Hi Guys,

My name is Britte from the Netherlands. Me and my boyfriend got infected with the kitesurf virus about a year ago and in august we will continue our overland travels in Australia.

I already learned a lot on the forum but I've got some specific questions, hopefully you can give us some advice.

About us:
- Experience level: in good wind flat water conditions we both ride upwind and transition. (Surft in the Netherlands, Phan Rang Vietnam and Kampot Cambodia) + good level wakeboarding

- Britte: 183 cm, 77 kg (age 28)
- Joost: 188 cm, 75 kg (age 31)

- Budget: we saved, but every spending will shorten our travel time. So we have to consider what is the best quality-fun-money option.

- We want to buy a Campervan and travel from Darwin (2nd August) along the west coast to Melbourne (March?). We probably stay in Australia for a year, maybe go to the east coast after Melbourne, not sure yet.

- Wind conditions (back) in Netherlands I would think: 14 kts- 25 kts

- We've surft with F-one bandit, Cabrinha Switchblade and Ozone Catalyst. We liked the Ozone most, then F-one followed by Cabrinha.

The big question:
- How many/which size kite(s) would you recommend us? And which size of board?

- Is there a shop you can recommend we will pass?

- Which brands are well distributed and are worth to take a look at?

- Of course we can find spots online and on this forum but if you can highly recommend or not recommend us, I would love to hear.

- Last but not least, if anyone likes to meet up, let me know:)

Thank you for reading:)

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britte said..
Hi Guys,

My name is Britte from the Netherlands. Me and my boyfriend got infected with the kitesurf virus about a year ago and in august we will continue our overland travels in Australia.

I already learned a lot on the forum but I've got some specific questions, hopefully you can give us some advice.

About us:
- Experience level: in good wind flat water conditions we both ride upwind and transition. (Surft in the Netherlands, Phan Rang Vietnam and Kampot Cambodia) + good level wakeboarding

- Britte: 183 cm, 77 kg (age 28)
- Joost: 188 cm, 75 kg (age 31)

- Budget: we saved, but every spending will shorten our travel time. So we have to consider what is the best quality-fun-money option.

- We want to buy a Campervan and travel from Darwin (2nd August) along the west coast to Melbourne (March?). We probably stay in Australia for a year, maybe go to the east coast after Melbourne, not sure yet.

- Wind conditions (back) in Netherlands I would think: 14 kts- 25 kts

- We've surft with F-one bandit, Cabrinha Switchblade and Ozone Catalyst. We liked the Ozone most, then F-one followed by Cabrinha.

The big question:
- How many/which size kite(s) would you recommend us? And which size of board?

- Is there a shop you can recommend we will pass?

- Which brands are well distributed and are worth to take a look at?

- Of course we can find spots online and on this forum but if you can highly recommend or not recommend us, I would love to hear.

- Last but not least, if anyone likes to meet up, let me know:)

Thank you for reading:)

Ditch your boyfriend this will give you bigger kite budget and more free accomodation offers.

sorry probably totally inappropriate but people need to think more outside of square to serious issues like kite equipment

I heard it's quite easy to buy "gear" in darwin

I highly reccomend you buy plane tickets from darwin to perth and then plane tickets perth to (whatever east coast city is windiest so cairns winter hobart summer ) and buy your campervan there then drive north or south along east coast.

This will save you alot of money amd time.

Its cheaper to fly to europe then drive to perth from East coast


As for equipment. Never used last years free ride kite 10m (20 or 25% off

And a 135-142 2nd hand board

Buy 2 harnesses tho so can swap kite over in water together.

Goodluck.

If kitesurfing was a virus and your going to Darwin it'd be like a sniffle or a nappy rash, WA is like stage 4 cancer or full blow aids , change your travel plans and get infected and addicted

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causehecan said..
I highly reccomend you buy plane tickets from darwin to perth and then plane tickets perth to (whatever east coast city is windiest so cairns winter hobart summer ) and buy your campervan there then drive north or south along east coast.

This will save you alot of money amd time.

Its cheaper to fly to europe then drive to perth from East coast


As for equipment. Never used last years free ride kite 10m (20 or 25% off

And a 135-142 2nd hand board

Buy 2 harnesses tho so can swap kite over in water together.

Goodluck.

Thank you for taking the time to respond and the useful information

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theDoctor said..

I heard it's quite easy to buy "gear" in darwin

That would be great

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britte said..

causehecan said..
I highly reccomend you buy plane tickets from darwin to perth and then plane tickets perth to (whatever east coast city is windiest so cairns winter hobart summer ) and buy your campervan there then drive north or south along east coast.

This will save you alot of money amd time.

Its cheaper to fly to europe then drive to perth from East coast


As for equipment. Never used last years free ride kite 10m (20 or 25% off

And a 135-142 2nd hand board

Buy 2 harnesses tho so can swap kite over in water together.

Goodluck.

Thank you for taking the time to respond and the useful information

No problems mateys when your done with your australian journey and wondering where to go try following the competition scene or use globalkitespots.com/ just remember to remove a month from start of season and from end of season. You only want to be somewhere peak season right in the middle. The rest is marketing bull****

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causehecan said..

britte said..

causehecan said..
I highly reccomend you buy plane tickets from darwin to perth and then plane tickets perth to (whatever east coast city is windiest so cairns winter hobart summer ) and buy your campervan there then drive north or south along east coast.

This will save you alot of money amd time.

Its cheaper to fly to europe then drive to perth from East coast


As for equipment. Never used last years free ride kite 10m (20 or 25% off

And a 135-142 2nd hand board

Buy 2 harnesses tho so can swap kite over in water together.

Goodluck.

Thank you for taking the time to respond and the useful information

No problems mateys when your done with your australian journey and wondering where to go try following the competition scene or use globalkitespots.com/ just remember to remove a month from start of season and from end of season. You only want to be somewhere peak season right in the middle. The rest is marketing bull****

Tnx again!

Make sure you know the right of way rules, rock a smile on the beach and help others starting/landing their kites. Euros have a bad image in australia. This page has a buy & sell section, you can filter for "just shops" and see what shops are active. You can always call the shops and work something out, meaning that if you are in australia already they can ship stuff to you, as long as you have a shipping address.

Kite size is a tricky thing. If you are in the wild west during the season (exmouth octoberish+, perth a bit later) the wind is usually on or off, at least to my experience. A 10m could be too much for both of you guys when it is on and too small when it is off. Probably an 8m would be a good size there but that most likely will be little once you leave the west. Probably best to just ask the shop guys, they will know what you need.

Also, dig a proper hole.

Hi Exal,

Thank you for replying!

Sorry to hear we have a bad reputation, hopefully we can make it a bit better. Luckily we have great smiles to share.

Thanks for your advice, we might want to buy more then one size ..

Please dont worry about the reputation or the hole digging comment.

Because theyre is a small population in australia and alot of tourists people who consider themselves "australians" (who dont even exist if you ask me, not unless theyre sporting red or white stripes from the adidas dreamtime range) get very teritorial and swept up in "localism" sometimes its for the good but often its quite negative.

There is a reason for this tho. You have no doubt witnessed many many many crazy laws in australia dont walk on sand dunes dont leave car unlocked, dont wave with both hands at same time etc etc we were or still are coming in at 2nd place as far as litigation lawsuits go. (The whole mcdonalds coffee was too hot and i burnt myself give me money thing)

This particularly hits us hard with our weekend activeitys.

One kite falling out of the sky due to a lull and landing on some rich old mans head is all it takes to have our entire sport banned for kilometers around.

So the local kiters live in fear that theyre kite spot where they are 10 years thru a 30 year mortgage may become banned. And theyll have to go back to throwing money at dogs at the TAB in town For entertainment or even gambling.

So theres alot of fear mongering about brazilians stealing all theyre waves and women and the europeans free camping and there for going to bathroom behind sand dunes (personally if i have to go in middle of night i just squat on the waters edge. You get to wash your hands and ass and even the poo tickets disapeare no ones the wiser. And the stars are nicer when the waves muffle the noise of a dodgey curry caused by conserveing propane).

Its like when at school. Someone has done something bad the teacher finds out....who did this? Oh it was the kid who isnt here!

So backpackers get blamed for alot of **** they didnt do.
Mind you when an aussie bloke climbs a tree and yells out grenade and drops a **** onto someones tent everyone thinks thats hilarious and theres no stigma attached to that somehow.


Goodluck and dont drive at sun up and sun down

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britte said..
Hi Exal,

Thank you for replying!

Sorry to hear we have a bad reputation, hopefully we can make it a bit better. Luckily we have great smiles to share.

Thanks for your advice, we might want to buy more then one size ..

No problem. I mean it is more that people are sceptical when they meet tourists no one will yell at you or try to harm you! The thing about the hole digging was a bit of a joke but you will hear some outrage about toilet paper flying around and tourists only making a little gap in the ground before doing their thing. Shops accept trade ins aswell, meaning you bring your kite and get a discount on your purchase. Once you leave the west you might be able to sell your small kites in case you don't need them anymore. Generally kite gear is a lot cheaper in aus compared to the netherlands and you might want to consider planning the kites into your luggage allowance for going back home. If you get a 7/9/12 combo you'd be set pretty good in australia and in the netherlands. You could also sell the kites back home if you haven't ruined them and not lose too much on it. Enjoy your stay and share the stoke!

Hi Britte,
You've got your east and west mixed up.
Windy season in Western Australia is November to April, you don't want to miss this. You could even get an earlier start up around Exmouth and slowly travel south. It's very easy to buy kites once you get to Perth. Use your campervan for all of your travel, Australia is huge and flights are sometimes cheaper than driving (even with two people) but without the van you'd spend a fortune on accommodation.

Thanks everyone for helping us on our way to finally buying kites.
Also thanks for the advice for behaving properly and not ruining it for the locals.
Looking forward to being there and starting another adventure.

Greetings

Britte

Psychojoe has hit the nail on the head.

Our windy season (WA) starts around September / October up north (Exmouth) and works it's way south until March/ April ( south west corner of WA). Some would say we have world class conditions - as good as you'll find anywhere on the planet. 25-30 knots is not unusual, Surf can pretty gnarly. So it depends on what you are looking for, and your skill level. This is a preview of what North West WA has on offer.

A campervan, small kites (5-7m), surfboards and lots of time would be my idea of heaven.

I have driven East to West Coast a few times and it's quite a drive - Perth-Melbourne is 3500 km, Melbourne -Cairns at least the same distance again if you take the coastal route.

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