TARANAKI ... NZ

[Taz P]

It seems we won't kite in Taranaki ! But we'll go to have a look.
I'm dreaming of 90 miles beach !!! seems great ! Where are the magic spots your talking about Slyde ?

To blown away : We are 3 kitesurfers and we each have a 12 and 9. I have a 7 and my boyfriend has got a 15 ... so we should be OK for any condition ! I'm sure we'll see you there !!

How far is the west coast from Auckland ? I saw a spot called Piha beach that seems great but a bit small no ?

[BLOWN AWAY]

Hey Taz I used to surf at Piha quite often, there are plenty of beaches on Auckland's west coast. Guess what... I've never kited at any of them but the wind's are very good... especially during October. However those waves can get a bit nasty.

Piha is divided into 2 beaches... north and south. South is better for surfing and north is better for kitesurfing... north is about 3km long so plenty of room. South Piha is way smaller. However most of the AK guys kite at Muriwai further up the coast. Big beach, plenty of room, nice wind good waves but best off with a 4wd if you aren't the walking type.

I'm hoping to get some sessions out west but because I can't kite in the afternoon on 5 out of 7 days a week due to job etc I usually kite in the gusty inland areas (even in westerly winds) that are closer to home... during spring the winds can get strong so west will definately be best. If you don't like waves then a few of us have sussed out some nice flat water spots in Auckland's west facing Harbour (Manukau harbour) that get's nice clean wind and shallow flat water for ages but I have yet to kite there but others love it.

Keen on hooking up some sessions with you guys... I start work quite early at the moment (3pm) so missing out on a fair bit of kiting so the withdrawal symptoms are hurtin....

[BLOWN AWAY]

How far is the west coast from Auckland ?

Piha is 40km from Auckland City
Muriwai is 45km from Auckland City

If wind isn't from West.... then.

OREWA is 40km from the city on the east coast (for NE,E)
SHAKESPEAR BAY is 50km drive from Auckland city on the East coast (end of a 15km Peninsula, moderate sized chop, for S and SW winds)

If from North then my local spots aren't too bad like....

Eastern Beach (Moderate chop, nice in NE)
Bramley (Mint in Northerly, high tide flat water)
Omana (N,NW wind direction.... never kited there but looks great, excellent wind).

There you go.. just send me a private message for more imfo (or when your in Auckland).

See ya round....

Mark T

[Taz P]

Thanks for all the infos.
We arrive in Auckland october 17 th ...
Just time to buy a campervan and we are ready to kite all around NZ !
Before we go north of the country we might want to check the spots around auckland. So we can get in touch if you want. We'll be back in auclaknd in january anyway for a long time.

You can send us a mail at :
tazp@laposte.net and bragnouff@portnawake.com

We'll be glad to meet some locals !

Delphine, Alex and Cecilia

[BLOWN AWAY]

I'll see you guys when your in Auckland. I'll be interested in hearing what you guys think of up north because I've never kited there but other guys i kite with rave about it.... Where are you going in the South Island? Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson?

[Taz P]

We want to go everywhere !
We haven't really decided yet .. we'll se when we'll be on the road !

Can't wait to be in NZ !
See you in Auckland !

[mserms]

Spend a week around Taranaki in last April. Only a couple of days of wind and they were SEish. Went out at Kina Rd - monster waves but gusty poo for wind. I reckon if you're there when conditions are good it'd be awesome, but I wouldn't go there and hang about waiting for them, loads of better spots in NZ.

Far north of the North Island was wicked as was most of the South Island!

[BLOWN AWAY]

Hey Taz where aboutz in NZ R U now? R U still in NZ? When were U in Auckland?

I will actually drag my candy ass down to Taranaki one of these days... A dude i kite with used to come from thata way... he says it totally rocks, then again he likes waves. He reckons i should go there and check it out.... i'm in no hurry though. Where I live get's wind from every direction and good wind most days so i ain't complainin but like most people wanna check these spots out just to say "I've been there". Besides it's only a 300km drive to go see some windsurfers get totally trashed.