QLD
431 posts
Hi peoples, ive recently been displaced from sunny warm wind friendly Brisbane OZ, to windy cold Welington NZ, n was wondering anyone knows of any good kiteboarding spots and or friendly kite people to hook up with around here. i,ve seen heaps of windsurfers but no kites! :( What the!!
92 posts
there is definetely a crew down there. i know that waikanae beach about 40 minnutes north is a favourite spot. not sure about spots within wellington itself. kiteforum.co.nz is pretty active and has a location guide. enjoy your time in aotearoa, its a cool place.
QLD
417 posts
ring wildwinds in wellington 04 3841010 & they will be able to help you,
i will be home from perth 4 xmas family lives 10 mins from wiakane
VIC
275 posts
There is a good website http://www.kitesurfers.co.nz/
that has a location guide for the wellington region. It can get pretty windy in wellington so I hope you have some small kites! There is no kiting at a couple of spots in the harbour due to the airport. I think Petone and the Paraparumu coast are the most popular.
156 posts
Hey merman please let us know how you get on down there. I mite be heading down for a week in my next holidays. I hear that Petone is the place to be for southerlies but are unsure about northerlies. For the city spots i hear Seatoun works in a northerly. If it's more NW then Plimmerton mite be the go. Then of course you could allways head up the coast to Waikanae etc. My brother lives down there (Wellington city) and i'm originally from Wellington and are lookin forward to kiting in a beach that isn't in Auckland. Also keen on doin some checking out anything on the other side of the hills (west of the city and south of Plimmerton) for high wind action in northerlies/NW that isn't affected by the airport.... could be interesting....
WA
2782 posts
There is a company called kitescool in NZ, I think they're in Wello. Check them out!
Good luck
QLD
431 posts
Thanks for that info guys, helps out heaps.... i,ve had a bit more of a poke around n Waikanae seems to be my best bet, even tho its a bit of a drive.
There just doesnt seem to be enough open flat space in Wellington, i freek out a bit when i dont have enough space around me if the **** hits the fan.
Also the wind here is gusty as hell one minute it,ll be a prefect 17 - 20 knots next its on its way to 30, n some mornings its like 20knots at 6am WHAT THE #@!*!! might have to get a smaller kite:O
anyway thanks again guys!!!
WA
819 posts
Knock knock!
Whose there?
Statue.
Statue who?
Statue cuz?
NSW
230 posts
I went to secondary school in wellington for one year, and we were kept in after school several times during the year because it was too windy to walk on the footpath (without being blown into the traffic). I also remember the council (or maybe the police) stringing up hand ropes down Molesworth street a couple of times for people to hang onto as they walked down the road. Our house (in karori) used to actually sway in the wind - not shudder, but sway, like a boat. One night my friend broke himself when he fell off a water tower - leaning 45degrees into the wind. The wind was strong enough to hold you up when you leaned into it, and it was frequently windy enough for this sort of silly bugger activity. I have often thought about kiting in wellington but everytime I have been back there I think that windsurfing looks appealing. I would get a 6 meter kite, a crash helmet and a wetsuit that makes a set of formula one tyres look skimpy. Good luck.
156 posts
Well i had the pleasure of kiting in Wellington earlier on this year. Beforehand i wasn't expecting much due to bad publicity about the place.
Well lets just say that on my way home i was a changed man. i was very impressed with wellington. I was there for 4 days, kited two but could have kited all of them if there were other kiters around. The Wellington kitescene is tiny. either be prepared to kite solo or go with a friend because it'll be a perfect 25 knots and no-one there.
Wellington has only 6 beaches worthy of kiting. When you come from a city that boasts over 100 spots (Auckland) this is a godsend. No chance of overcrowding here though as the kitescene numbers less than 10.
I saw all those 6 spots except for one of them. I saw Seatoun, Eastbourne, Waikanae, Lyall Bay and Petone. Kited all of those except Seatoun and Eastbourne.
The first day was warm and very sunny with no wind apart from a 15 knot seabreeze at Petone. Didn't head out despite enough wind for my 17.
Second day was from the north a rising 25 knots... by the time i got to Seatoun it was pushing 30. No clouds anywhere. Pearler conditions but no-one there. It kept getting up and in the arvo i hooked up a sesh at Waikanae which isn't as long a drive as what i initially expected. Waikanae is excellent, coastline goes for ages with steady wind and small, friendly waves. It was about 20-25 knots and clear skies.
Third day was different and reminded me where i was. 40 knots pushing 50 from the NW. Once again waikanae territory but checked out the other side of the harbour at Eastbourne. Very nice beach, plenty of room.... it's just that my smallest kite was an 8m and of course i had the place to myself so sorta backed out from kiting that day. Oh yes and there was horizontal drizzle... i remember the old saying that wellingtons rain moves sideways faster than it falls but this place isn't annoying like Auckland rain and that wind was steady too.
Thursday it was from the south but pretty up and down. It got to 25 knots at Petone but was too SE and eased to 15 knots which had me underpowered. Lyall Bay works great in a SE and there were 6 kiters out. small clean waves and a light 15 knot SE that was very smooth.
I was very impressed with the place.... it has many advantages over Auckland. Tides are very small, less gusty, way more wind, no crowds on the beach, much simpler setup and TONNES less traffic. I allmost died of shock on entering the harbour area... where the heck are the cars??? It just highlights how bad Auckland's traffic issues are.
On the downside the harbour is not suitable for beginners as the beaches are all chop jumping spots that are large and windy and get deep pretty quickly. you need to know how to kite properly before coming here. On the kapiti coast however it's great for beginners. And the kitescene is tiny. If you like a big crew... you will be dissapointed. If you don't like anyone else around... you will love Wellington.
Yep without a doubt one of the top spots in NZ for sure. The only real dissapointment for me was the fact that i didn't get to see Lake Ferry.
QLD
417 posts
blownaway ,well done agreat review of wellington, i used live on the kapiti coast , wish i got to kite there,
maybe next year when we catch up with family
