Hi everyone! Im back from my epic travels on the KPWT(kite pro world tour) and I just want to let you guys know how it all went, which countries i've been in where i stayed and how were the winds!

Thanks again to my sponsors COCONET, CABRINHA, BLEUEYE, KITEPOWER and UNDERGROUND for their efforts and support threw those 9 months.

2008 is a year that will forever stay in my mind.
With my studies finally over and the High School Certificate in my pocket in November 2007 I decided to take on the Kite Pro World Tour (KPWT) I had seen magazines with pictures of podiums and legendary kiters such as Kirsty Jones, Mitu Monteiro, Sander Lenten, Kristine Boese and many more. Since I had a fair idea of competitions and had won the Australian Nationals 07/ 08 I wanted to see the level of other international riders and compare myself to the best of the best.

EGYPT
The 1st of April was when i left Australia to head over to Egypt to train a bit before the first stop of the pro circuit. I stayed with a friend who owns a kite school in Hurgada (Red sea) called Colona Watersports. In front of the Magawish Hotel was where i spent most of my days kiting, going back and forwards from the main beach to this little sand bar not even 300 meters away. The wind conditions were about 15 to 20 knots, I used my eight meter often but this is not my favorite size to train on. The place is friendly but as a young women in a muslim country, I stayed with friends who lived there for over three years. Just to be safe.

FRANCE
I left Egypt to head to the first country where the tour would begin, France. Saint - Gilles Croix de Vie was the location where the competition was held. To be honest it was a beautiful place but from the 28th of April to the 4th of May it’s a little bit cold. But there was strong winds, about 25 to 35 knots. I stayed at the Marina Hotel witch is right on the kiting spot with other riders. It cost about 75 euros for a room breakfast included.
No need to tell you how the french food is like, the usual “baguette” and french patisserie were on the breakfast menu. Good size waves and flat sections in between them made it tricky to land some tricks for the freestyle session, but at the end I came 3rd, not that bad for the first stop of the year.

GREECE
Next stop on the list was Greece well not really in Greece but one of it’s many islands. The comp was from the 19th until the 25th of June.
To get to the competition area I had to catch a four and a half hour boat ride to finally arrive on the beautiful shores of Paros Island. The Paros KiteProCenter were part of the organization and they were really friendly people, always inviting us to dinner and parties. I stayed at the Holiday Sun Hotel (75 euros + breakfast) with other riders and organisators of the competition.
I have heard so many riders telling me that Greece was the best place for wind and fantastic blue water and they were right everything was so perfect the only thing missing was a wave spot. I was so excited to kite in this perfect location, but unfortunately the day before the competition began some of the riders decided to go into town for a little lunch. We had three scooters for seven of us, now we knew that we needed one ore scooter but we decided to just hop three onto a single one.
Anyways I have learned that you should never ever ride with three people on one scooter especially on the slippery roads of Greece. The only competition I had, was to get more bandages for my skinless knee from the two guys who fell with me. All we did after every morning going to the hospital for new bandages was eating -very nice- Greek salads (4 euros for a huge salad with big fetta chunks) and watch others having a ball out on the water. At least I tried to kite with my knee all wrapped up in plastic foil. And to my surprise I came first in the Big Air competition.

ITALY
Lake Como in Italy was the third stop. Colico was where everything was happening, kitesurfing, concerts and even BMX events. The comp started on the 30th of Jun until the 6th of July. Staying at Hotel Villa Colico with Sophie Mathews (UK) and paying about 80 euros per night plus sharing a car together, we were ready for the freestyle and course racing comp - no waves in the lake. With my knee still saw from Greece i didn’t do much besides my best efforts. The lake’s water is still cold due to the melted snow of it’s mountanges witch is a shock compared to the sunny summer of Italy. The wind was pretty light for this event I was using my biggest kite I took with me - a ten meeter Cabrinha switchblade 3. But hey, the food is always great!

TURKEY
After sleeping in my board bag in a airport due to the time difference from one country to the other I finally arrive at the international airport in Istanbul - Turkey. But my worries weren't over, I had to find Burch Beach where the competition was held. I did not realise that it was a two and a half car ride away. As I looked around all that I could see was deserted beaches with not much els but the snack bar and a couple of beach pillows at Burch Beach. I was there from the 11th until the 18th of July and I was staying at the only hotel in the area meaning that all the other riders were there as well.
The wind was up and down and very gusty one minute I was on a six meeter the next on my ten. There was only a freestyle and course racing event but in my opinion there should of been a wave event as well since the high winds bought in decent size waves. The locals were friendly, but unlike the Greeks, I did not enjoy the food as much.

PORTUGAL
So, After spending a week in Istanbul I took a flight with Ainhoa Garcia (Spain) to head over to the following event which was in Portugal.
We landed in Jere de la Frontera in Spain, and off we went with a map in our hands and surf boards in the back of her decent sized van. It took us about 8 hours to get to Santa Cruz the place were the event was healed.
We arrived on the 19th of July and stayed there until the 27th. The hotel we stayed in was cozy and we were alone, with no other rides next to us and a little coffee shop under the hotel. We were paying 44 eros a night, so we shared the bill and it cost us less than the other hotels where the other riders were staying.
This event was different than the previous ones due to the fact that this time it was a all wave event. The competition was called the Santa Cruz “Ocean Spirit” and it was amazing. It was a sort of all go wave event with in it, surfing, kitesurfing, bodyboarding, kayak surfing and skim boarding. It was the most fun thing i’ve ever seen.
No flat water in this location unless you head towards the north of Portugal but we decided to head south to Guincho about forty minutes drive from Santa Cruz one day before the competition and still we found big waves. I was having the best surfing session I ever had in my kiting career.
I met up with Kirsty Jones (Wales) who attended this event due to her unbelievable surf style. It was fun just to ride and chat with people you see all the time on magazines and talk about their journey and life as a full time kitesurfer. Unfortunately there was not enough wind during the week to finish the competition.
I pulled my way threw to the quarter finals against Ainhoa Garcia (Spain), Kristine Boese (Germany) and Kirsty Jones (Wales). The organisators even extended the competition until the 30th of July. But nothing. At least the surfers were having their fair of beautiful waves. So we left the competition as all four of us girls as equal 4th with no third, second or first place with the same thing for the men’s heats.


WORLD TOUR Part 2 coming up next with countries such as BRAZIL, MOROCCO and MAURITIUS