Haven't seen a poll here for ages so i thought it'd be a great idea to start one. i've finished watching the 3 episodes of wild weather and to be honest are pretty stoked to be living in such a kickass country weatherwise. As some of you know we have so much wind here in Godzone (those who don't know that need to get outdoors a bit more) and so much variety and so many beaches and endless coastline of deserted kickass spots that are yet to be discovered and kited.


The poll here is simple... what is your opinion on kitesurfing in NZ? I've made mine pretty clear over the years... and have even been banned before from many forums in defense of this great land. If you haven't allready figured... that little stunt i pulled in June of this year whilst it was all false... it worked a treat in mocking some of the less patriotic of us (I pissed off more "kiwis" on seabreeze.com.au than i did here, one even suggesting that i slit my wrists.)

Anyway enough of the bullshit... have your say and of course please state your reasoning cos i'm sure you will have them.

Oh by the way I'm not referring to NZ as a holiday destination but to live.

I didn't travel half way round the world to live in a place that sucked! If your talking just for kiteing then i'd put it outside of the top 10, most places in Europe get better wind and when you look at Oz or Brazil :shock: The variety and the fact its less crowded over here makes it great for kiteing.

In the top 5.

Better wind being???? Auckland makes things really complicated. a lot of guys base their assumptions of NZ kiting on what Auckland is like. I have just cast my vote and it comes as no surprise that it's for the first answer as for variety, uncrowdedness and the fact that there is allways wind we really kick ass.

Do remember AK kiters that not everywhere in NZ do you have to contend with horrid peak hour traffic and this i reckon is the number one thing that prevents AK kiters from getting more time on the water. This doesn't really apply to me apart from the odd days where conditions are southerly or SE and hecne a drive to Shakers would be adviseable but impractical due to the possibility of a wait at spagetti junction. It's a poor excuse in summer as chances are you'd come home well after evening rush has finished... but Shakers is mostly a winter spot and it gets dark at 5pm ... this coincides with the rush.

Now an interesting thing with crowds. Summer in AK brings crowds of "others" to the beach... never a good thing. As for crowds of kiters.... too many kiters can make for dodgy near misses etc but by the same token solo kiting is not that desireable either... something that applies bigtime here out east and i reckon for most of NZ.

As for the wind... a huge issue here. What does better wind mean? Better quality... less gusty?? Depends where you go i guess. But one thing is for certain..... even IF our quality is lacking... the QUANTITY is for certain right up EASILY in the top 5.

Now in regards to Brazil and OZ... I think the old thin skin syndrome applies here. They are tropicial places and the main attraction for lots of people is that they are warm. NZ is plenty warm enough for me. i've kited during winter in just boardies before today. Then again people who think AK's winter is too cold for kiting would be the laughing stock of any European kiter who kites during winter in zub zero temperatures.

Let's hear the reasons of your for and against. Who put us in the below average category? Who put us in the top 10??

This has got to be a no-brainer for anyone who has traveled with kiting gear to tropical locations with trade winds where a gust is a one - knot difference and tends to do the exact same thing every single day.
Its not too shabby here - but top ten in the world it is not. If you argue the opposite and have travelled, then you either have bad planning or bad luck or both.

Maui is gusty, Tarifa is gusty, Hood river is gusty, Capetown is gusty.... your point being??

The best kiters come from the gustiest locations. I'm lovin my gusty stuff so much that i can't even be bothered travelling to the steady winds of the Manukau Harbour.

That's like saying you shop at malls so you can find similar stuff or drink Starbucks coz it always tastes the same.

What the...?

As long as it's not so gusty that the kite can't fly (very bad rotory wind) there ain't nothin wrong with gusty stuff to get a kitebeasts skills up... the fact that we can kite every day is the main reason why i reckon NZ goes off. Every now and then it's good to visit tropicial spots etc for a bit of "chocolate" (steady winds) but like chocolate if it's the main thing you eat then you get fat, lazy and outsashape.

Gusty stuff is like vegetables. It doesn't allways taste that good but it's good for ya :wink: . Since that is the only gripe people seem to have with NZ (we've still only heard from Auckland kiters i mite add :wink: ) then I'm still happy with where i've placed my vote.

Also remember this poll is about living in NZ... not visiting NZ for 2 weeks and expecting to find 15 knot super steady trade winds from the same direction right outside your hotel room. This poll also assumes that kiting is a large part of your life and if necessary you are prepared to take a less powered job in order not to slave it 9-5 but instead do shiftwork .

Handle the jandal styles.. no way i can call Ihumateo Rd gusty :wink:

Still in the top 5 IMO for the fact that we get decent wind every day. for visiting though I'd actually rate NZ as below average due to the reasons kiteaddict has outlined above. Try visiting Auckland for 2 weeks and the different wind direction every day would drive a poor tourist to suicide :twisted: and of course would you travel half way round the world to eat veges??

Ha ha ha.....

It's the same old story...., you New Zealanders just "don't know how lucky you are"..., and then take it all for granted and piss & moan about it...

Why do you think there are so many "foreign devils" that have choosen to live and work here...? It's not for money I can tell you.... But it may be something to do with the fact that I live no more than 20 mins from the office, an hour from the ski-fields, and more importantly, 2 mins from the beach....


Well said mate....

Yeah Spiglord but look what foggy said after that....

But i do agree with ya... we moan heaps!!!! No place in the world moans as much as we do!!!!! I still reckon it's a conspiracy to keep all the kite tourists away. Like what i said... NZ is a awful place to visit but a legendary place to live and kite everyday... and i mean everyday... even the banner advertising Raglan states that (300 days per year is damn good!!)... and not long ago i was laughed at for stating the same thing for Auckland.

Auckland's imfamous traffic may be bad by NZ standards but most places in NZ think of traffic as sheep herds and two cars is deemed "gridlock". Compared to most big cities Auckland isn't that bad... nowadays the southern motorway can sometimes be free of congestion during peak hour thanks to extensive motorway widening at spagetti junction. We think the grass is greener offshore... and the minute Osama does a deed we come runnin back home to mumma :roll: (9/11 started a reverse brain drain).

The best spots in NZ have either never been kited or people are keeping very tight lipped about them... because if they have kited these spots they wouldn't moan about NZ so much.

If you think NZ hasn't much wind you really need to check some stats!! There is a reason why kiting why kiting hasn't taken off much in our capitial city but windsurfers have wet dreams about the place. Once small kites get better suited to handling extreme winds we could very well see Wellington becoming a force to be reckoned with for kitesurfing... for the time being the Welly kiters usually travel north where there is LESS wind.... NZ is that darn windy that most of the time it's whether it is TOO MUCH wind to kite in as opposed to not enough.

I don't diss other peoples mana or diss other countries. i'm just quite keen on singin the praises of mine.

Now I'm just about to embark on my 27th session so far this month and that is despite this November being nowhere near the standard of a normal Nov. i get crabby when winds get below 15 knots.. as i'm allways used to it being over 15 knots.. maybe this country spoils me too much.

300 days per year of kiting in AK is a very conservative estimate IMO.

i cant really comment on NZ yet but after my 3 month 'kite tour' i may be able to give a better opinion. what i do know is that WA is gonna take a lot of beating for wind consistency and spot choices. forgetting water temp (im from the UK anyway). i kited frontal stuff there too. one thing i have noticed on some of the spot descriptions on kiteforum, things like: watch for oysters-cut feet-bigtides, power lies, stay upwind of this and that, just seems like quite a few spots are a bit sketchy. im sure there are plenty that are big and open too.

also, anywhere with tradies has gotta be good. IME tarifa isnt that gusty, but then its a one-off spot anyway.

as far as living AND kiting, then NZ prob takes a lot of beating. i for one reckon i could handle living here for sure.

ive not experienced the kiwi 'moan' yet, but it cant be much worse than the 'brit' moan. and we've actually got something to moan about! :wink:

you are a bunch of wankers........
I would rate NZ to the top 10 laces in the world when it comes to kitesurfing no dought!

What are you guys complaining about you can ride all season, at least most of the north island can.
And the wind isn't that much better in europe (except maybe Tarifa/Spain)

While I'm freezing my nuts of hear in cool old Germany you guys will get to go out in shorty's soon again. While I will have to way until april 2006 to get same action again.
The only exercise I get a round hear is scratching the windscreen of my van free from the ice every fuc#*ing morning!!!!

For sure the grass from the neighbours is always greener as the own one.

But believe me you will start appreciating things when you dont have them around anymore.

I still caught myself from time to time thinking: oh yah muriwai beach will be great this weekend............. but fuc'*k no, Im in bloody cool germany!!!

I don't get you, you have over 30 spots to choose from around auckland and most of days in a year there is wind!!
If you thing NZ is no good for kitesurfing I truly feel sorry for you.........

take care guys and I hope some of you will go out to muriwai to have a great sesion for me.
cheers
Uli

Ps: this is how Kiel the city I life in looks like around this time of the year (dont forget the 10 hours we are behind your local time)

:cry: www.hyc86.de/webcams_in_kiel.htm :cry:

over 30? more like over 100!! Hey fullylit there are heaps of open spots in NZ. Most of the oyster spots etc are in central and east auckland... lots of the whingers only seem to remember those places. Then again I'd rather have a few oysters (which are pretty much a piece of piss at avoid) then white pointers zoomin round the place.. but just to appease your fettish for things large and hungry... there are places that have those too. Lots of places in NZ are so open and deserted that they probably haven't been kited... either that or they are so good that no-one dare blab about them for fear of losing their special little piece of paradise.

As for living and kiting.... i live FOR kiting, no woman, no kids, no money and a pretty cruisy job with convienient hours for kiting... and i can easily do that in AK. Dunno when our last day without wind was... can't remember that far back.

Western OZ sounds great.. wouldn't mind visiting there one day. As I said before i don't diss other places but NZ kiters that moan (Ok Auckland kiters that moan) only seem to remember places in the centre city that have a few little shells and aren't that pretty.... WTF???? Who gives a shit... you don't need pretty spots to kite so long as you have wind. And while it may be gusty (in central and east Auckland only i mite add) it's definately still kiteable.

I live for kiting, nothing else on this world comes close to occupying my mind as much as kiting... and kiting in Auckland is a fulltime job with plenty of overtime because for some reason the wind never seems to go away.... and there is no way i'm gonna diss a place like that... NO WAY!!!

And that's just Auckland. As for wind some parts of NZ are freakin unbelievable... and it's plenty warm here to kite year round... just incase people start complaining about the cold (once again an AK pasttime... when the southern boys kite year round and use the cold as an asset - keeps the whinin jaffas away).

Anyway enough of my ranties... It's 3am and i'm just about to bike to work... no traffic, no bitchy boss, no sittin in an office while it's blowin hard outside, no naggin wife and well over 300 days per year of great kiting.. dissin NZ??? No fucken way!!!!

PS: Who cares if the gusts in east auckland in a westerly are 5 knots instead of 1.

I've just reread your post and i guarantee that by taking a 3 month tour of the NI in the middle of summer you will miss all the wind, be in the wrong place at the wrong time and then come to the conclusion that "NZ is the most shittiest place in the world to kite"

And while you're doing that i'll know exactly where it's blowin, where to go in AK and if I have time will be able to sesh it up fullon. i'm not dissin you and i'm not patronising myself (especially after i got my ass handed to me by Orewa today) what i'm saying is that NZ is a crap place to visit and tour if you do not know what you are doing. Every single kitetourist here has hated this place because they can't handle our conditions and doesn't know where to go... whilst locals like myself and others who know the beaches and the weather sesh it up nonstop day after day for well over 80% of the year. The number of kitable days in NZ per year is in the top 5. The average wind speed is in the top 5, the number of strong days per year is in the top 5... but you have to find it. It's a mystery our country, a riddle, a puzzle, but if you unlock the secrets and solve the puzzle you will have found kiter heaven... but you won't do that in 3 months.

SI murders the NI over the summer months for wind speed. It's hotter (better sea breezes), has more frontal winds, has colder water (better sea breezes) and is much much less crowded.

If you want to tour the NI in summer I suggest Wellington. If you survive that experience you will have kited a place that gets two main wind directions, has very predictable winds and VERY strong winds. December there rocks for wind, Jan and Feb not as good as Dec but still ok... and in Wellie when it blows it BLOWS, leave your 20 at home. However in other NI spots the 20 is a valuable part of the quiver, especially if you wanna grovel in Orewa (an experience best avoided). 10-15 knots doesn't cut it if you wanna travel. if i was travelling to a place i want guaranteed 20-30 knots every day crossonshore outside my hotel room. Not too disimiliar to the place that you have just left actually (during the summer anyway).

Anyway good luck with your tour cos you'll need it :wink:

wow its cool 2 c u fellas like wat nz has and id just like 2 say ur wellcome and enjoy,i voted nz in the top 5 but realy wat da fuc would i know, muriwai orewa muriwai orewa jezzz,but i had a flat water slide at st helliers last monday and did a few lessons at farm cove during the week so alls good...

... and all those places (except farm cove) i wouldn't rate during a summer sea breeze but when there is a strong wind blowin they are great spots. No oysters at Muriwai and Orewa and the wind is steady. If you think those places are gusty then you need to learn how to kite. St Heliers at low to mid tide is excellent in a strong NW.. once again i stay right away from that spot in summer thermals... ban fodder. As for Bramley (farm cove)... well that place IS gusty in strong winds but from the north it's good. from the SW it's gusty of strong. but the sea breezes here are good and steady and more importantly this spot isn't a beachbum/swimmer hole. The north thermal often hit's 15-20 knots here and the SW thermal hits 25 on occasions... so much for AK not having a sea breeze :roll:

Johnny you have allways impressed me with your patriotism and your honesty and if anyone was gonna join me in the top 5 brigade then it would be you. I'd like to know who voted for "can't wait to leave".... here's hopin they do just that.

Orewa was great yesterday and Muriwai was great today.

Bugger i thought it was going to be S/SE all day otherwise i'd have headed over to Muriwai. Shakers was crap and some real idiot riders kiteing through the swimmers and there was a newbie bag rider (This he was Asian) who managed to helicopter his kite after launch then take out 2 people :roll:

Hey Ian (Philleas) I had contemplated heading over to shakers yday but Tim (aklbob) was keen on some waves. I had a feeling that it would have gone SE at shakers which was why i'm glad i went out west. nice and windy, crossonshore and sunny. It's a shame that kiters still persist in kiting amoungst swimmers when conditions at a spot clearly aren't worth the hassle of setting up. Especially if he's a tourist, he ruins it for the rest of us but it don't affect him because he's gone back home. It would be a crime aginst humanity to have shakers banned from kiting because when it goes off it goes off there... especially in a winter southerly.... worth me making the 80km drive up from Howick to kite there when it's on. I mite head up there today. If it's too SE at shakers i mite do matakatia bay instead.

No it's not, in fact I have no idea what the connection is there, even though that is a plan which has probably netted Starbucks and Westfield a good few million dollars in revenue, thus harldly an unpopular idea......
Don't get me wrong I love NZ and it has great conditions, it's just my opinion that it is not world class.
It's also my opinion that constant wind is better than gusty wind to learn new tricks in and predictable conditions are better than wildly unpredictable. Any comment to the contrary is only try-hard stauch bollocks. Saying you like ever-changing conditions and gusts is like saying you like your chicks fat. Do you like fat chicks?

I love fat chicks, more power, less fickle, less bitchy

I never find the winds in Auckland too gusty to try or learn new tricks.... and that's at the normal eastern spots i kite at... which are tonnes gustier than out west at the coast/Manukau etc.

Reason why i rate NZ as world class is because there is lots of wind everyday... remember kiteaddict i'm talkiing about a place to live, not a place to visit. visitors don't care if it blows all year, they just want perfect conditions with no gusts, warm water, etc etc while they are there. But if you live at a place you want it blowin all year and to be honest i don't really care as to how warm the water is and if i want steady winds i can drive 50km to the manukau harbour. And the wind in AK does not change every 5 minutes as what some people think.... on most days even during winter the squalls have mostly rained themselves out by noontime and the arvos are mostly squall free. That's for out east auckland way and central AK where people like moaning about the gusty conditions.

My reasoning is that i'd rather live at a place with pumpin wind everyday like NZ, doesn't matter if it's a tad "gusty". When i go on trips then i can find all those places with the trade winds and have a play in 1 knot gusts etc. Those places have their seasons so when the season finishes i can be back in my never ending wind generator known as NZ. A great homebase IMO.

I went to shakers yesterday and conditions were excellent, didn't veer SE at all, stayed southerly and no way was it gusty. Only a few out too at around midday... none of the after 4 crowds that descend there when it's goin off. Damn man no way can they ban a spot like that!!

[quote="Uli"]
And the wind isn't that much better in europe (except maybe Tarifa/Spain)

[quote/]

...... the wind isn't ANY better in Europe (and that includes Tarifa).... You obviously have NOT been to Wellington. i challenge anyone who disses NZ to stick their 20m kite up in Seatoun or Petone on a typicial day and then tell us all it's not windy in NZ.

... and to the nimwit who decided to flame me on Lee's website and then get me into trouble with Lee... stinky poos to you.

Get in the wagon And go for a drive!Hard to get steady wind down WEST HAVEN
We have some of the most beautiful coast line in the world!Usually with some sort of breeze on it!
So many top kiting spots, usually with no one around !
Who wants SAME SAME?
A change is always good! New beach,New adventure i say.
Seek and you will find.

How lucky are we kiteboarders living in a country like OURS?
Very

C.U.O.F.O

Careful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You may have just been very lucky with your travels?
How good has it been of late?
Not many if any!( Days of the water)

... and i wish there was a few more of us too. All these 30 knot days kiting with Casper and Clifford are starting to make me feel like i'm in the post civilisation era where i'm the only one left on the face of this earth. Where is everyone?? The beaches are void of kiters.

Fin lee a day o west.

Say What ???????????

Rest Day, No Wind!Fuck this cunt tree SUCKS ?! NOT!

Don't get your hopes up too early Doon. i'm after a day of rest too but it's 15-20 out at the heads and by this arvo it could be pumpin at Pine Harbour... if i miss that then i'll go crazy once again. It's pretty crusty out east at the mo with only 10 knots but with one eye out the window and the other on the Tamaki meter and 2 hands shovellin kai into the puku the beast is ready to chow on some action with the flying blobbies.

right. been here 2 months. im now in christchurch. been round the north island already. my critique..

Doubtless bay - awesome spot but not quite enough wind when i tried.

Raglan - riding on the outgoing tide. interesting experience but riding a spot the size of a soccer pitch with 20 other and one slightly agro local rider. not ideal.

Mt manganui - nice spot. wld be great in the right w direction.

Poverty bay - Dodgiest sesh ive ever had but also the most rewarding. I was desperate! Just me, offshore, seriously gusting like +- 15 knts, crapload of driftwood to launch amoungst but a sic little wave on the river mouth. rippin.

Nelson - where ive done the most kiting here. had good wind there. nice spot. If the winds marginal and the tides going the wrong way can be a bit of a struggle but when its right the sandbanks in the rivermouth are sweet. no current and knee high for ages, even a little wave.

Amberley (south of somewhere) - Had a sesh yesterday there. some sizable wave action, huge beach. prob a bit dodgy on a high tide though?


Ive had other sessions but to be honest cant remember the names, just rocking up at beaches and having a look. on the whole I reckon NZ has some awesome spots, and if uve got a local spot then of course its the best because you'll know it so well. For a visitor then maybe its not so great. If its summer then bring a big kite no doubt. and expect to be frustrated with having the tides and wind not coincide for your kiting pleasure. Ive gotten away with a shortie everywhere down to christchurch. on the whole im glad i bought my kites but wouldnt come here specifically to kite again.

think i'll be trying tarifa or somewhere in greece next. but then i am a 'euro'

luvya.

...... and while you've been doing that it's been windy every day up here in Auckland. After hearing that report the next smartass comment about AK from beyond the bombays is as we jaffas all know... just bullshit.

No big kites needed so far this summer in AK.

Looks like i was right about your trip.

Here is hoping the SI does the deed for ya.

PS: Why didn't you kite in wellington??

Stop it Thrasher!!! Your never ending comments on this subject are amazing! Get off this forum and ride, thats the only way you can comment on conditions in NZ. Try a new spot early chance you have!?

How many times this year have you done this?

Thrasher 0?

Se Ya Out There!!!!

Good advice.

Not wanting to send you off on another meltdown Trhasher - but as I sadly cannot help but read your forum-speak I strongly agree with Doon.

Also I would suggest you change your mind about being uninterested in kiting waves.....

What a stink sport kiting would be if all we did was just tootle backwards & forwards on flat water, tea-bagging.

If all I had was a flat water spot I would be building & riding the slider / kicker to make up for not having waves to use as ramps & to ride.

Hope you actually went kiting in Wellington & didn't just talk it up like you did about going to Perth.

Still looking forward to the day you arrive in Raglan Thrasher.
Would be cool to put a face to the forums "beast of the east"
All the best for 2006.

See my website for the reply




See my website for the reply.

Thrasher dude, I haven't got a problem with you personally, it's just your incessant postings about stuff you don't really follow through with that gets a bit tedious.....

I don't think anyone really hates you as you make out.

They have better things to do, like go & ride interesting places in NZ...

Like in real life, not on the WWW