AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!

It was windy when I woke up thismorning! Awesome!! I got up, showered and headed for the point at the south island where I saw people kiting on the day I arrived. There was quite a mad little dune to drive over which tipped the White Dragon quite a long way to one side, but she scoffed at it and ploughed straight through. I expected to see lots of kiters setting up their gear but the beach was deserted. I drove right down onto the beach amongst the seaweed and parked up. My breakfast, a little pot of pasta salad from the supermarket, kept me occupied for a few minutes and still I couldn't see any other kiters. I have not yet learned how to launch a kite without assistance so I was worried that despite my kite finally being ready for action, and the wind being near enough perfect, I might not be able to get out on the water! Then, over the dune came my salvation, in the form of crazy Dutchman Selwyn in his Nissan Patrol. I thought he was heading to Perth today to get some money, after having his wallet stolen, but it seems the wind had enticed him into staying. He was very helpful, he stuck about while I set up my kite, then launched it for me, and then stayed around taking pictures and watching that I didn't get into trouble. Good old Selwyn, mad as a bag of hammers but such a nice guy.

I was quite concerned about all the reefs in the bay, especially not knowing the area atall well. The water being so clear I could see exactly where they all were but didn't know how far underwater they were. The fins on my board are only a few centimetres long, but still, some of the reefs looked very shallow. Surprisingly the kitesurfing came back to me like riding a bike, but in trying to pick my way around the reefs I had some trouble staying upwind. It didn't matter though, I did a few runs and then walked back up the beach. I did this a few times, but after a wipeout that resulted in me being dragged over a reef (luckily not a sharp one, so no pain or injury!!) and having to trudge through a lot of seaweed on the shoreline a couple of times, I decided to quit while I was ahead. I had managed to get the board going upwind, control the kite pretty well, steer around some reefs, relaunch the kite a couple of times and survice some wipeouts, plus almost make a slide turn or two and attempt a couple of carving turns. My confidence has been renewed, but I fancy getting out somewhere with less reefs so I can concentrate on getting upwind consistently and try some more jumps without the fear of landing in inches of water over a rocky reef!! Tomorrow morning if the wind is good I'm going to try a spot further downwind that can be accessed from the campsite. It looks less reefy and theres more room downwind without going into any windsurf areas. Great morning though!! And fingers crossed thisafternoon is going to pick up and I'll be able to hire some windsurf gear and go jump the waves. At last, at long last, I feel like I'm doing what I came here to do. Nice!