I have been spending my summers in Maui and winters in Baja, Mexico. Thinking of switching from Baja to either Australia or New Zealand for the season November through May. Any thoughts as to the best place to go? I want to kite as much as possible, but still need to be close enough to services and city so that my wife won't leave me. I was thinking of Geraldton, but she thinks that is too isolated, leaving me on east coast. Looking at Windalert, Gold Coast and Byron Bay look promising. The other idea is NZ around Tauranga or Auckland. Baja has been great, but other than kitesurfing and fishing not a lot exists. After 5 years it is time for a change.
Any thoughts and personal knowledge would be appreciated.
If you want great kiting head for Western Australia. But it is a long way from USA. The east coast of Australia is beautiful. Sydney to Gold Coast (600 miles) has lots of unspoilt coastline with small country towns. Byron and the Goldy are very crowded over the summer period but worth a visit. Sydney kiting is OK and lots of nightlife and great food. - check out http://nswkba.com.au/locations for locations up and down the coast.
Hey Alex,
I'm on the Gold Coast, and hail from NZ. I never really kited in NZ, but from holidays over there, I've found that Mt Maunganui (Tauranga) definately gets the seabreezes more than any of the other areas I've explored on that Eastern coastline - plus, that area has a fair amount of other cool stuff going on, and is a hot destination for tourists/locals alike. As far as consistency - I couldnt tell you, but all I can say is that whenever I was there, I kited. (20kts, 2-3ft swell).
As for the Gold Coast ,yeah its OK, but nothing amazing. We have waves and lagoons/river mouths to kite, we get fairly consistent wind in Summer, 20-30kts, but more so in Spring. IMHO, Brisbane wind was much more reliable and consistent. The GC seems to get the random sea breezes out of no-where, so my only observation is on the Coast, you need to be ready to go, rather than in Brissy, I could rock up to the beach at 4pm and almost gaurantee some kind of a seabreeze, 3-4 times per week. But, no waves, obviously, being in a bay.
All places, GC, NZ, Bris, are great places to live, good facilities, good lifestyle, good people, and have better access to the world. WA is fairly isolated, depending on where you need to travel, but has its good points too. The wind is obviously a lot better over there....
GC climate is probably closer to where you are now - warm in winter, and hot/humid in summer. It's more vibrant than for instance Tauranga NZ, more to do, more clubs/bars, a lot more international events, a lot more tourists, etc, and the women arent bad either.... :)
Let me know if you ever end up on the GC, I'll take you out to Main Beach. 
New Zealand will rock your socks off mate. It is a windy place with year round usable wind. This year is supposed to have a el nino weather pattern which means cranked westerlies for MONTHS!.... MONTHS...
Because the country is so small even if you don't have wind at your local its only a short road trip to find epic conditions. In Auckland its a 40 minute drive from west to east coast. All wind angles are kiteable there with beaches facing every direction. From Auckland or Tauranga a 5 hour drive will yield multiple world class epic locations.
Because of the size of Aus yourl have to pick one spot and hope it will be on. In NZ you have chase the wind almost indefinitely!.....
PS Because this is a el nino year with prevailing westerlies I recon Auckland might be a better bet than Tauranga. Perhaps someone can comment from Tauranga....
If you are a wave junky then stick New Plymouth on your radar.
Geraldton is a Great Location,
However the wind is only consistent between October till end of February.
Great place to live and only a mornings drive to Perth .
You can easily drive to Perth and back in one day.
Select to expand quotePlummet said..
If you are a wave junky then stick New Plymouth on your radar.
Yup, confirmed. East End beach rocked my socks off a couple years back when we visited!! All I can say is, that wave would smash you if you arent' careful. But has super potential to be way fun. Plus the wind seemed to be punchier - even at the same strength as I'm used to riding in.
Select to expand quotebreakzmaker said...Plummet said..
If you are a wave junky then stick New Plymouth on your radar.
Yup, confirmed. East End beach rocked my socks off a couple years back when we visited!! All I can say is, that wave would smash you if you arent' careful. But has super potential to be way fun. Plus the wind seemed to be punchier - even at the same strength as I'm used to riding in.
Yep. Ee is awesome. There's bigger and badder breaks to be had down the coast if you are brave enough.
Gold Coast and Byron is a great choice for East Coast. Super warm and good winds generally.
NZ is a bit on the cold side for my liking but would be fun kiting.
Geraldton wins for kiting for sure.
Id go got Byron for a lot if the time then fly to Geraldton too. Best of both worlds.
If your wife likes shopping, eating fine food, loves arts and fashion, and talking shidt with her mates over a chai latte (skinny) at multiple coffe shops on the cafe strip, then I'm sorry to say she will divorce you if you move to geraldton, however if she likes fishing, catching and choking down crayfish with a coldy down the beach whilst her hair gets blown around then you sir will be in windy wonderland
Bud, maybe check out mellow Adelaide (small city but some cool pads that stay open past the ring of the last church bell) or clicky Melbourne (skinny decaf latte central - but some locals are no frills grass roots watermen) to live & kite after work on the regular Seabreeze thru late spring summer & early Autumn & do some weekend road trips down the coastline each way for surf & wind (great camping spots -or niche 'glamping' & cabbins within an hour or 3 depending upon time). Yep, it does get warm enough just for boardies in Summer.
Good luck finding that balance you & the wife want. You will miss the Noth Shore & good cheep Tacos.
Hang Loose
Aido
I lived and windsurfed in Perth many years ago before kiting was heard of. It was - and still is fantastic - for windsurfing and kiting. I moved to Auckland from Sydney about 4 years ago and kite more in NZ than I ever managed to while living in Sydney.
Auckland, north of Auckland, Tauranga/Mt Maunganui have great kiting spots for flat water and wave kiting. There is an awesome variety of beaches and estuaries around the country only a short distance from the cities and towns, with a lot of choice around Auckland itself, whatever the wind direction and time of year. There are very few council restrictions or parking hassles.
In summer the water is warm. It does get a bit chilly in the winter but, after being a warm weather kiter, I've toughened up and now kite through the winter as well.
I've kited in the Middle East and Cyprus as well as Oz. NZ is underestimated as a kiting venue and would top those countries for accessibility, variety and hassle-free kiting. It's also close to the pacific islands if you want really warm conditions.
Wear a thicker wetsuit over winter and once you get on the water you won't even notice that it's cold.
How is Gero-Perth and back an "easy day drive" when there's all those kiting spots inbetween? 
Alexin baja, I live in Perth, and if you want to just kite, kite and kite Oct-Feb, it's the place. A city like San Diego, with wind.
It's a a lazy four/five hour drive to top wave spots like Margaret River (south) or 90 minutes north to Lancelin, with great metropolitan spots(just Google the names) including The Pond, Safety Bay, Woodman's Point, Dutch Inn, and Brighton/Scarborough.
Distances, the number of summer outdoor cinemas, and some of the prices of daily living will be your only surprises. Cheap accomodation is hard to find, and Perth campsites or caravan parking is limited, although I don't know how you would go with the internet house-swapping services.
However, I lived in New Zealand for three years, and although I never kited there, the place is a winner. Scenery and people are unreal, very easy distances, lots of other activities and, really, I find it a bit more interesting.
I say in 4-5 months you'd really get to know the place, whereas in WA you may feel you've just scratched the surface. If you do end up on the North island, make sure you set aside a at least 2-3 weeks to at least be a tourist at the bottom end of the South Island in summer - it's a stunner!
West Oz has the best wind in Australia I think
but if you are into doing downwinders in the surf then then Sunshine Coast in Queensland is unreal
Pump up head downwind for 15 km -30 km or more then land your kite on the beach pack up and jump on the bus back to where you started 
September to December is best,but January to April can be good also
Warm,clear water,flatwater rivermouths
Great place to live
Kite size 7m to 17m
Select to expand quotejeff2 said...
Geraldton is a Great Location,
However the wind is only consistent between October till end of February.
Your right Jeff it does suck only getting consistent winds for 5 months of the year... Just makes those other 7 months so much harder to get through for sure!
Select to expand quotebreakzmaker said...
Hey Alex,
All places, GC, NZ, Bris, are great places to live, good facilities, good lifestyle, good people, and have better access to the world. WA is fairly isolated, depending on where you need to travel, but has its good points too. The wind is obviously a lot better over there....
If NZ is such a good place to live then why are there so many Kiwis moving over here?
Select to expand quotekiteman69 said..
breakzmaker said...
Hey Alex,
All places, GC, NZ, Bris, are great places to live, good facilities, good lifestyle, good people, and have better access to the world. WA is fairly isolated, depending on where you need to travel, but has its good points too. The wind is obviously a lot better over there....
If NZ is such a good place to live then why are there so many Kiwis moving over here?
Not many kitesurfers hawling ares to aus to go there for the better kiting that's for sure. NZ boasts a wicked life style but lower average wage and less job opportunities. .... Who the hell cares its windier.
Oh yeah. Its colder too.
If NZ is such a good place to live then why are there so many Kiwis moving over here?
Poor salaries, high cost of living, lack of opportunities in NZ.
I must add nz legalised gay marriage because there not one female left there, only sheep.
Select to expand quotekathypacific said..
If NZ is such a good place to live then why are there so many Kiwis moving over here?
Poor salaries, high cost of living, lack of opportunities in NZ.
Sounds like you live in a great place...
I guess if I lived in a place like that I would go to a neighbouring country and take their jobs too.
Geraldton -it is soooo epic and can be sooo gnarr /big wave riding... but way too remote 4 u though
Perth - some of best summer wind in the world - you can constantly smash yourself trying the same trick in butter flat water with howling wind 10 000 times in a row
no decent waves at all tho - expect to drive a few hours at east for that gnarr waves
East Coast Aussie can be epic but is mostly very average kiting - wind is just not consistent anything like west coast or NZ
Byron Bay although kitable is really a dead loss on the scale of things - there are even totally epic spots I love nearby but actually getting decent wind? - doesn't happen much.
NZ is better for kiting overall, but Aussie smoke NZ for normal surfing I reckon - mind u if you snake a wave that is!
Your right ian oz smokes nz to little crispys except in the job stealing arena they win hands down hey...and sheep mounting market hey bud.
The Byron to (name deleted) is hippie trail green rolling hills pipe smoking (if your into that kind of thing) delicious. Grabs the summer northerlies and the southerly busters
When a lil kiwi is born they dont get a birth certificate no sirree, they get given a excavator (dugger) ticket or scaffold ticket+ passport.
Select to expand quotedjt91184 said..
When a lil kiwi is born they dont get a birth certificate no sirree, they get given a excavator (dugger) ticket or scaffold ticket+ passport.
Found the kiwi basher....
Alex. Im assuming your staying in Maui for the summer? I started in maui this summer and cant get enough.....also considering a winterplace......would you reccomend la ventana for an epic winter? ....im also considering roadteipping hatteras, sourhpadre then sail to cabo....and do la ventana(assuming i need an rv?) .
The other option is auckland which i wonder would be nice because i love maui so much ( but its a bit warm).
Finally open to doing tarifa.....again as a newbie and torally addicted, i want to find something as epic as maui......just somewhere else.........any suggestions to spots appreciated...i have income of like 4k and can work from phone. Living in sf at moment
Sounds like you live in a great place... I guess if I lived in a place like that I would go to a neighbouring country and take their jobs too.
I'm Australian. In NZ for the moment to look after relatives living here. I'm not taking any one's job. You should learn not to judge people before you know their situation.
Both Aussie and NZ are sick for board riding on the grand scale of things.
Maui has no waves in Aussie winter when there is the most wind - still absolutely love it tho..... it cranks so hard.. riding in warm choppy waters with nuking winds - october can be epic tho - when everyones gone home...
Auckland is kind of unique in that you have 2 coasts to choose from within a 40min drive in places.. can be 40ft southern ocean swells hitting one side and cyclone swells hitting the other side in summer, a lot of choice. You can't plan on the wind direction in nz - it just does whatever it wants to on the day 6m weather southerly next day 10m day NE...
Give me a dbah or snapper surf session in the morning in Aussie and a kite session in NZ in the afternoon. :-0
Select to expand quotebreakzmaker said...djt91184 said..
When a lil kiwi is born they dont get a birth certificate no sirree, they get given a excavator (dugger) ticket or scaffold ticket+ passport.
Found the kiwi basher....
Just to clarify bro I have known kiwis since primary school into every job I have ever had white ones moldy ones. I like them good hardworking fun loving crew (the ones I've known), but there has always been a healthy rivalry and plenty of taking the piss banter, in my experience the kiwis can give it as well as they can take it. All good I just love hanging **** on them all in good nature no offence I will go over one day and have plenty of couches I can sleep on from crew I have worked with.
