I just got back from a week kiting/surfing Fiji with 4 mates from the Sunny Coast. We scored Cloudbreak 6-8 ft and Restaraunts half that, a couple of glassy paddling sessions and also got to kite Swimming Pools and Namotu lefts on a couple of windy 20-25 kt days. We stayed on Tavarua-awesome place-awesome people and great setup for kiting!

I hate to dwell on the negatives, but the only downer of the trip was our brief encounter with the bloke who runs Namotu which I thought was worth sharing...

When I booked our group I tried to get us on Namotu as I had kited Namotu lefts the year before with Malolosurf and wanted to take my mates over to share the experience. Namotu was full so we stayed at Tavarua. On the 3rd day of the trip we got a howling SE'er so we told the crew at Tavarua we would do a downwinder to Namotu and kite Namotu Lefts. They said no dramas, they would follow us in a boat and wait at Namotu where we could land and pack up when we'd finished. We had a great session on 6ft Namotu lefts - just us and a couple of other windsurfers and kiters. Will and I were on 10m Reo's which have great top end but Mark was on a 10m Noise so was overpowered and came in early to land at Namotu.

Mark asked if someone could land his kite and Scotty said "Where are you from?", upon hearing he was from Tavarua he just said "F*** Off!" and walked off. Mark was luckily able to self land but it was pretty sketchy and getting up to 30 kts. When Will and I came in we went to find Scotty to have a chat but he had dissappeared.

I just think that attitude is pretty dissappointing for what could potentially be a world class kiting destination. The guys back on Tavarua were dumbfounded and said there shouldn't be a problem. I've seen you posting on here before Scotty so if you're out there, it'd be great to hear what your policy is?

Cheers

Tim

Good to have you back Tim. Sounds like you had an awesome trip. Didn't miss any wind on the Sunshine Coast. Always a big downer when you have such a negative experience after such a good session. Hopefully as Keilani said he was just having a bad day.

Sounds like a pretty reasonable thing to ask if you want some help to land your kite if you've been over powered. A bit hard to kite back if your overpowered. Tony Armstrong: Truly a grub move to want to tell someone to f**k off if they were in this situation

Little of topic tim..or anyone else than know but do on Namotu do they support a standar 240V Australia wall charger?

Marcel

sunseeker said...

Good to have you back Tim. Sounds like you had an awesome trip. Didn't miss any wind on the Sunshine Coast. Always a big downer when you have such a negative experience after such a good session. Hopefully as Keilani said he was just having a bad day.

Thanks Sunseeker, we had a great trip and were pretty lucky with the swell and wind we got- not as big as last July 15ft but a bit more manageable. Having a kite on a surf trip is a huge bonus- a couple of the boys surf only and had to brush up on their tennis skills while we kited Namotu . Great to be back in Mudjimba, just need some wind and waves to cure the post Fiji blues!

Thanks for your concern Hunter S but I think you missed my point. I'm sure anyone planning a trip to Fiji would like to know where they stand if they want to kite Namotu but are not staying on the island.

I don't "expect" anyone to land my kite. Scott runs the Island, he can do what he want's no problems, I'm respectful of that. We could have landed each others kites if we had to. Maybe you're right Keilani - might just be a bad day. Maybe any outsiders need to stay down one end of the island or maybe below the high water line or should we all fk right off? Shame if that's the case..

TimJ said...

sunseeker said...

Good to have you back Tim. Sounds like you had an awesome trip. Didn't miss any wind on the Sunshine Coast. Always a big downer when you have such a negative experience after such a good session. Hopefully as Keilani said he was just having a bad day.

Thanks for your concern Hunter S but I think you missed my point. I'm sure anyone planning a trip to Fiji would like to know where they stand if they want to kite Namotu but are not staying on the island.

Last time I was there the other resort owners just rang ahead, as a courtesy, to ask permission to use the island. I still think there are some politics there to say the least and some strong personalities. If I had a $ for every time I've been told to f!<k off in the surf I'd be able to afford a trip to Tavarua. Seems mild compared to the old days there, and Hawaii. Where you would be ordered in or beaten up. The f#{k of wouldn't worry me as much as the fact I had to come in because of having the wrong kite.

GreenPat said...

Struth, there's a lot of drama kiting in Fiji it sounds. It has to be the most controversial kiting holiday destination by far. I'd love to see the ratio of rant threads vs normal threads for all the different kite spots, I'm sure Fiji would be the highest off mainland Australia.

yeah have to agree with that. I think png may just become the location of choice for us east coasters any way in the next few years.

Namotu Resort doesn't own Namotu Reef, below the high water mark is available to everyone. I'm currently living in Fiji, and I don't intend staying in a resort just to kite and surf the local breaks.

Is scotty even fijian? he sounds like a douche...

mmmmmmmmmmmmm very interesting !!!!!!!

old Scotty will be at Mambo if any one wants a catch up