It's in the mail, but not here and the wind is perfect for a romp today!
Well, it is christmas so I guess I should be happy about what I got.. and man did I get something for kiting!

My wife thought I looked so good in a kilt for our wedding that I should have one for general use, and we DID have a fly down the beach today, and I did wear the kilt. (Once our connection is sorted I'll post some pics).

It's oddly comfortable to fly in, but man, after christmas lunch flying with a harness makes you feel so fat.

bugger about the board, but... supermarket carparks are all but empty this time of year, nick a trolly, take lines off kite and replace bar/ handels to kite body, and with the blustery wind coming thru the south island today you'll break landspeed records.

hope you get your board soon dude, when i first got over from blighty i was without one for bloody months, did my head in. what type have you got?

i managed to work off chrismas morning bubbles by doing some static flying in the field behind my house with my trusty 5m. rekon i've found a new play spot over here chch guys. probley boards only cause of length. i'll post up some pics at some point. mellow middle riged long padock with mown track, works both in sw and ne. about 100m long and easilly kite wide. oh and sloped gently, so good for playing. awesome veiw to, good for photo shoot.

find a hill (there's plenty in nelson area) and do some hill flying and scare the hell out of yourself with the lift off the updraft.....

don't kill yourself tho.... kites aren't paragliders.... tho chasta makes them look like it.

Belac, I'm getting an MBS Pro 90 pricey, but I've been on the same board since 2003 and figure if it lasts me 5 years of hard riding like my last one then it's well worth it, if only for things like this as I'm getting some Ion3's too (but will have to wait till feb most likely).

I'm also going to buy a new helmet (the old one was getting rather beat up and manky) think I'll go with this one as I can't find any other decent helmets in my area.
Let me know about that spot, I'll come say hi when we move mid Jan, if I don't see you on the beach first.

Plummet, I think most of the hills round her are too much covered in trees and power lines to really try flying on them, but man the beaches are great, and Neale park is pretty sweet to fly on.

I"m expecting something from customs in the mail tomorrow or so, and I'll be on the board next week, need to get my practice in to get back to where I was before I couldn't fly for ages!

is anyone else finding this forum is going reeeeal slow?

yeah man, another chcher. do you know where your gonna live yet. i recomend being near brighton beach, you can fall outof bed straight onto a board and go for a morning hoon down umteen kms of beach.

i live a ferry ride outa the city over in an old volcano, makes me sound like a bond villan no real kiting on the beaches where i am, but i'm slowly finding platoes on the mountains behind me that could be superfun for hillkiting. need to get my skills up first tho as the gusts are full on. so news years resoloution is to get over to brighton beach at least once a week and get some practice in. i want to get some jumps damn it.

and yeah that board looks as sexy as felicity kendal in her prime. alltho i think theres some sexy boards in production in chch too. 5.2 kgs, wow. will have to meet up and have a go .

Go to see your getting a board. Will be sweet to compare the pro 90 against the carbon deck im getting built... Nelson Kitefest will be awesome.... Hope you have some kites for that. And if theres no major riding you need to be able to show us the spots for riding.

Till then, ride well and good winds to you

Yeah the forum be slow, I think it has a lot to do with the new set up, and the admins not quite having linux down pat.

And yeah, 5.2Kgs is still more then I wanted, I was going to get a sweet custom deck in the UK, but just as I got ready to sort out buying it and stuff the guy decided to pack it in, his decks were below 1KG, he had some new carbon axels that came in at about 300g for the pair too, the whole thing would have ended up below 4Kgs, but this is still 2 or so less than what I've had for years, and seeing what Wilby and co do with them I'm pretty sure it'll suit me fine.
The wait is killing me though, lovely day for it today and I can't get out, not even had any info from the customs people yet so I don't expect to have anything till monday, meaning tuesday at best right now for that..
We're looking to move ASAP, but have a very specific requirement about the internet speeds so will be looking more towards central/south CHCH, but that's still close enough to the beach to decide to go at a moments notice etc. So I might actually be moved before the Nelson kite fest, but will be back for it as our shipped stuff won't arrive in NZ till the 16th or so.

you talking about CKB or Design Extreme, Both make some amazing boards..... And CKB's board that is under 3kg is just nuts.

Forum seems a little faster now which is nice.

Specific requirements about internet speeds, that is a laugh and i wish you all the best of luck for finding something decent, in NZ i doubt youll get anything decent, Telecom are crap.

I know how you feel about not having a board to ride, it sucks...

Let me know when you are in chch and we will meet up for a ride and introduce you to everyone.

edit seemed to screw up... whoops

telstraclear at least offer cable internet and are expanding throughout the major cities, so we're trying to go with them (although there are some pretty sweet looking places a stones throw from the beach, if they're as good in person as they seem we'll forgo decent internet).

And I'll let it be known when we get there, we will be going for a week to check out houses and stuff, where's the best bit of beach to go to? I'm sure we'll have a few afternoons to go fly even then!

And as far as decks go, it was either of those two, but when I got to the point of saying 'yeah I'll get one' they had both run out of carbon and were not getting any more in for a while if at all, and by that point I needed to move etc etc. But like I said, no big deal, watching what has been done with airdecks and the like alone shows it's more about the rider and kite for hangtime etc

Yea man, go telstra clear. Best ISP in NZ. I'm on their PDQ service and its awesome. Incredibly reliable and fast enough for me. I wouldn't use anything else.

Cheers, Will

We've seen some houses in New Brighton though, which are not covered, but have the beach just outside the door...

It'll be agonizing trying to decide wether the beach being right there or nice internet is worth it... will know in a few weeks

it would be a no brainer for me. beach,,,,,,,

Yeah id happily put up with the crappy internet plan i currently have if i was close to the beach, i think ill put up with the crappy internet plan im on anyway and 20mins form the beach but whos really counting the time.....


And the comment about the rider and kite.... I think it is down to mostly the rider second the kite and third the board.... you know what they say, "all the gear, no idea" but having good gear never hurt anyone either.

Woot! the board arrived today!
Sadly there is a screw missing from the handle and one of the axles hadn't been machined properly but a quick file down fixed that, I'll stop off at mitre 10 before hitting the beach for a screw and have a ride.

It feels great and messing about with it on the road I've adjusted the feel and bindings a bit, so we'll see what it does with the kite, I must say it's so much lighter than my last board and a hell of a lot better looking.

and I agree on the gear, I just happen to have some cash right now and after all the saving I want to go a little crazy, I've been offered two ion3's for $4kNZ shipped so I might take that when I have my bank details sorted out.
i want to get back to the 360 board offs and big rotations though, and start working properly on handle passes with the board as I've only messed about with that on my feet so far

Argh handel passes.... Im going to have to step up my game a bit. But to be honest i wont be doing handel passes anytime soon, but 360 board offs will be coming soon that and board varials i reakon.

Will be looking forward to riding with you at the fest in nelson.

Post some pics of the board!!! want to see!!!

Would have done so earlier, but my connection is basically dial-up right now, got a little sunburn yesterday (seem to have lost my sunscreen) but my ugly mug isn't what you need to be looking at.

I also threw in one of me with my new kilt, you can be assured I'll have pics and video of me flying with that on properly!





Sans handle till I get the damn bolt.
Also, we might have already moved by the Nelson kite fest and not be able to get back for it, but we'll see!

I like the combat kilt looks awesome. Are you from Scotland if so were?

My wife is the one with Scottish decent (although I don't doubt I have some too somewhere) and I wore a kilt for our wedding in honor of her father (who sadly passed away a year or two before) and she thought I looked so hot in the kilt that I should have one for reals.

I think I need a few now, it's weird to start with and I don't think I'll ever get over people gawking etc, but she likes it

OOOO i like it!!! Even got twister hubs and Ti skate trucks....

If you are indeed in chch before the fest im sure i will have an extra seat going up if you want to come along. Its a wicked weekend away sleeping flying drinking and BBQ. And the more the merrier.

Chch is getting good now. The thermal NEers have started which means nice solid winds without gusts. Maybe not as strong as normal but i think thats alright.

Again thats a nice board.... Get down to chch so i can see it in action!

Yeah, it is pretty sweet looking, and it's not the pro for nothing.
While it could indeed be lighter, it's at the point where it'd only make a difference to either a pro (doing bigger and better) or a beginner (where it's nice to have light stuff to learn on).
Like I said, only complaint is missing a bolt for the handle, which isn't a big deal just yet and I can get a replacement sent to me quickly.

Wind looks to be up today so I should come home tonight with some pics