We had 2 kitesurfing professionals over in NZ for the weekend, Shannon Best and Clinton Bolton, both representing Best Kiteboarding. As such, the local Best dealer put on a great kitesurfing weekend and most Auckland kiters turned up at some point to check out what was happening.
On Saturday, we kited at Whangaparaoa (say that when you've had a couple of beers) and there was a good 20-30 kiters out at a time, which is insanely crowded for Auckland. The day was pretty good although the wind was quite gusty, luckily there was plenty of people to have a chat with and generally hang out.
That night we all had a few beers and unfortunately I challenged Clinton Bolton, one of the pro's, to a trick contest the following morning. Damn that beer!
Luckily all had been forgotten by the following morning and we headed out to Muriwai to scope out some waves. I have to say this day was one of the best kitesurfing days I've ever had. Even Shannon and Clinton got very excited when they saw the conditions and they rushed out as quickly as they could. The waves were a nice 2-3 foot with a long period between, the wind was a good 20 knots and there was flat sections everywhere. A "perfect playground" to quote Shannon Best.

After a solid 4-5 hours of kiting, everyone decided their bones had taken enough punishment and everyone packed up, had a sausage sandwich in the carpark courtesy of a travel BBQ set and had a chat about the weekend. Shannon and Clinton both turned out to be really nice blokes and were genuinely happy with the welcome they'd received.

More pictures should be coming later, it'll be easy to spot me as I was generally the only one not on a Best kite!