Each time I go kiting lots of people are asking how Dan is going so if your interested I thought I give you some news.

He has been in New Zealand with Underground for the last month. He arrived in Christchurch 26th Feb to cyclonic, cold, windy weather. Dan wears a full wetsuit here in OZ, so he piled on two wetties in NZ and still felt cold. Lucky Ripcurl organised a thicker wetsuit for him, which he will need in Austria. He got lots of kiting in, did an downwinder one day with a couple of Irish kiters, started off in 25knot winds, 12m Rhino, and ended up hitting a big front with 35knot and reakons he got a boost off a wave and did the biggest jump of his life. Some onlooker was taking photos and took 3 shots before he touch back on the water. He had the experience of kiting in the 'Poo Pond", self explanitory. Needless to say, got some stomach virus from it and missed the comp. which was the whole reason for starting off in NZ, Oh well. His shoulder was giving him a bit of trouble, but he confessed to me that he did a double kite loop in 35 knot winds which didn't help.

He left NZ on the 24th March for Eygpt, via Amsterdam to a kiting spot called Hurghdada for a kite expo with Underground. This has been a real experience for Dan, very primitive. Airport lost all his kites from Amsterdam to Cairo then lost his boards from Cairo to Hurghdada. Luckily he got them all back. The taxis drive around at 100kms with no lights, to conserve their globes!!! Anyway comunicating with Dan in Eygpt has been difficult. The computers are slow, take half a day to download a message and phoning is hit and miss. He is really missing WA and all his kiting buddies. Nothing to do in this place except kite, which is good but there was 3 days of no wind and all the kiters were just about to kill each other. He has met some great kiters and has been kiting with Mark Shinn and Mark Doyle, sorry for the name dropping but Dan used to watch these guys on vids and dream to be like them one day. Dan has to stay in Hurghdada for another 3 weeks until he heads over to Austria and Belgium when the PKRA comps start. After that he spends 2mths in Cabarate then Fuerteventura, Spain. Due back in WA 4th August, in time for our kite season.

Well it is posts like that that makes me real happy to sit at a computer for around 10 hours a day thru winter and then go home in the dark to sit in front of the box and think about kiting...
ahh i am just jealous.
good on ya dan, it is good to see that Perth has some talent up there with the big boys. Now they just need to get him in the mags and on the big DVD's so the world can look up to him like we do to our favourite heros....

whaddya mean big dvd s !!? He's on Fire Away - it dont get no bigger than that ! Get a copy if you havent already.

Have some good footage of him also for Detonation - the NEXT WA DVD due out June -ish.

pain don't hurt !

hi sue,

just checking what happened in WA since i left....and i found your post. great idea to write his diary that dan is coming to cabarete should be even more reason for you to come and join our Kite Chicks Week.

hope to see you over here soon.

petra