hey guys does anyone know anywhere to do this in australia or have done it before?
Bit off topic for the kite forum, but if you want a long ride/river wave, check out the Bono, ( as per 7 ghosts videos), in Sumatra. Gets pretty big, and can be ridden for an hour and a half or so. Best for Mals/sups tho....
Several spots on the east coast do this when the inland body of water needs to break its banks yes. You need local knowledge of these spots be there exactly when it happens or the locals dig a cut through and its only on for a hr or so untill the mouth funnel gets to wide or the gushing flow dies. Novelty that woulda got me stoked when I was 12 but good luck to ya.
Select to expand quotedjt91184 said..
Several spots on the east coast do this when the inland body of water needs to break its banks yes. You need local knowledge of these spots be there exactly when it happens or the locals dig a cut through and its only on for a hr or so untill the mouth funnel gets to wide or the gushing flow dies. Novelty that woulda got me stoked when I was 12 but good luck to ya.
yeah im 14 so still pretty keen
Culburra Beach NSW. Last year or the year before I think? We had a **** ton of rain in the weeks before hand and they dug a channel from the lake, through the dunes, to the ocean. Got similar conditions to that video, plus it created the best sandbanks to either side of the opening that gave us an amazing beachbreak for quite a long time.
Select to expand quotezarb said..
Culburra Beach NSW. Last year or the year before I think? We had a **** ton of rain in the weeks before hand and they dug a channel from the lake, through the dunes, to the ocean. Got similar conditions to that video, plus it created the best sandbanks to either side of the opening that gave us an amazing beachbreak for quite a long time.
Never open Lake Wollumboola (Culbarra Beach lake) because:
* It is a protected area
* Opening the lake at the wrong time also tend to kill many of the swans that live there
* The people living next to the lake suffer for months after that because of the (really) bad decomposing smell the lake bring when it is empty.
And also, you can't kite on an empty lake...
Alystan
Cyclonic swell pushes waves in nearly every river and harbour down the east coast. Below is what slave is talking about. Run out waves need a ocean side lake or creek to burst through the dunes as said by other posters. Councils often open them up round here with machinery if oxygen levels are down or there is green alga.
THE MISSINGHAM BRIDGE BALLINA.
<div class="meta-info">COMMUNITYHISTORYPEOPLENOV 14, 2011
<div class="entry-comments-views">1720
Photo: The Original BridgeDuring the early ‘60s the bridge was the surfing kindergarden for local Lismore and Ballina surfers.My wife Yvonne learned to surf there along with a number of local surfers including Kenny Buck, “Shorty” Conners, Murray Suffolk, Barry Gilligan, Bob McDonough and many others. We used to venture down there quite often particularly when it was onshore in the Bay. The wave worked best when the swell was more from the East allowing the lines to push up the river between the North and South walls. The tides formed a triangular sand bank on the Eastern side of the bridge, forming a really nice but usually small about 1 to 2 foot wave. 
The best I ever had it was with Bob McTavish and myself one day when there was a cyclone off the coast and it was around 4 to 5 feet. The wave would go in and then hit the small beach and backwash back out, I remember vividly one wave where I was riding in and Bob caught about a 3 foot backwash back out, with both waves meeting with the obvious result. Adjacent to the bridge is the East Ballina Kiosk, along the river side of the kiosk is an oyster lease which formed a really nice shaped left hander at times, very shallow! very sharp! 
Photo: The New Bridge
The old timber bridge was replaced by the new concrete bridge with associated break walls which changed the sand flow so that it now a lot deeper and not as good. I did see a nice little wave about two weeks ago a little further around from the bridge, which gives hope to a lot more kids learning to surf in what is a reasonably safe spot. We didn’t know about Bull Sharks back then or what it was to be harassed by Jet Ski’s… 
Words & Photos by our good mate & Kirra’s dad Max PendergastballinaByron Baybyron bay surfing and sunshinecommon ground byron baycommunityMax Pendergastphotography byron baysurfing
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Select to expand quoteAlystan said..zarb said..
Culburra Beach NSW. Last year or the year before I think? We had a **** ton of rain in the weeks before hand and they dug a channel from the lake, through the dunes, to the ocean. Got similar conditions to that video, plus it created the best sandbanks to either side of the opening that gave us an amazing beachbreak for quite a long time.
Never open Lake Wollumboola (Culbarra Beach lake) because:
* It is a protected area
* Opening the lake at the wrong time also tend to kill many of the swans that live there
* The people living next to the lake suffer for months after that because of the (really) bad decomposing smell the lake bring when it is empty.
And also, you can't kite on an empty lake...
Alystan
Well they did open the lake, I personally did not choose to open the lake. The lake was super empty for ages, still haven't gone back to check if that's changed, but kiting was still possible at the very southern end.
Select to expand quotepearl said..
Below is what slave is talking about.
That's just Missingham bridge though... hardly the "upstream" that Waveslave was referring to. The wave comes straight between the walls, it's still in the mouth of the river.
p.s. I also learnt to surf there actually, glad I didn't die from a bullshark.
That looks like a massive waste of time... chop city.
That Amazon river wave looks much better.
Here's a video my mate filmed of the Fus river wave near his house in Munich, breaks almost year round. Pretty cool spot.
p.s. @Pearl have you seen the other old photos of the Ballina river mouth (before the walls)... it makes me cry, what a good spot it would have been.
Select to expand quoteCJ2478 said..
I learnt to surf here and still surf here on my SUP all the time when the open beaches are blown out or I just feel like a really cruisy surf. Pretty fun wave that is very dependent on the tide and the guys who have mentioned bull sharks here aren't joking. Backwash is still an issue and on a SUP you can sometimes catch back into the lineup. Different kind of wave though to the other 'river waves' as it is still caused by ocean swell.
Cool that you still get out there! I haven't been for a while, probably the last time might have been windsurfing it... I would be a bit scared to paddle around in there at the moment anyway haha. My Dad tells some great stories about when the south wall was shorter (or non existent) and they used to surf at "Greasys" to the left in front of where the old fish and chip shop used to be, that would have been a cool spot I think.
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..
p.s. @Pearl have you seen the other old photos of the Ballina river mouth (before the walls)... it makes me cry, what a good spot it would have been.
Yes. George (Greenough) has showed me pics and told stories. At least they created a decent south wall wave. 
Ridiculous out front lately. We get cleared out of the water virtually daily by chopper with whites.. Might have to look for a wave pool!
Select to expand quotepearl said..sir ROWDY said..
p.s. @Pearl have you seen the other old photos of the Ballina river mouth (before the walls)... it makes me cry, what a good spot it would have been.
Yes. George (Greenough) has showed me pics and told stories. At least they created a decent south wall wave. Ridiculous out front lately. We get cleared out of the water virtually daily by chopper with whites.. Might have to look for a wave pool!
At least you get a few to yourself if you don't loose your legs 
. Might have to give my boards a new spray job when I get back and get custom wetty haha.
Select to expand quotepearl said..sir ROWDY said..
p.s. @Pearl have you seen the other old photos of the Ballina river mouth (before the walls)... it makes me cry, what a good spot it would have been.
Yes. George (Greenough) has showed me pics and told stories. At least they created a decent south wall wave. Ridiculous out front lately. We get cleared out of the water virtually daily by chopper with whites.. Might have to look for a wave pool!
Get George to catch em like he used to. He's not afraid of anything, least of all sharks.
Select to expand quoteLoftywinds said..
pearl said..
sir ROWDY said..
p.s. @Pearl have you seen the other old photos of the Ballina river mouth (before the walls)... it makes me cry, what a good spot it would have been.
Yes. George (Greenough) has showed me pics and told stories. At least they created a decent south wall wave. Ridiculous out front lately. We get cleared out of the water virtually daily by chopper with whites.. Might have to look for a wave pool!
Get George to catch em like he used to. He's not afraid of anything, least of all sharks.
Have to get him down Bondi on a crowded day reeling them in through swimmers then .
Select to expand quotesir ROWDY said..CJ2478 said..
I learnt to surf here and still surf here on my SUP all the time when the open beaches are blown out or I just feel like a really cruisy surf. Pretty fun wave that is very dependent on the tide and the guys who have mentioned bull sharks here aren't joking. Backwash is still an issue and on a SUP you can sometimes catch back into the lineup. Different kind of wave though to the other 'river waves' as it is still caused by ocean swell.
Cool that you still get out there! I haven't been for a while, probably the last time might have been windsurfing it... I would be a bit scared to paddle around in there at the moment anyway haha. My Dad tells some great stories about when the south wall was shorter (or non existent) and they used to surf at "Greasys" to the left in front of where the old fish and chip shop used to be, that would have been a cool spot I think.
Yeah I have windsurfed out there too, pretty fun when there's big surf and you get far enough out and ride the swell for ages. On a SUP it's fine I reckon, but I'm surprised that no one from one of the surf schools that frequent the spot have been taken yet. Wouldn't waste my time on a surfboard there unless its cyclonic conditions.
I remember they also extended the south wall a little bit in the early 2000s and even before that it used to have a bit more size. I have been told by some of the old guys that greasys used to be consistently shoulder high 
Why did they keep extending them cj?
Sand getting around? Too much maintenance dredging? Just curious, cheers
We had a woman try and dig through the mouth of the Greenough River (Geraldton) a couple of years ago, the local Rangers came down before she got to the ocean and gave her a Big fine .
She had been digging a trench almost 20 mrs long and it took her half the night.
two days after the council came and filled it back in , Mother nature showed them all and it burst open all by bit self.
Not enough water to make any decent waves though.
Apparently it is illegal in WA!
Select to expand quotemazdon said..
Why did they keep extending them cj?
Sand getting around? Too much maintenance dredging? Just curious, cheers
I'm not really sure, but I would say it has something to do with maintenance and a change in standards due higher factors of safety and increasing understanding of extreme weather events. The north wall was modified recently to make the end higher (safer for anyone walking on it) and also to improve/maintain the rock armourment which deteriorates over time.
Also the bar has progressively seen an increase in traffic and I would say it needs to be modified to allow safe passage of boats to meet a certain standard in the same way roads are. It was probably originally built to a lesser standard reflected by society's values of the time and the traffic across the bar. All this comes back to the issue of sand buildup across the bar and like you say I would imagine a sand migration dredging operation like they do on the Gold Coast (Nerang and Tweed rivers) would cost too much.
Basically what it comes down to I think is that extending the walls represents the best value in terms of cost to benefit ratio to mitigate sand bank formation on the bar due to build up of sand deposited by longitudinal drift.
