thomas included - went on a downwinder mission from 'smiths through the Channel to meet them there the carbon neutral way. Nick led and I followed tightly behind our hero Thomas - I lost a few years! Exceedingly gnarly in there, he lost the board 4 times and downed his kite once, but survived to tell the tale and vow "never again". Over in the Paradise spot, it was shallow (low tide) and flat as a pancake and 15-20kts. Absolutely perfect for teaching water starts. The instructors got some fun too, and Thomas got a few backloops in top finish a fine but exhausting day. Home James. I was driving alone and was so utterly utterly exhausted I had to stop for a sleep when I got to the Pacific Highway.

Another Divine weekend!

Wow that was fun. Helping out on a research project on Green Island off Cairns and managed to squeeze two sessions in. Unbelievably good wind, too good as only one small kite between us. What a spot, it blows from the south east on to the far corner of the island, well beyond the walking range of most day trippers so it feels like your own island paradise. 30 kts in shallow water, loads of fun, even more fun following turtles around the reef. I spotted some rays as well. The wind strong enough to be able to move slowly and controlled over the water checking out the life below. Divine. To top it off, Brother Rich benefited from 10 mins of expert coaching! And pulled off his first air.   

You can get out here for an early afternoon session on the ferry from Cairns, well worth it if you're in this part of the world. Some coral to watch for in low tide but plenty of seagrass areas as well for less sharp landings. Also a nice little bit of reef break on the farthest south-east corner and a little one on the west not too far from the jetty too. 

 

From waitingforthewind.com


Cuspy and I took the van down south to scope out some new spots. Here's what the birthday boy had to say: Day 1  started at Tabourlie lake. Lovely spot. Nice for families. Perfect for N or S if windy. We got about 12 knots directly onshore. Enough to muck about in but not enough to have fun in and too much like hard work. [Not enough for big boy, but aplenty for me, just south of the rocks to the south of the sand bar was butter flat and nicely powered  on my 12m - Cuspy also tried straplesss briefly and shocked us all with his immediate talent! Ed!]

Checked the arrows and at 3pm we made the call to drive north. 90 mins to Shoalhaven Heads. Place was full of kiters when we arrived. Good sign. Flat water spot too low, so into the waves we went. 20 knots and building. Kited til sundown. Epic. Twin tip, surfboard, strapless. We tried all 3. Few nice toeside runs under the barrel...

Finished with a steak and a beer at the local 'bogun house' and prayers for wind for the next day.  


Back to me: Day 2 on this little kitetrip was classic old school "Waiting for the Wind", all day to kite, van full of gear, green arrows on the forecast, but came to nowt, then glimmers of hope, the occasional tantalising yellow, culminating in the odd fluttering tree leaf. But managed to explore many beaches from Seven Mile up to Minnamurra, and all the "bogan" towns along the way (the snobbery is all Cuspy!). Then squeezed some rock & roll into the day with a last-minute dash to the cable park out at Penrith. My first time and will be back for more. Not a patch on kitesurfing but fun nonetheless and great for a day when the main plans might get blown out (pardon the pun). As for Australia, loving it right now, exploring around and about, kiting being the catalyst to check out new towns and beaches and hanging out with mates all over and the fam in Bondi.

More from waitingforthewind.com ...

More from waitingforthewind.com ...

Got to kite Caves Beach (nr Jervis Bay) at last ...

Three kiters, three wives, five toddlers, a baby and an unborn under canvas in three days of relentless rain & mud

But we did get three southerly sessions in:

A 12 metre southerly session out at Collinwood Beach (Vincentia), in the flat water downwind of the rocky reef, lots of air. Still in love with my brand new 131 Nobile T5 and the 12m Switchy. Though it ended messily trying to kite into the shore through the deadwindzone, dropping the kite, losing the board and swimming to shore. A nice little warm-up for the real show that afternoon at Caves Beach:

[Pic: Hatherall comes good, Coley cruising by]

An epic session at Caves ... Protocole wanted to kite Caves for years so nice to knock that one over. Onshore 25+ knots, stunning spot, place to ourselves. Had a ball in the messy waves, loads of air ramping off the incoming waves, loads of fun playing with "surfing" the waves on my twinny, real confidence building sess. Things clicked even for Cuspy, on his 10m he's a different man to the 13m tank he normally flies. Got some pics too. Kited til dusk. Actually til delirious. Alive alive fun fun this is what its all about.

We woke up to wet tents and unhappy muddy campers, wind lighter and slightly offshore at Huskisson so made another dash for Caves to get the best of it facing the open ocean. Slight west so wind shadow at Caves west-end, so took the 1km bush walk to Bherwerre Beach. Again, what an amazing spot. I am continually staggered by how spoilt we are with such amazing pristine and empty beaches to play with so close to Sydney. Hard work this one - compared to the ego-sess the night before (as one gets  from perfect wind). Struggled to get out on 12m kites, but once thru the break all good. Again, nice wave skill developing. Got on the SRT (directional) but still can't jibe it properly. Cuspy struggled with the Tank, but I loved it. Got to showoff to some friendly grannies as well - "wish I was 40 years younger" - makes you realise you gotta do it while you can!

End of the wind so glad we capitalised when we could - that's the thing with this sport - when its windy you just gotta go.

Fine fishy cuisine ... 5 wet nights took its toll on the fam so we moved into a bt of luxury at Bannisters and some fine cuisine courtesy of Rick Stein. The hotel is on a great spot on the headland, I spent the afternoon watching the white caps build til I couldn't bear it any longer and got a little underpowered session in on Narrawallee Beach, with local kiter Glenn. Little waves. Few tricks.  Things have really clicked recently, new gear makes a HUGE difference, you can't beat having confidence in your kit, and regular sessions means you don't forget everything in between! Loving this year off work!!

Green Island, south coast NSW ... Wow. Just cycled back in torrential rain, wetsuited, my new Nobile 131cm T5 board on the milkcrate on the bike, my 12m Switchblade on my back ...

What a beautiful session. I was plotting to go out in the 15kt ish rainy cloudy humid noreaster at Washerwomans Beach at Bendalong (a stroll from our campsite), while the fam were having their naps.

But fortunately got chatting to a surfer who said the best spot in a noreaster is Cunjurong Pt, on the spit out to Green Island, he's seen a kiter there before, and it's good right now.

Couldn't drive as the kids + the missus were sleeping in the van

So loaded up the bike with the gear and cycled over


What a spot, the downwind side, crossshore across the bay, so offshore off the spit ... waves peeling perfectly into offshore breeze as they wrapped around the island

Just divine, loved the new board, loved the new kite, had some beautiful pure-vertical air off some vertical faces of waves

Such a crazy playground - the direction of the swell kept changing so the waves were wrapping around small big, then the amount of water coming over the spit was changing things too

Really loved chasing the waves around, surfing them in, doing toeside bottom turns at the shore, powering back into the oncoming surf or breaking wave

Two hours of that and I was starting to get a bit delirious, and the rain started hammering down, so I packed-up, no point in putting dry clothes on so wetsuited back to the fam on the bike.

Yep, what a great spot. I had it totally to myself too, the three surfers were leaving when I arrived, just the occasional dogwalker

Just back from another awesome Divine Kiting weekend with four students and the heroic teaching of Nick & myself. Very long day Saturday at our secret shallow flatwater spot down south, just perfect for teaching. Nice wind too, noreaster. Sunday morning a bit sketchy on the wind front, so we went wind hunting and found PLENTY at Windang.

 

Great team, awards this time were:

Biggest Air = Ness

Most fear to least fear = Chris

Cockiest student, longest ride = Shappa

Superhero for water starts in the waves as a total beginner = Mike

Best dressed kiter = as usual, Mr Cole

Yesterday's little session on Botany: "wow, afternoons like that MAKE living in Sydney ... 3.5hrs kiting on Botany Bay on my own little adventure in 25kts, by surfboard from Dolls to Towra (my private beach by day!) to play about in flat shallows, then an epic upwinder to Hollywood - then borrowed Priya's twintip (thx!) for an hour jumping and crashing, then a kitelooping downwinder into the sunset across the bay alone to land to the last guy on the beach! ALIVE

Just been loving the wind of the last week - - two big sessions at the secret wave spot #2. 2nd one I was braving the old SRT - not been out the bag for a long long while. No gibing unfortunately, but loving the turns coming into shore, and toeside right handers.

Even managed a double session one day - Botany by afternoon and secret spot by dusk. Awesome. Out there with Jase and Richard the architect.

Even got a Sunday session down at Boat Harbour - now $20 to get in there - - wow never seen anything like it, literally HUNDREDS of 4x4 family Aussie BBQ tent action, miles of beach dressed like a carpark, cars lined on the water side and the dunes side with hardly a gap!

More imprtantly tide was low, water was lovely and downwind (southerly) of the reef.

Also had a little mission east from there, heading out round that headland towards the oil refinery. Such a little kid i am - find all that stuff so exciting.

Great day out!