Waiting for the Wind

Kiting #9 (10 Apr): Yes. Getting there. A great session (with Ben again). Straight into the water and about two hours of body-dragging in nice wind. Some others complaining they'd have to get their 14 or 16 kites out, but for me it was perfect. Got really into the technique of using the four lines - building up loads of confidence compared to where I was a few weeks ago. Got fairly lucky with relaunches from the water. Except for one time when I just couldn't get the bugger back up in the air. Had to unhook and swim her back in. Knackering. Tried a self-rescue out in the water. One minor hiccup but other than that - fine. So all in all a great session. Now back to riding solo for a few sessions before I go back maybe for another lesson. Of course I'm still not on the board - but it's getting well within my grasp.



Dolls Point, Brighton-le-Sands, Sydney

Kiting #8 (22 Mar): So another session. My first in Aus and a big set back, but hopefully with some potential. So I called up kitepower down at DOLLS POINT, near BRIGHTON-LE-SANDS in southern SYDNEY) having decided that I'd go for a lesson to push me forward a bit quicker - and given that my confidence had waned a touch having not been on the water now for about seven weeks. Lesson booked. I call them the morning of Saturday to check out the conditions - but leave the conversation with my kite-confidence utterly destroyed. Asked me loads of tricky questions (maybe not that tricky, but I certainly didn't know the answers that were wanted). I had my previous instruction slagged off and the sanity of me having been out on the water questioned.

So I was well and truly knocked down, and feeling like I was back in Nelson again.

So I dragged myself off to my lesson anyway - with Ben-I'm-one-of-only-5-level-two-instructors-in-Australia. Now I'm sure he is, and admittedly he seemed to know his stuff and went into safety, self-rescue and the general theory in detail I hadn't considerer before. But he was still pretty smug about it, and seemed to relish knocking me back to lesson one despite my few lessons in NZ and my crazy sessions out at Nelson, Anglesey and Queenstown. Though I thought I'd best not dwell too much on some of the finer detail of those.

After two and a half hours (to be fair to Ben he did give me half an hour more than I paid for - 140 bucks by the way) my big toe hadn't even touched the water. And I never did get in the water that day. Spent the whole time on process. All good stuff really, and I did leave the day with a tad more confidence than I started it, but coming from a low point that was not too hard. I'll try and describe the rather complicated self-rescue technique when I write next. But, suffice to say, I've booked myself in for another session next week. Sensibly I'm sure I'll make shit-loads more progress forking out for a few lessons and humility, than struggling on my own for the next few months. I've got to keep my eye on my target for the year - that I'll be kitesurfing properly (ie able to jump) by 31 December.........

The school: www.kitepower.com.au
Ben's a Brit and I I'd recommend him for anyone who wanted to do this thing safely. He's been kitesurfing for 4.5yrs and scratched his foot once (last week!). Apparently there's been 20 or so deaths in the sport in as many months. Not good stats.

No action for along time now...been in Sydney in new job finding flat - all that stuff. Out on Saturday though - place called Dolls Point off Botany Bay. Til then!

Kiting #7 (25 Jan): First outing in the UK. Fk'ing freezing. Went to NEWBOROUGH WARREN (Llanddwyn Bay) on ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES. Cracking venue. Plenty of wind - cross to on-shore. Almost too much wind. In fact - too much wind. Took my bro to show off my new talents. Very foolish. All my strings were tangled so took a good half hour to sort that shambles out. Was a bit chilly - and he being a diver had all the equipment for that (a Welsh winter, murky quarries un'all diver). I came with my 2.5mm shortie. Well I managed to squeeze another wetsuit over. But no socks. And none of the sexy headgear (probably not necessary - we're not ice diving).

Tangled again

Sexy hat!









So, string untangled, we get the bugger set up. The tide's fked off out to sea about half a mile so we plod over there. Not too bad on the launch. Off we go...........Well not too bad in the start, plenty of swinging left and right and a bit of well controlled body dragging. The water temperature on my bod is not too bad. Just my feet really (totally numb a few minutes later). But then - we're off, There's a massive gust and my nicely controlled body dragging is taking me at 25 knots along the beach. SHIT. OK, got the thing under control. Sort of. But then off again. Struggling big time and having flashbacks from my day under the runway at Queenstown (kite over the hill). So a bit more dragging then big gust again and I'm off down the beach totally out of control. SHIT SHIT. I've gotta stop this. Cack my pants as try to get kite down and having much trouble. Get it down to the ground to find that the bloody thing is trying to relaunch. And is still dragging my along. So frantically wave to Richard to come and assist. But he's nowhere to be seen. Yes he is - about two miles back up the beach. Fortunately he's been studying his brother's methodology for own use later - so sees frantic waving a rushes over. All the while the kite is trying to get back up, and does, and I get it back down. God I need some serious practice at this!!!

So he arrives, seems like hours later, probably about 5 mins. Gets it down. I come in out the water. "Wow" blah blah blah. "So me next then?"......"Um, no, don't think so Richard. Could well be a bit of accident here." Which is all a bit of a shame as he's come all this way and is gagging to get wet, and to die perhaps. But fortunately we're saved by Will from Chester who ambles over for a chat after dropping his own kite.

To let Rich have a go with the kite - I go to launch her while Will (who actually knows what he's doing!) assists Richard with the bar, and holds on to him in case it gets a bit hairy. Well, fk me it does. Richard's straight up in the air, launching straight thru the powerzone. His ankles are at Will's face and Will is stretching to keep him in this galaxy. This is looking a tad scary, so I grab hold of Will and we get the thing down to ground (not a bad landing Rich!).

Will and his mate









Enough for one day. And thanks Will.

More on Newborough Warren (Llanddwyn Bay): You pay two squids to get into the privately owned Newborough Forest, which presumably pays for the spanking new toilets. You could avoid the toll but have to walk 2 kms through the forest or across the dunes. You're only a minute from the sand. The beach is enormous, with lovely shallow water, gentle waves. You can see the Welsh mainland from the beach, a mile or so away. There's not so many people around - just the odd dog walker and fellow kiters (6 when we were there). Bags of space. I was told there's a beach called Dilas just over the water which is almost as good but has no other kiters - so in the summer when this one fulls up, off yer go.

Newborough Warren - The water


Directions: A55 to Anglesey going over the Pont Britannia bridge. First left is the old A5, down that. Then first decent left down the A4080, sign posted from there.

Map

Kiting #6 (12 Jan): So the next session was a touch calmer. Pofty and Linda - friends from the UK were in town so we met up for drinking Sunday night, where over some stunning pool victories I persuaded Pofty to have a go on the kite the following morning. So yesterday afternoon we made it out to FRANKTON again (see prior day's blog below). Definitely no chance of any accidents. The wind must have blown itself out the day before. But we go for a launch. Me in the water, Pofty in only his trunks attempting launches. Fairly unsuccessfully. But we get it up once and I mange a good minute or so flying before the wind stops dead, the strings lose all tension and the kite crashes into the water. Many more attempts, Pofty's feet now numb (I'd rather cleverly worn socks! - Oh, and had my wetsuit on!) - but no luck. So we swap round. I give him some in depth instruction, covering all the theory, scenarios and technique I've learnt so far. So a good ten seconds later he's in the water with the harness on and I'm launching. The wind is crap. We just about feel the occasional gnats breath. I struggle to launch. He struggles to launch. But then......we're up. Pofty's flying the bloody thing. For a good 20 secs before he's attached by the same deadness and the strings slacken to give way for a splendid emergency landing/shot at my head.

We swap and try the other way round but after valiantly trying for about one a half hours, give up to sit on the bank and sun ourselves.

Our only rejoicing coming from the inability of a couple of paragliders to launch their (even larger) kites a few moments later! So maybe we're weren't just crap.

Kiting #5: Sunday's outing was FRANKTON, just a few km from QUEENSTOWN on LAKE WAKATIPU. And scary it was too. The wind was onshore, but fairly strong. As yet I'm still no good at judging what a strong and not so strong wind is. So bugger it, I set up and went for it. By the time I'd finished inflating the kite, untangling the strings and dipping my toes into the incredibly cold water; it had started to rain and was a little gusty. But having been disappointed by Lake Wanaka, the water here was shallow enough for a beginner, albeit a little choppy.

The location is a 1-2m strip of gravel on the edge of the lake, just under the flight path from the runway at the local airport, with a grassy bank leading at 30 degrees up about 20m to a park before houses.

View from top of the hill









So I dragged K out of the car and she bravely assisted in the launch. It was unsuccessful. So she tentatively got her ankles wet. Still no good! Then a launch, but straight into the tree to my right - but under control, I pulled it free, and we tried again. Now it got more exciting - my lovely assistant dropped her top, hitched up her sarong and went for it. Getting waist deep in the water we launched again. But now I'm getting further out and am just on tiptoes. So we launch again - straight into the tree. OK. New strategy: move away from tree! She gets in the water properly and the kite's up - straight to 12 o'clock. No probs - but I'm hanging out of the water - this wind is a little strong for my 12m kite I think. Shit. How am I gonna get it down. So I tentatively swing her to the right - and I'M OFF - SHIT. Heading toward the shore, I swing her to the left, but no use. I'm choking on water and we're well out of control, the gravel beach hurtling towards me. Bollocks. I try to depower the kite but can't see what the fk is going on. OK, nothing for it. I pull the cord you're never to pull, and the kite detaches from me. I look up to see the kite flying into the grassy bank…….and a white bra and knickers running up the bank after it. I run out the water, then come to a stop as I realise the board is attached to me still. Struggling to release the leash, I hear shouts of "I've got it".

Phew.

No cars with kite wrapped round the front windscreen. No planes taking of with kite wrapped round the front windscreen.

So I've worked out wind conditions I really shouldn't fly the kite in!

So the weather was shit and the lake not as easy as I'd thought. it gets deep quickly and, given that I'm not on the board yet, I figured I'd either get dragged out the 20k's to the middle of Lake Wanaka, or would end up with my kite tangled round the conifer trees. So, yes, I wimped out today. So, LAKE WANAKA = not that great. Queenstown we headeth tomorrow so hopefully more luck there.

And Ben - if you got here - maybe we can have a quick go down in BRIGHTON (definitely good place for it) in a few weeks. Get yourself a sickie and borrow a wetsuit from someone and we'll have a day being dragged around the cold cold waters of wintery England.

Driving down the West Coast now - discovered a couple other places good for kiting. Just to the east of the Abel Tasman national park you've got a large beach called MARAHAU, and there's a local school there called kitescool me thinks. Then further down the coast at the beautiful OKARITO there's a large salt water logoon - which, of you get the the few hours either side of high tide would be great too. Now we're in Lake Wanaka, which I'll be testing out this afternoon, weather permitting.

Kiting #3&4: So out on the kite again today and also yesterday. Yesterday (new year's eve) was my final and third lesson. But all conspired to go wrong. Out at ARAWHAI (spelling, not sure) to the east of NELSON. Nice weather. Wind OK as we set up. The instructor was the German guy from Adventure Paragliding and Kitesurfing (can't remember his name - but I now remember that the other girl - the British instructor of the other day is called Sue). And there were two students - me and a girl it transpired was from the local rag - the Nelson Mail - and had been sent to do lesson so she could write up an article - for the 13th/14th Jan. So she was a total beginner. So we went out - me on 6m kite, she on 8m. But I was useless, and kept dropping the kite in the water - but there was f all wind - so kept dropping from the sky. So the instructor got fed up relaunching - and I couldn't't get the thing to relaunch itself either. And I took my kite in so we could share the 88m. Time wasted. And as I get back out again, the other two are coming back in as the 8m has torn. So we set up a 9m. Pump it up from scratch etc. To go out and discover that the wind has completely disappeared! So he showed us a couple of things - for me first time I'd used/had explained the four line thing, depowering etc. And that was that.

Now on to today. 12 midday woke up with a stinking hangover and a mouth like a desert with the disgusting taste of the Edam I raided last night from the campsite fridge - having had our own Camembert nicked by some other bugger. So I headed off down to the shop to get my kite. After the palaver in Wellington/here over finding a kite - I didn't want to miss this opportunity before we head off to walk the Abel Tasman track tomorrow. So I went for a 12m Naish Boxer and a 157cm Naish board and harness for a whopping NZ$3,000, - but that did include the two lessons here in Nelson. And then a bag on top for another NZ$170! But it's about time I treated myself (after a 5 month holiday!) - but it's my reward for pulling off the job in Sydney to start in Feb.



So we took the kite out this av. All a bit dodgy. Hangover. All a bit different to the training equipment. And the first time I'm doing it all alone with no instruction. Kate helps best she can. Lines tangled. Stupidly put the lines on up by the car (we go to TAHUNANUI BEACH - which seems an excellent place for the job) - and end up carrying the thing through the undergrowth and getting all tangled up. So Kate helps me launch. It's an amazing beach - tide out, lovely warm shallowish water, calm water, enough wind. The launch is a bit messy - I can't instruct her as I'm not really sure myself - but the main thing is we get it airborne. then I realise the lines aren't right. Oh well. Do a load of good body dragging in the water and build up some confidence with using this larger kite, and being more aggressive with the power. And land it nicely to Kate to stop and sort out my harness which is not done right and sort the lines. So some friendly bloke comes along to help me launch but it's all tangled up and it is evident I don't really know what's going on. So he helps and I think is astounded by my lack of knowledge - to the extent that i don;t know what the lines are called or where they go - they'recolour coded you see (as were the ones when I was learning).

Me with the kite on Tahunanui beach

It really is me!

Others doing it properly









We get it together. he launches and I have another good session body dragging and playing around. The wind drops and i retire for the day. Next time I'll be on the board - but must get a leash first!

Kiting #1&2: So it's day 2 of my kitesurfing (kiteboarding) experiment. I'm in NELSON, just at the north of New Zealand's South Island. I'm cheating a bit here - we'll start at day 2, and then backtrack to day 1 as it comes back to me. So Saturday (today's Monday) ended with disappointment. We had a day in WELLINGTON and I'd planned to visit Wind & Waves on Oriental Bay Wharf (or whatever it was called) but following a very interesting few hours in Te Papa and a "quick" trip to The Warehouse, we located the shop only to find it was closed. But that's New Zealand for you. There's that famous quote from somebody-or-other from the 50s who remarked that when he got off the boat/plane he found the country to be closed. Sunday's are here like they used to be a good 15 years back in the UK.

But I do rate the Warehouse - now this is a shop like I'd imagine Wal-Mart to be, less some of the food. A cross between Woolworth’s (the UK version), B&Q and Matalan - but all at Poundstretcher prices. "Where Everyone Gets a Bargain..." - it's on the radio all the time here! I've seen more Warehouses than pubs so far in this country. Anyway, sulking we returned to the town centre still under the impression that there was only one place in town that sold the boards. See, I had this idea that I'd buy a board & kite in Wellington then spend our four weeks travelling round the South Island seeking out great kiting spots and by the end of it I'd be up and running. Well it looked like it wasn't to be. This was the last big city we'd see till most of the way through the trip - and if there was only one shop here in the capital city and a great windsurfing area, then I had no hope elsewhere. So we ambled through town on the way to our 5:30pm Cook Strait ferry. K popped into a skateboard shop while I, to no avail, checked out a camping shop. Well she returned with good news - there's a shop on the way to the train station (from where we'd be making our war to the ferry) which might just have some equipment.

So off we marched, checking our watches as it crept past 4:15. Sweating we got there, enquired about kiting. And yes, they've got some stuff. Under a table! I had a quick look through - I knew I needed a 12m kite and a 157 board, and a seating harness. They had only one brand I hadn't heard of and not in the sizes I wanted. The young lad in the shop was pointing me towards a 6m kite. Now I'm confused! He insists that's good enough. Then when I say I've been told to get a 12m, he begrudgingly finds an 11ish metre one. And they don’t have a 157 board but he assures me a 130 or so board will be fine - the only one they have. And there are no kiting harnesses. But they've got loads of windsurfing ones - and they're essentially the same. Just missing some of the safety devices! OK, I say. Give me your best price on the lot. He goes to consult with the boss. I think he sensed I was in a rush. I'd been quoted $3100 or so for a Naish kit up in Bayswater (Auckland) - so that was my benchmark. While he's gone though I take a few breaths and manage some thinking. This is far too big a purchase to rush through - and now I'm confused about sizes, and rapidly losing confidence in my already limited knowledge of the sport. He returns with $2,600. A good price - maybe? I don’t know. Cheaper than before, but not what I'd wanted. So I thank him and flee - disappointed. And hoping that there'll be another such shop in Nelson - where we'll be on Monday (today).

So you can imagine my joy when I see a couple of kites in the air as we near Nelson. We're in the middle of a row (K and I) and driving with steam coming out your ears is never the best - so the chance to stop and watch for a moment is gladly taken. I drive on and tentatively park up near where they're launching. Now I’m getting better at these situations but I always return to some 14-year-old shyness when confronted with what looks like a load of people doing what they look like they know what to do, while I now close to zilch about it. And I want to find out more and ask questions - but am not entirely sure what questions to ask. So I furtively approach from the side, along the gravelly beach. And watch a moment. It looks more like a teaching set up. So that's a bit easier. There's a Brit, part of it but not looking like she knows what's going on either. So I set upon her with my bumbling questions.

Well I establish - HURRAY - that there's a kitesurfing shop and school in town. It's on Bridge St - I should be able to get some lessons on Tuesday - and should pop in tomorrow morning. But it seems a bit silly given that all the instructors etc are around me now. So I kind of say Hi to one - john I think - a German chap with - YES - the same NZ$88 Warehouse wetsuit on that I bought back in Wellington. Now I'd seen in the paper that their wetsuits were in a 30% sale. And assuming they'd be bloody cheap before a sale; and assuming that that kind of thing would be expensive from a watersports shop - I thought I'd save a few quid (or dollars) by getting one at my favourite shop. And surely there all kind-of the same: Neoprene and stitching. Well we'll see how long it lasts - but it did me proud today - and the instructor was wearing one too!

But I digress. So the following morning - today morning - I found Bridge St. Not easily mind you - K was navigating and doing her favourite trick of barking out lefts and rights despite having not yet determined which street she's actually on. So we went round town a few times first. But I’m used to that. And I find the shop and talk equipment. And somebody doesn't turn up for their session. And they'll give me a lesson free if I buy. And they're pushing the same Naish gear at almost the same price as the guy up in Auckland. And I'm reassured. And I'm getting bloody excited. And we um and ah about board sizes and kite sizes and brands. And a space appears for a lesson this afternoon. And I say I just need a coffee before shelling out all this cash. Coffee and wrap down - K off to the hairdressers - while I'm back in the shop and raring to go. I'm still scared of parting with the cash so say I'll do the lesson first then buy if I'm still keen. Okeedokee.

So on to the lesson!!! At last! I drive off to meet the others on the side of the water - a few K's out of Nelson on the was to Picton.. We've got the British girl from earlier - Lucy I think - (from earlier today, not the one I met yesterday). Having assumed it would be a male dominated sport. And one Kiwi's would be all over. I was slightly surprised to see the shop populated by Germans and Brits most of whom were women. The guy who taught me up in Auckland was also a Brit (he'd just left his kite school in Essaouira as tourist numbers there had dropped off). So I meet Jack - there's two of us learning together this afternoon. And don my new wetsuit. And as I always do - pretend I know slightly more than I do. I'm a strong believer in not wasting time going over things a gain when it's possible to push on. Or taking diddling little f'ing institutional type steps when you can just jump in. I didn’t push it too far though - 'cos I'm still a bit scared off all those bits of string. And when I tried it in Auckland on a 5 or 6m kite I got thrown around in the after a fair deal.

We're gonna do “bodydragging”. I assume that’s the same as the getting thrown around in the water that I tried a couple weeks back. Yeah - I've done that before. So we wade out. The water's nice - fairly warm. The breeze is fairly stable - but not very strong. I'm not into windspeeds yet and couldn't tell you the speed. But I'd hazard a guess at somewhere between 1 and 30 knots! 6m kite wind - enough to get dragged along the water. Lucy was a fairly good instructor. I preferred her to Tim/Tom/Jim (can't remember his name) of BAYSWATER, north shore of AUCKLAND. So I got bodydragged along first - though not very convincingly and not very far. She didn't appear impressed and said something rude along the lines of being a scared-y-cat, poof, battyboy, woman etc! Ok - try better next time. But I didn’t floor the kite, which I thought was a bonus. But that kind of thing is given I now realise. Jack next - now he's already learnt to fly his own kite on the land so I'm preparing myself for some embarrassment here as he performs superbly in front of here and she stands there admiring his s\technique. Well I was wrong. He was OK-ish but no much better than me. We did this a few times. And I'm starting to enjoy it. See I thought I'd done body-dragging at Bayswater but this is shit-loads better.

Never mind the board - its fun just being dragged along the water by this amazing power - thing. Need better words for that one. It was far easier to control. And, well, just - better. Ok m- I think I'm gonna get the hang of this faster than I thought. We played around at this for a while. To the right to 1-2 o' clock, then sweeping back across the power zone to 6-7 o'clock. And back and fro. And all the while moving forward. I forgot the shoe - on my second go - the one she wasn't impressed with anyway, I lost my wetshoe thing. But hey - they'd got them from the Warehouse too, so no big deal.

So we moved on to the board: me first again. This is a bit tricky - one of those things where at first there appears to be too many things to think about at the same time. Keeping feet in the straps (one missing a shoe), while controlling the kite. Getting the feet in the straps. Not sinking. Facing the right direction. Now I write it, sounds no big deal, but it was tricky at the time. I moved the kite to the right a bit then a big one to the right - and we have power and we have lift-off. A Challenger lift-off in all but flight time. I fell straight in the water, over the front/side of the board (kind of starboard). Again! She moaned again about lack of power.

OK, let’s go for it. Loads of right - 2 o'clock. And left... And the same happens again... but this time the kites down in the water. All that red, blue, no more red. I've got red on full..... Etc..... But Jack had to help me re-launch it. Another difference between this and the last time I tried. That kite had re-launched from he water really easily. So much so I'd been very surprised. Now again I'm thinking that this is a sport that I'll be spending a lot of time getting ready for and not as much doing. Like my surfing attempts in Sydney three weeks ago, where after three sessions and a good five hours in the water I spent only 1 nanosecond standing on the board.

But we re-launch and have one more go. I down the kite again. So it's Jack's turn. And on we go. Till the wind dies. And it's back to shore. And it starts raining so I rush off in the Car (our 1989 Toyota Corolla) back to the tent to rescue the sleeping bags that earlier on I'd so cleverly suggested we leave out to air. Excellent! So I made good progress I think. I'm not so scared of it anymore. And I'm definitely gonna buy one. Just see if I can get another lesson out of them first.

So that's also the end of the beginning of my new, first blog. Another thing, there are many - that I've been meaning to do for f'ing ages. And already I'm wishing I'd been doing this all the way through our Sri Lankan adventure. But hey…….