Lads,

I'll be renting a motor home for 3+ weeks in January and am keen to kite a few decent waves spots. Any recommendations?

I'll be doing North and South islands but totally flex on where we spend most our time.

Cheers,

Dutchie

Hey mate,

I did the north island just over a year ago and was blown away, literally as well as figuratively. I've never been to the south Island but everyone raves how good it is compared to the north. All I can say is it must be out of this world as the north is pretty amazing. Only negative is whilst driving around you always have to stop too because you need to take more photos. Truly a special spot. If you are going for wind and waves then obviously hit Raglan and follow it down to Taranaki? Some really good setups along that stretch.

Best bet if flick Plummet a PM. He gave me some really handy hints and tips before I left last time, a wealth of knowledge.

Raglan, Kite the arvo


Raglan, surf the morning




Taranaki














A must stop!




Plum's wife. ( I had to for Clauncy )

Untapped by Aussies.

Wind year round, not super cold far north island even in winter 4/3 full suit.

Do yourself a 60km downwinder on 90 mile beach and do 1000 hacks in a single session. Spots just like the brazil lagoons for flat water, and hawaii sized waves and high winds. You HAVE to travel around letting windguru dictate your path... if you do you will be in for a most epic experience.

Awesome, thanks for the insights. Raglan and 90m beach are on the bucket list!

Which of the two islands is the colder one?

The far north is the warmest, although is the summer, some of the south island gets the hottest days being protected by the southern alps.

Water temp wise, far north of north island is warmest.

A 4wd will find extra bonuses ( inc 90 mile beach down winder.. be safe though.. sometimes can be real messed up rips even close in)

Dont forget to travel with windguru... i met someone that had a terrible time... no wind... told them i had been kiting nearly every day.They were used to one wind drection, not the ever changing nz directions and about 1000 spots to session.

West coast NZ can be about as full on as it can get for wave riding on earth and other days just perfect...

take every size kite u own and more

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Far north is cool indeed 90 mile is legendary. There's sweet bays on the east coast up north in a easterly. But. The best place for waves is Taranaki then followed by Raglan. Make sure you go to both those spots. 3 weeks is not enough to hunt wind and sight see in both north and south island.

Also if you want the wind and wave machine charging. Try for Nov/Dec. January gets lighter with smaller seabreeze driven winds.
There are still epic days in Jan
But Nov/Dec 95% of the time are better.....

Feel free to pm me for more detailed info on local spots.

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DutchRooster said..
Awesome, thanks for the insights. Raglan and 90m beach are on the bucket list!

Which of the two islands is the colder one?

The one that's closest to Antarctica is coldest for some reason

I would really love to do an NZ trip but from Australia it's just so hard to find flights that actually go BACK to New Zealand

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Youngbreezy said..
I would really love to do an NZ trip but from Australia it's just so hard to find flights that actually go BACK to New Zealand

That's for good reason