Please help - so heading to Africa at the end of November people have recommended that i wait until im over there to buy a good wetsuit as ill be able to save some money. I also need to get some wake/kite boots should i buy them here or again wait till im over there any suggestions ???
where are you going in Africa?
If Capetown - then you should be sweet for kite gear. It will be much cheaper.
Other places you might struggle to find the particular gear you want.
if you want wake boots, buy before going as I seriously doubt you will find many places that stocks them.
There are 47 countries in Africa - in most of them good gear is harder to come by than the West and therefore tends to be imported and more expensive.
That said in South Africa and few other more developed countries you should be able to find some competitive deals relative to Australia. These should be on the internet so just Google it.
Try
surfstore.co.za/ for some ideas on price (some kites look slightly cheaper than Kitepower in Aus)
Bottom line- if you are off the beaten track bring your own kit. If not then you might save a few bucks, but will take time, effort and the risk of being out of stock or ripped off in less developed areas. Things happen differently and more slowly in Africa.
Assuming you'er headed to Cape Town:
dirtyhabits.org/shops-cape-town/
And a good view/ live wind stats from the Best store at Blouberg' Kite Beach:
boardandkiteafrica.com/kitebeach-webcam/
(Figures are Average/Direction/Low/High)
You might have to pay a little extra here but it's worth it for the back up service.
Don't buy anything in Perth ever.
Perth is for making money, not spending it.
If you need electronics go to kogan.
If you need kites buy them from the uk/us/spain even after shipping it's way cheaper.
If you need books go to booko or several other websites.
If you need something fixed, go to youtube, there are tutorials for most things now.
Try to grow as many vegetables as you can, and buy your meat in bulk.
Buy dry goods online or in the large discount stores.
If you need furntiture for a whole house rent a whole shipping container and fill it up in indo/india/china/malaysia.
If you want to go to a restaurant I recommend going to Mozarellas in bali, even after tickets it's not that much more than anything comparable here. (or any restaurant in melbourne/brisbane)
I would recommend buying a car second hand from melbourne and driving it across if you don't have one of those too.
One option is to get yourself a good deal on the gear you want less than 30 days before leaving to go overseas. If you spend more than $300 at one shop you can claim the GST back at the airport through the Tourist Refund Scheme. I did it once flying to NZ with a kite and digital camera. All you have to do is go to the TRS stand once you have gone through Customs and present your goods, with the receipt. (So it only works on items you can wear or carry on) They will credit the money back onto a credit/debit card. It's a pretty good system!
You might not get as good a price even once the GST is deducted as overseas but at least you'll be safe in the knowledge you got what you wanted, you received a bit of a discount thanks to the TRS and you also have local support from your shop once you get home if something goes wrong.
www.homeaffairs.gov.au/
Ok thanks for all your help
- yes i am flying into cape town
- yes im looked after by a shop - they dont do boots or girls wetsuits
- fair enough about my vid i deleted that post
- as far as the boots go what are people riding and do you have any preferences? ronix ones/liquid force/ronix franks
- and does anyone have a good wetsuit ? what brand is it ?? Iv had a few now and they have all sucked for kiting
suggestions and recommendations appreciated
cheers
I bought a wetty over there cheap as. They also have a better range suited to the water temps there - ie freezing
