Tony appeared for the weekend, he's over from Sydney on business and managed to wangle a weekend over here with me! Yay for Tony!

Well, the wind forecast wasn't looking that exciting for Auckland so we took a trip down to Raglan for the weekend where winds of 15+ knots were forecast. Raglan, though, is a magical spot where you can kite in sub 10 knots when the tide is flowing in the right direction and as such, I was sure we were going to get a kite in.

Luckily for us it came in 15+ knots on both days anyway, so we had several great sessions. On both days we were pretty much first in and last out, and Tony impressed me with his new found jumping ability and super smooth kiting skills.

We managed to salvage the car on Friday! Unfortunately there wasn't a lot left to pick up but it's a requirement to remove all wrecks from the beach so it had to be done. It was amazing how much damage the sea had done to it, but I guess it had been in the water for a good 4 days. If you're wondering where the bonnet is, it had gone through the windshield! It took me a while to find someone willing to pick up a car from the beach, because it's so risky, but I finally managed to get someone called Dave from Tatonka landscaping. His truck was awesome! It was originally designed as an offroad vehicle that could pick up large stone works and transport them around, but he's finding more and more business picking up wrecks from the beach.

I've been asked to upload some photos of the new pad and housemates, so here we are!


Evi working hard



Jen in the lounge


The balcony from the lounge


The deck


It's hard to get an impression of the house from a few photos, so I'll just have to describe is as a lovely, airy house surrounded by trees but very close by the city.

Well, it's been a while since I updated this blog, but I've been quite busy and my camera has been out of action for a couple of weeks.
I've moved house and now live with a German chick and another Brit. Really enjoying it and the house if lovely, don't panic, pictures will soon follow.

Over the weekend I had a bit of a surf and a few drinks with some people from work. On Monday I took a sickie as Jen (new housemate) had a friend coming over and we thought we'd all go and do some snorkeling at a marine reserve. Jen and her friend are both marine biologists so there was plenty to be shown.

On the way back someone (ok, me) had the bright idea of going to Muriwai for some wakeboarding on the beach. Well, to cut a long story short, there was a lull, a freak wave and there's a new addition to the car wrecks at Muriwai beach.
Bugger.
Oh well, it's not the first time and I'm sure they'll be others!

 

Goodbye Bighorn!

 

Housemate Jen at the scene of the crime!

Rob and his two German backpacker friends came over to NZ for a while and we thought we should meet up. I offered to pick them up from the airport on Friday and go on a trip for the weekend.
Of course my car didn't start on Friday morning and after a quick panic, I managed to buy a new battery and everything was hunky dory.



Well, we set off on Sat morning and 5 hours later we arrived in the North. We had a quick look at the famous Shipwrecks (famous surf beach)



We then hit 90 mile beach and travelled up until we saw an awesome wave with a couple of surfers on it. Rob was very excited and it was a shame we didn't have any surf boards for him, but he got some great pictures



We stopped along the way to admire the scenary, including a car that had been on the beach for 6 weeks (according to one local) and we even found some wild horses. Wow.




Arriving at the far, far north end we stopped for a while for some sandboarding. A local Maori women hires out boards and was a great source of information about local spirits and spots. She even told us where to camp.










By this time it was getting late, so we made our way to the camp site and settled down for the night. We felt a bit guilty as one of the other campers moved when we setup next to him, but he just said he wanted to be isolated from people so what can you do?



The next morning we drove down to the beach, access is via a stream and it's great fun to drive through. Especially at speed! ;o)




Rob had the foresight to buy some rope and he even made a wakeboarding handle, so we decided to have a morning of car surfing. the girls hadn't done it before so it was a great experience all round.








Just as we were packing up and the tide was coming in, I again had car trouble! the battery was dead, again. Another quick panic and I was starting to wonder if I was going to lose another car to the sea when some fishermen turned up and gave us a jump start. Thank god. From this point on it was rolling starts and finding places to park on a hill was the order of the day.

We stopped to admire a shark on the beach, no idea what type it is but it looked cool (if a little dead  :o(  )




Finally, we headed home and after buying another battery to power the headlights (call me Mr Battery, I now have 3) we made it back ok. Then it was just a case of meeting up the following day to swap pictures and wish Rob & co well on their trip around the rest of NZ.

Well someone was good enough to take some photos of me whilst kitesurfing on Sunday!
I was out at Flat Island which is a good kiting spot to the East of Auckland that has flat water and is waist deep for miles and miles, excellent for beginners and learning new tricks. Sadly the wind was very gusty that day, but I still got wet!
Here's me just cruising


Here's me landing a double backroll (or a "flat back 7" according to one local. I just said "huh?")



Here's me after a fun session, folding my arms to try and hide my beer belly.


That's all for now!

Say hello to my new nephew, George Bateman, born on 6th Jan 2006.



Congratulations to Jac and James. Hurrah!

I celebrated New Years Eve in a slightly different way this year, but I think no one would be surprised to hear that I spent it on a windy beach! The predictions were awesome and I spent 4 days surfing the Auckland west coast in winds of 15 to 25 knots, mainly at Muriwai.

Muriwai is well known as a slightly wild spot, and I think the locals take a pride in that face.



There's 4WD access to the beach and just before you enter, you're reminded that sharks aren't the only thing you need to worry about!!




Nice.

Well, it was onto the beach and I don't think I ever saw more than 5 other kiters at a time on a beach which stretches for 50 km or so. The one problem is the black sand which, whilst amusing at first, is either dry and scaldingly hot or wet and sticks to everything like mud. Oh well, at least I'm spending most of my time in the water.

This is the main beach



Not especially crowded as you can see!

On Monday 2nd, the wind came in at 25 knots and brought a 6-8 foot swell with it! It was awesome, I think I can call it one of the best sessions I've ever had. There were a couple of people there with cameras but so far, I haven't been able to find any photos. :o(


Sunday was also good, I drove to the far end of Muriwai to a spot called Kaipara. It's a harbour mouth but has the flattest water I've ever kited on. Great fun.




Whilst there I finally found another kiter in a 4WD and had to tow him out of some deep sand. The beach is a little scary to drive on as you regularly hit quicksand and there are plenty of 4WD wrecks lying around to remind you that you can get into trouble very easily.

It's all worth it though, and now I'm back at work. Sore, tired, sunburnt but very, very happy  :o)

I'm working hard at the moment, but Merry Christmas to everyone!

Well I thought I'd post something since it's been a while since I went on this site. My arm is all healed up now and I'm back in the water  :o)
Not much else doing at the moment though, I've had a lazy week or so just relaxing and getting on with things. The wind has been on and off and I've managed to hit the water a couple of times with mixed results. (With usually the wind dying out as soon as I hit the water. Then I'm regaled by the other kiters about how good the last 2 hours were! Bah, I hate working 9 to 5! Time to start taking some long lunches I think ;o) )

Christmas is on it's way so I'm looking forward to a few days off. Hurrah!

Merry Christmas everybody!