Kite Fiji

A group of us have got together and organized a trip to Plantation Island/Fiji. Plantation Island lies southwest of Nandi (main island) at the bottom of the Mamanuca island group. It gets one of the most consistent trade winds around. The mission is to get some of the best kiting in the South Pacific. Fine tune your technique and tricks in 15 knots plus, in board shorts and clean water. Does it get any better then that!?

Package:

2nd - 9th August, 7 days kiting
Transfers (bus and boat) included
Stay at Plantation Island Resort - www.plantationisland.com
Studio Bure, (4 sharing)
Meal Packages (optional)
Insurance (optional)
Safety craft at hand
Costing:

Package Cost, flying Air Pacific, including transfers $1,650.00

Meal Packages:

Option1, (six days) Daily buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner $360.00

Option 2, (six days) Daily buffet breakfast, Dinner $252.00

Please note:

Price is based on a minimum 12 adults
A deposit of $250 per person is required on booking and balance is due before 13 June
If couples are wanting a room to themselves, hotel rooms are available for extra $150.00 per person

We have a couple more positions available!!!!! first in first served, so be quick!!!!

More information please contact, Derek @ WSP, (09) 486 7739

Sounds like a great trip! Heard Russel Carline went up there last year for three months, kited everyday (pretty much) and only ever used his 12m kite. I'd go but shit, got no pingers :cry:

You are correct about Russell Carlyon spending three months in Fiji and he did kite everyday (pretty much) with his 12m kite. That was until the day when he tried to boost over a parked wooden longboat to impress the locals who we'd just whipped at rugby.

I was downwind and didn't witness the incident but apparently, something didn't quite go to plan and Russell the Muscle hit the boat and then got dragged over its cabin, which unfortunately for his ass had a row of rusty nails which hadn't quite been nailed down, and which left several equidistant grooves in his sunburnt flesh to compliment the impressive hematoma and suspected broken internal bits. The boat sustained some damage also.

Unbelievably, Russell kept kiting for about an hour, explaining later: "If I had of stopped I would have seized up completely". Eventually we got our kites tangled up and he finished his day with a double kite drag in dead offshore conditions out into the bay sparking a full double dinghy rescue mission.

Needless to say, the remainder of his time was spent licking his wounds and feeling very sorry for himself. Even lying down on the ketch we were on was apparently painful and the slightest movement caused drama, let alone the boys kiting it up outside.

Let this be a cautionary tale to all who are tempted to boost over solid objects - a bizzarely Kiwi habit methinks. Yes, before you get all excited and start pointing your bars at me, I admit that I myself have tried to destroy a couple of bits of council property by catapulting myself into them at high velocity - but at least I wasn't trying to boost over them, I just needed some quality hospital time to catch up on my reading and daytime TV.

There was this one time though that I tried to boost ON to an object moored right in the middle of a contest area - this had quite spectacular consequences and is still providing entertainment for many a kiter - I thank God to this day that the slider was made of polystyrene and was built by a couple of bored Underground workers - not some Fijian warrior's grandfather and used by his family daily to catch their dinner y'know what I mean?

interesting that when ever shaan is aroud the session more often than not ends in tears

and tangles

According to my records, I recently celebrated my 1000th kiting session. Admittedly my short term memory loss hinders me at times - for example I can't remember what I had for dinner last night or what the movie was I watched on Sky, but I can give an almost obsessively detailed account of every kiting mishap over the last four years.

A few statistics: I have snapped one carbon bar, 10 sets of lines, 4 boards, 30 harnesses, 567 chicken loops, and damaged all of the 22 kites I have owned in some way (the severity has lessened considerably in this category although I estimate I've spent about $2500 on kite repairs). I have also destroyed a slider, 65 little hand pumps and 30-odd big pumps. I've lost several boards at sea, all of which I've somehow got back, 4 girlfriends none of whom I'd take back - and been involved in about 10 tangle-ups.

On the personal injury side, I've been hospitalised thrice, had 4 operations, been stitched up at medical centres half a dozen times, been electrocuted by lightning 4 times, gotten tendinitis in my elbows and had an entire quiver of kites stolen. I would've spent at least 20 nights sorting out completely tangled line sets and about $5000 on gas driving to windswept beaches, about 15 hours digging vehicles out of aforementioned windswept beaches, plus another $10,000 on trips overseas to Maui, Oz and Fiji where I've been cut by coral, stung by blue-bottle jellyfish and almost lost a leg to septoaceamia.

To balance all this out I've competed in 9 contests and have won a pair of shoes and three t-shirts. Yay!

Anyway, statistically I have a kitemare about every 100th time I deploy a kite in anger.

How's your stats Mr Guest? No doubt your record is as spotless as the driven snow and you've never been plagued by inclement weather, ill fortune, incompetence, crowded beaches, inferior product design, poisonous or carnivorous sea creatures, blonde moments, substance abuse, relationship bust-ups, man-made death traps or acts of God.

maybe you should take up knitting, far less risky!

Yeah, I tried that once and it wasn't that much fun - good on you for being into it though - there's no shame in it.

I prefer boosting big and wave riding with small kites myself.

Go the All Blacks!