Update 3

Phil

What can you say …. Really ?????

The trip of a lifetime. So many great people from so many places – the stories never stop. Pity more of them aren't true.

The weather has been unbelievably uncooperative but the good times just keep on coming. One of the real highlights just has to be watching the euros faces as they look out across our aussie beaches at waves Im sure they never believed possible. The northern NSW coast is unbelievable.

Hey mike and meges here………

We have had an awesome trip. We have been busying ourselves practising our “tandem kiting” which we hope to perfect, sailing, swimming, drinking and having a shit load of fun. Yesterday was amazing and was the best kiting mike has ever had! The GPS read 200kms of kiting over a 38km direct down wind run. We had three awesome hours of flat water and three awesome ours of surf! It was stand up tubes and and just bloody awesome! We are sad that our down winder odyssey is coming to a close as we near the end of our adventure L

We want to say a massive thankyou to Selena, Chris and everyone involved in Monkey Kites.

And to our mums…… please wash our sheets, make our beds, fluff our pillows, ready the bath and prepare a home cooked meal in preparation for our reluctant return home in a few days time.

Julien

Lots of things have happened in a few days. First I've had an incident: I cut myself on rocks while rescuing Ben and his kite in Red Rock. This awesome flat-water spot was dangerous as a strong current was going towards the rocks on the shore, and he had his kite down and the current was pushing him towards the rocks. Joerun and I managed to catch the kite and put it on the sand, and then several of us pulled the lines to get Ben back to the beach.

Tahiti helped me with the first aid and thanks to him we cleaned the wound and stopped the blood. Selena and I looked for a doctor with no success so I went with Greg and Ben to Coffs Harbour hospital early evening. Unfortunately I had to wait until 3AM to have my 5 stiches.

The wound is now closing very fast and I have been able to run on the beach after 2 days and was able to kite yesterday on the flat-water spot. It was great as we had no wind since Red Rock and morale was getting low. We all had fun. Many showed off their tricks: kiteloops, no foots, blinds… Unfortunately still being a bit painful I could not really learn tricks or work on my jumps.

Today we are on a magnificent spot: long beach with waves and a flat-water spot. Unfortunately we had no wind. Nevertheless we had some fun sand boarding in the dunes that are immense. The view from the dunes is also breathtaking as we can see 360 degrees around. Australia really has amazing beaches, and their best is that there is nobody!

Teky [camera guy]

Like a welcome storm to end a drought, yesterday saw a downwinder to put a rictus grin onto 30 riders, coming after days of storming that may well end a long drought in this country. Rain is great for the farmers, not so great for the riders. But after bus cabin fever, tension and lord of the flies-esque man hunting the downwinder was just the remedy for the malady in these rider's melody. Was also a good day for me, driving ahead of the pack, running about bush tracks on a headland scoping out vantage points, jogging back to get gear and finding the kites already upon my position. So ensued a frantic half hour of running with gear and rolling off footage of kiter's offshore from magnificent landscape. Sweat and sand and fun.

Jeroen & Richelle (Just married!)

As a married couple we are still looking for some wind, has a fight about who deleted the pictures, we are angry as the other is snoring in a small tent and blame each other for the terrible rain we had the last couples of days. But it feels good to be married!

We were so happy yesterday to do some kitesurfing. We both started as a married couple (grumpy about the tangled lines, who can use the pump first, who want to launch first etc etc) on the flat water spot, which was amazing beautiful. We both did our first kiteloops (we both crashed as married couples do together), and we had a really good time. In the afternoon Richelle did the Downwinder and Jeroen took his responsibility as a driver and checkpoint. The downwinder was great, but not easy. The swell was enormous, but marvellous. I had a really good time playing in the waves. Sometimes the waves were so big, that I really didn't know what to do (but I survived, only a blue bottle jelly got me… the bastard). Thanks Mickael and Nicky for being my buddy and bringing my board (just ahead of the headland)!

So let's hope there will be some more wind the following days, because it is a great event. Thanks to everybody from the Monkey kites team and I am so proud of Jeroen (because he hates camping and we are already camping for 10 days in the rain!!)

Andreas (aka monkeyboy or gromie)

Lately the wind and weather has been crappy (lots of rain and no wind), so everyone has been kind of grumpy (wet tents and sleeping bags), but yesterday it was just perfect! Super flat water, steady strong wind, and sun form a blue clear sky! Everyone was happy to kite again, and I kited all day! Really lit on my 11 sq m. kite, trying all sorts off crazy tricks wiping out SO many times. At the end of the day I overstretched a muscle in my hip, and since I had kited without a rash guard and sunglasses all day I was extremely sunburned! When I woke up the next morning, my face, eyes and body was all swollen because of the sunburn, so I had to stay in the shadow in the camp all day. Luckily for me there was no wind, so I didn't miss out on anything. A bit sad that there's only 3 days left of the event… I've met so many cool people and it's so sad knowing that I'm probably not going to meet most of them again L Even though the wind and weather hasn't been too great (and most of the trip has been done in the bus), I've had a wonderful journey! Hope I meet some of these people again later!!!

PS: Thanks to my sponsors; Dagbladet and Relaunch, who made this trip possible!!!

Ben Kearney (Tassie)

A really great couple of days, a few with no wind but great surfing at Minnie Waters, Crescent Head and Old Bar, some great sessions and really good waves. Then yesterday we had our best kiting day of the whole trip with super flat water and sun in the morning followed by up to 2m waves and a huge downwinder in the afternoon. I rode the biggest waves I have ridden on a kite and had perfect cross shore strong wind the whole way on my 13m tribe. It pushed my wave kiting into places I have not been before and was a huge thrill! I would like to thank Selena, Chris and little Amelie from Monkeykites for making this great experience possible it has broken new ground for where kitingsurfing can go and has inspired everybody that I have met on the beach. The people on the trip are an amazing group, that reflect the incredible cross section of personalities who are addicted to this sport.

Bye for now…Ben

Shane ‘babwe' Van L.

This place is cool! Well, the temps are darn hot - But when you get to spend time with these characters called kiteboarders - Most things seem pretty cool!

In this place we get to cross over the divide

The one that hides between us.

We get to spend such a short time together
Then we move on in our search
For wind, waves, warm waters….
All the things that allow us to ride.
The ride that leaves behind the ties
The ties that bind us down
The down that makes us search
For the cycle of the ride.

Here I miss my friends and family
But I find new mates and I learn to keep on learning.

Have fun!

Mickael

5 days of kite for the first 6 days, 1 day of kite for the next 6 days!!! But what a day (at least 7 hours : 4 to 5 hours of freestyle on a flat water spot + 2-3 hours of downwind). The downwind was quite long and difficult, I was riding in pairs with Richelle and we were both glad to complete this long and tough downwind. The flat water session was really awesome I gained a lot of control on double back loops and passed a few front loop kite loop, and quite some one foot jumps.

Apart from this only brilliant day we tried to keep busy during the non-windy days. We went see waterfalls in the rain forest where I have been beaten by 3 blood suckers, and we did some snowboarding in sand dunes :) It was fun but not as much as kiting... We're now praying for the wind to come back.

shiva polefka

The forecast for the last days are not really good. I wait for the big party in Collaroy Saturday and to go with the young bloods in Melbourne for the nationals as their personal trainer.. Poor of them!!!

Jeb China

Whaaaaaheeeeeeyyyy…. Finally after a tortuous 7 day wait for wind, Old Bar delivered the session of a lifetime for me: a morning spent buzzing a tidal lake under my 21sqm, followed by a pre-lunch session on the 14sqm.
I managed to clock up over 48kms ‘mowing the lawn' as Shiva puts it (hammering back and forth, & doing kindergarden style jumps in the deep water spots) before the wind settled and the prospect of a downwinder emerged: Last off the lake after faffing around with a 10sqm (3 kite sizes in one day, they all performed impeccably) it was a sprint across the dunes, tripping over myself in an effort to catch the fast disappearing pack…

The ride from Old Bar to Forster was unforgettable. In about 6foot of swell, charging down the coastline and experimenting in the surf (well, ‘tickling the surf' it is perhaps a more apt description of my wave skills) I clocked up another 78kms of absolutely unforgettable riding. There were moments of panic crossing the headlands: the swell would build up to perhaps 8 foot of surging, sucking menace over treacherous reef… so the only option was to beat a hasty retreat, head further out to sea and keep the 10m powered enough to break through.

I'm still replaying the ride in my minds eye: it really was wonderful to be part of this train of kites travelling down through misty haze and flowing swell…. a War of the Worlds style Kite-Invasion.

p.s. My Dad had flown in from the UK en-route to Melbourne to spend a couple of days following the event, and somehow brought a 20knot tail-wind with him: henceforth he shall be known as the ‘Wind-bringer'

Update 2

Jeroen and Richelle:

Yes we are married!!!!

After 2 days of good kitesurfing, we would be getting married the 3^rd of January in Byron Bay. But as the wind changed direction the 2^nd of January we ended up in Ballina at the campsite quite late in the evening. Therefore there was no way we actually could organise our wedding in Byron. So we met our celebrant Alina Hughes that night at 23.00hrs in Lennox head to see if we could do the wedding ceremony in Ballina. We really wanted to do the ceremony at sunrise, as in Holland we have sunset at the ocean. Alina is  a very nice person and this was actually the first time we met eachother (we did everything by e-mail). I was impressed by the story she made up from our input, one thing was clear: the whole wedding ceremony was about Jeroen, me and kitesurfing! Unfortunately we couldn’t make it to have the ceremony at sunrise, as the first ferry was at 5.30 in the morning so Alina would be at the beach after sunrise. We decided to do the ceremony at 7.00 am and the sunrise was a special moment for Jeroen and Richelle.

We want to thank Robin and Don for picking up our flowers (a bouquet for the bride and a leis for Jeroen) . I orded the flowers by e-mail so I was curious what they looked like.

That night we went to bed at 01.00 and got up the following morning at 05.00. We went to the beach, get dressed (suit and wedding dress), enjoyed the sunrise, pick up the flowers at Robin and Don’s van, pick up Alina at the ferry and drove back to the beach again. At 07.00 am everybody from the trip arrived at the beach and we gave them our leis. We were so impressed by everybody! We were standing under the 25mtr Monkey kite in a circle of flowers and Alina started the ceremony. Instead of rings we gave our kiteboard to each other (Saul and Selena handed them over to us) and we promised to stay to each other till our last kitesurfsession ever and we will never kitesurf alone (this was part of our vow). We ended the ceremony with champagne and jumped in the sea!  Afterwards we went to Ballina Fair to pick our weddingcake. Wade of Decadent Patries made a really nice cake with a kitesurfer on it. One hour later the newspaper (Northern Star) came for a photoshoot and interview.

In the afternoon we both had a good kitesurf session (Jeroen with the 14m Evolution and Richelle 10m Evolution). Even 6 dolphins came along the way. What a marvellous day and we will remind this day forever!

All the best and much love!

Jeroen and Richelle

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Hi, Nico here,

 

Even though the weather conditions have not been optimal, everyone was happy to get out and do their “thing”.

What a beautifull coastline, the bays rolling past, one sweeter than the next.

Everyone on the team has slowly jostled themselves to their respective positions and it looks like many great sessions lie ahead of us.

Signing out.

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Czech out the news from Pavel. 

Maybe you think that going downwind is almost like cheating the wind.  But being able to catch waves without worrying about going back upwind is great.  I used to do this alone in Africa, but I always had to hitchhike back.  It is just perfect to have a van waiting for you at the end of your run.  I have a feeling that this thing will be the future of kite travel. 

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Hi Pete Shiplee Here

What a trip, awesome is the only word I can describe the guys and girls and the trip in general. The waves are wicked and everyone is having a blast. Powerd on my 13m Tribe today in some waves and doing some new school.

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Hey Ben here,

What an awesome start to the trip, very laid back and cruisy. Everyone is getting along real well and the weather has been fantastic. We went for a free surf this morning and spotted a heap of dolphins, then again when we kited later. Camping at South Ballina tonight and we are going out into Byron Bay to meet some hippie

 

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Hey Leon here

What’s up to all the viewers and faithful kiting communities around the world!

The event has already lived up to the expectations of everyone. It has been an increadible experience meeting people from all around the world with a common passion. There has already been one very sketchy incodent which happened about 4 km out to sea but everyone is fine and all I can say is the people are great and the kiting insane, cheers from the s

South African.

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Yeah!

Hello From the global tribe
Out here – feeling fine!
People from all round the mothership
She supplies,
sunshine, waves and wind
starlight and sunshine.
This is one cool family
Playfull monkey’s with big hearts and natural souls.
No real goals, no borders.
Just big  Air and leave your cares.
To the universe and the stars.
A preyer of thanks and love to all….

Shane.

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Hi there, Nick from Sydney here,

Imagine waking up each morning, eating breakfast with your new mates, cooked by the team chef and then heading down to the beach to go kiting. Oh, did I mention that I also don’t have to worry about staying upwind, so I can catch waves, jump or just do big “S” turns in the flats between waves. So far we have been pretty lucky as the wind has blown everyday and the weather has been perfect. If only the sunset a few hours later each day it would be better. Everyday is like a vactation  . . . . . . . Funny that.

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Old China here….

What a trip! A mixed, mellow crowd of kite-nuts and wonderful surroundings we’ve probably only dreamt of before. Trying to get some long distance riding in (Kite-miles for Wildaid.org) but having trashed one kite already and lost the wind the next day it’s gonna have to be catch-up all the way down the coast. But with a coastline as beautiful as this it’s no worries, mate

Good winds to all out there…

Jeb

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Stephen:

Still having a great time. The second day we kited about 30kms downwind on one beach. The wind was light so it was good for practicing a little unhooked waveriding. I’m convinced now that kiting downwind is the ultimate way to kite. It gives you so much more freedom. It is a different kind of kiting to riding in one spot in that you get to emphasise charging hard and building speed, but you don’t want to drop your kite as much as when kiting in one spot because when your kite does go down, if you have any problems getting it up again, you can quickly find yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere.

On day 3, we kited in one spot. The wind was blowing hard offshore and most were out on 14 or 12m kites. I just went out for a bit on my 9m but was a little underpowered in the lulls. No wind on day 4, but had a great surf in the afternoon. Last night we camped in a national park right on the beach. Fire on the beach last night then up first thing in the morning for another surf. I haven’t surfed for years (since I lived in Durban 5 years ago), but it feels like I haven’t missed a day.

The wind is starting to ease its way in now so we’re going to do some more downwind kiting on yet more beautiful untouched beaches that stretch for miles and miles.

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Daniel

Had two great downwind kiting days.  Never boosted so many times in my life. Crew is fantastic and good times are being had by all.  Pissing down rain today but being holed up in a pub with these guys isn’t a bad way to spend a day.  Looking forward to a few more goods days of whether so we can make like kangaroos down the coast.

 

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M ickael

We’ve been kiting on the 31st, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd but yesterday bad weather and not enough wind, today terrible weather and no wind again... The kiting session on the 3rd was good. Offshore gusty wind but I had fun anyway. The tribe kite is obviously a lot better for waves than freestyle.

I tried surfing yesterday but it was very difficult with a small surf board.

Today nice pool games but no kiting L :(

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Nicolas alias Tahiti

Although the wind was a little bit capricious, and the water  fu’#@ing too cold for me, it’s a great pleasure to share such a great time with so many people from all other the world… except maybe the 3 teenagers who share my bus!!!  The days of riding we had were amazing on such long beaches of pure white sand. I’m not really in confidence to try new moves because of water temperature and also sharks but there is still 10 days to come of pure riding and pleasure.

Maururu roa (thanks a lot in Tahitian) to the crew of the great downwinder.

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Marine

This has been my 4^th day on this trip and today is the only day that is poring rain, bummer.

Everyone is so friendly and cool, the atmosphere is so fun and full of life!

The bus that I am in is for me the coolest, especially because there is 3 characters on the back seat (Benn, Jarrad, Andreas) there is also someone that acts like a teenager and that is Nicolas (aka Tahiti).

Sorry but the boys are annoying me and I have to beat the crap out of them.

Later days

Ps: the crew is awesome!!!!

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Jarrad Morgan

Well well the great east cost bus tour has been awesome so far. Led by bus driver ‘dan the man’ us young groms have been causing all kinds of trouble on and off the water. Currently our buss smells of peroxide (its shocking) but im sure there will be far worse before this trip is over

As far as kiteboarding goes, we have been trying yet struggled with battling conditions, but the winds blowing now and im off

Enjoy reading peoples

Im kiteing right now!!!!!!!!

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The Grommies (Benn and Andreas)

So far this has been a great bus tour but its bout to get a lot better because wind coming up and girls are waiting.

Yeuuuuuwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Tekie (one of the camera guys)

Five days into the downwinder. I think. Time and days have become irrelevant. We’ve had mixed success capturing the journey so far. Diego’s first day on one of our support craft, a little white inflatable dingy, was a painful few hours thumping up and down in the swell and impossible to get a steady frame to capture the action. But from land and out on rock spits we have got some really sweet footage of kiting. Capturing the ongoing social dynamic is a challenge, finding the characters in the group that may help guide the throughline of a documentary will be the key I reckon. The crew and riders are easy going across the board, unusual and great given our dependency on the wind. Fun so far, more to come, lets hope our gear holds up in the rain, sand and sea.

 

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Ben from Tassie!!

Great trip so far, really cool people to spend time with. The conditions have been a little difficult but we had 4 days kiting to start with and the forecast is good for great conditions

Hi Ben from Qld,

Well the weather took a turn for the worse making kiting almost impossible with rain and offshore wind conditions, this allowed everyone to catch up on sleep and to recover from a great night out in Byron. We spent yesterday repairing vans & trailers which had suffered badly from both over packing and crazy driving. The coastline has been spectacular and everywhere we go the locals seem happy to see us. Hopefully the conditions improve tomorrow and we can show the foreigners how to really enjoy our coastline.  Hope the swell picks up and we can show them how to ride some waves, a lot of the overseas riders ride flat water so have never seen swell over 1 meter, never loan riding in it. Sitting in the pub drinking and playing pool games is sick fun but everyone is really keen to represent their home towns so we hoping for an improvement in conditions for tomorrow.

Signing out. Ben

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Robin

Day 5 into the trip

With 3 sweltering days of blue skies warm winds and crystal blue water. Riding waves down the line is great. Looking in front to see what’s to come, looking behind to see what’s has been passed. No worry in the world. Just the finish line –for the day.

This is one great odyssey, seeing a coast line with beaches stretch as far as the eye can see. With great people and great gear!

Unfortunately today with have rain.

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Nico & Leon

Wind , NO
Waves, SMALL
Rain, Yes
Good times , YES 
Trucking all over the place , but the wind is just not doing it.
So here goes the drunken kiters poem:

We’re kiters, we’re kiters,
We’re a long way from home.
We’re highly “bedonered” so leave us alone.
We drink to get drunk, and we smoke to get high,
So if you don’t like it f@#k off and die.

To be continued …..

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Hey meg and mike here….

We are having an awesome time! Mike’s tent pegs are wearing out from the continual erection! Last night we camped right on the beach and woke up for a 6am surf it was perfection as has been the entire monkey downwinder experience! We’ve met some awesome people!

Meg got her first ever surfing lesson the other morning and she’s hooked! She is also busy sucking up to all of the qualified kiting instructors in the hopes of a free lesson or two from the best when the conditions are right.

To the people at home …… SUCKS TO BE YOU!!!!!!! ……. We don’t want to come home this is too much fun!

Oh yeah …. Hi to our mums!