ACT Kiters?

Hey all.

I have looked through the posts, checked out different sites and am of the very disheartened frame of mind that kiting in Canberra is uncommon and at the best of times poor.

Please let me know if i am wrong or if there is a small group who often does weekend coast trips looking to split the petrol costs with another. I am quite new to the sport but have a solid addiction.

Snowboarding is another hobby, so any snow kiters out there interested in sharing some tips or pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Mel

Most ACTers seem to head to the NSW south coast for their dose of sea based kite action.

I often see them at 7 mile beach (gerroa)

When I was in the army I used to sail on the lake. It was bloody cold if you fell in the water. I have seen some photos of people launching and landing from the park area opposite the old Hospital site. I reckon it would be better just to get down to the coast around Batemans Bay.

I heard that North of Uladallu was better than Batemans Bay. One of my mates who still lives in Canberra was the first to kite in Lake Tuggeranong and Burley Griffin. He only did it once. I think that says enough of what he thought of it. Up around Kiama and Jervis Bay are also great spots, so is Merimbula. Just give Pete from String Monkey a call. He loves bringing new kiters down to HIS local spots.

I would have to agree with Matress in regards to kiteboarding in the lakes of Canberra.We did try both lake burley griffin and lake tuggeranong and to be fair we were still very green and riding old c kites.

I was lifted by a gust at tuggeranong nearly hitting the grass, i had to ditch the kite,it ended up majorly jammed in tree along with my lines that were wrapped around every other fkn tree close by.

Dropped my 2002 fuel and couldn't relaunch it in the guts of lake burley,was dragged downwind towards the causeway near the east basin.Swim back was fairly unpleasent.My kite and i stunk of duck sh1t for a week...

I can honestly say considering all this that i wont be kiting in the lakes of Canberra any time soon,sure the wind is dodgey and there is little room for error but most of all the water is absolutley toxic !

The best option for begginer's is to hit the south coast.Merimbula is only an extra 40 mins drive compared to the Bay and is often overlooked.The beaches are awesome and the wind is best from september to late march.

The Bay is also good but appears to be getting a quite busy these days.

I am currently taking bookings for weekend kitesurfing clinics in Merimbula for the start of the 2009/2010 season.

You can contact Pete on 0431 447 496

pete@adrenalinkite.com

http://adrenalinkite.com/

P.S

Mattress has many years of experience flying his B2 trainer on 10 meter lines... and I hear that he is ready for the next big step to 20 meter lines and wish him all the very best !

There is quite a big buggying and land boarding scene out of Canberra. They use that dry lake on the road out to Goulbourn, think it is called Lake George. If you are interested you can contact them through Extreme Kites.