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[Tianui]

Well looks like my very private salt lake may soon be off limits so thought I would ask around what locations anywhere in Australia or New Zealand would be on a kite buggy addict's wish list to move to.

I have to face facts and confirm that if I spent the rest of my days buggying hours on end day in day out, it would never be enough.

I have lived on my farm for all of my 40 years and now the Bulldozers are sniffing at the gate to carve it up into houses. If I go, where are the best spots here or across the pond that would put me in the guts of buggy heaven?

The missus is a Kiwi and I am an aussie from Perth so just as happy to head over there, or the eastern states. not fussy just needs to be windy!

Thoughts anyone?

Hey if this location list works out. Think what a great holiday route it could make!

[Goz]

Yeppoon QLD for the nice long wide beach and smooth coastal winds and laid back lifestyle.

Stockton Beach NSW for the dunes only problem is it's a bit close to the rat race.

If I get around to finding some more locations I will add them.

[Peter]

you should firstly decide what surface you want to buggy on,

Grass - Far better for equipment

Sand - Can be found on most beaches

salt - you can fill us in.

beach - needs to have a wide usable surface, big tides can be a benifit. not many users is better too.

grass = needs to be kept mowed, large parks are ideal (but a long beach is hard to beat)

salt - needs to be accessable

personally if i was to pick one place in aus i think it would be within one hours drive of the salt lakes in SA. someone may add where i'm talking about. Kinston?

[OBEwan]

You could always move to Sandy Point Victoria where the XK events are held. Awesome beach and plenty of wind

[BobM]

Someone has to put in a good word for Stockton Beach (aka Port Stevens) and Gerringong (Seven Mile Beach) in NSW; so it might as well be me

[SoutherlyBuster]

Stop it BobM, you're making me home sick (I'm from Wollongong originally).

Anyway, here are my thoughts. Is this for retiring or for work + play on weekends? Plenty of nice places if work considerations are not a problem. Beaches are nice but they only work when the wind direction is right, so what do you do to appease your kite flying appetite for the rest of the time. So I think you need to have access to some large paddocks as well. For me it's President's Park, VIC, AU. And when the wind is right it's Sandy Point or 13th Beach. Barwon Heads (VIC AU) looks like a nice place to live if you are retired, but I'd make sure the house is high enough not to be troubled by rising sea levels.

I google mapped the spot where Plummet heads off to in NZ and looks like the spot is covered for any wind direction, just drive to the other side of the Island spit and you are right --- Plummet please confirm, I could be totally wrong here.

Norman

[.Joel]

Hi Tianui,

Sandy Point is by far the best beach I have ever kited on in Australia, and yet to find anything remarkably close to the run we get, the width, everything about it screams "I want to go fast" when the wind is on. It's also super hard packed compared to a few other beaches I have kited.

However with that said I would have to figure a guess (having not kited there myself much) as the best land kiting mecca in Australia would have to be South Australia. SA has probably the most coastline of any state in Australia, and could be kited in any wind direction. Added to that they have some amazing mud flats and salt lakes, it's really surprising there aren't more people in SA kiting. You get a mix of everything in SA.

[jhn.holgate]

Another vote for Sandy Point/Waratah Bay. If I was going to pack up and move to a beach location, that would be it. Check out the 'Day after Labour day" (this thread) to get a good look at the beach. Waratah Bay is a very quiet secluded place too. However, if you need a job and stuff like that, somewhere around Melbourne gives you access to that beach (2 hours), the snow (3 hours), good bushwalking and most amenities you'd ever want.

Brisbane's no good unless you like endless heat and humidity. Besides, it's about to be destroyed by cyclone ulilie (something like that). Sydney's just too damn busy for it's own good. Canberra just goes around and around in endless circles. (the guy who designed Canberra used to make merry-go-rounds) Adelaide's a nice spot and Perth is just too darn far away!

[Denver1229]

Tianui

Say it ain't so, whats happening to the lake? Tell the dozers to back off.

Need to catch up soon.

Anyone ever done 80 mile beach or whatever it is Port Headland to Broome in WA? That would have to be mental assuming there are no crocs.

[Oooo]

Yeppoon would be #1 warm weather good winds #2 90 mile beach in NEW ZEALAND next but a bit cold ! then sandy point VIC #3 cold winter hot summers , then stockton #4 would be the next on the list good dunes too

[SoutherlyBuster]

All this talk about kiting spots got me cruising google map .... . Take a look at Western Australia on the Souther tip, just starting to head East. There is a massive beach there and plenty of sand dunes. I'm guessing that plenty of sand dunes means plenty of onshore winds. Haven't got a clue whether the beach is hard packed or way too soft for landboarding/buggying. But as John said, it's a darned long way away from any where, might as well be another Country. But if you want peace and quite, this might be just the spot.

Norman.

[Chook]

Hey 560 kms the way the crow flys east of there is me!!!!!!!!!!.

[Tianui]

Thanks all, fantastic.

Will make a list of all this and now have a reason to start planning the traditional "around Australia" trip. I traveled all over the world in my youth, seen more than most Sandgroppers of my own state but apart from landing at Melbourne airport during the Ash Wednesday fires (on the way to NZ) in 83?? and Kingsford Smith on a flight transfer in 94 from Asia. I have yet to step foot in any other state of our big brown land.

Having become a buggy addict over the last eight years I now have a reason to expand my horizons and see the kind of locations that most buggiers take for granted. (Can you beleive I have never buggied on a beach) !

Reading all these responses made me think about the locations available to me and what I appreciate about them and what it is I really like about buggying.

Here in Perth our beaches are mostly not suitable, not wide enough and the wind direction is not very helpful.

We do have a grass park almost two k's long right under our sky scrappers next to the Swan river, which is great until something goes wrong.

As its quite narrow and often heavily populated with other users, if a gust gets you at the wrong time it has the potential to cause Drama!

ie: Kites on roads, over trees and people diving for cover.

It doesn't happen often, and I can handle most of the drama's, but teaching others can get hairy in strong winds.

The other option is a 600 acre dry lake (dry for 5 months at least). And here is where it gets interesting. I can fly this lake in any direction with not a soul to be seen. (hardly anyone even knows it exists, only a few k's from my home). Generally I take a mate and a quad bike as a tow vehicle / support. This combination allows us to fly in winds that if they get too strong and we become overpowered who cares, we just rope up and tow back across the lake and start again. Also this allows if a kite crashes and twists / folds making a relaunch difficult in such winds, the quad support can swing into place and relaunch in seconds of it going down. In fact racing along under the kite at top speed is lots of fun for whoever is on the quad also.

Here in lies my true desire. I have established that only when I am going flat out barely in control with a kite way too big for the conditions am I happy.

I think about it all day, it's not enough to just have a good day buggying around even with lots of quite fast runs.

I want to be SCARED shitless every time! Yesterday I had a 8.3 Reactor up in 25 knots and only then was I truly happy until I ran out of lake.

The Yakuza 4.0 came out and while i was back in control and still cooking fast. I just wasn't happy!

More speed, more adrenaline that's what I want.

Trouble is my lake is kind of like a national park and sooner or later the "fun police", will tell me not to enjoy myself anymore might I disturb some soil microbes, cause God knows there's nothing else alive out there when it's dry.

THEREFORE: this allows me to narrow my search for the perfect real estate.

Where in Australia or NZ can I buggy in any direction in any wind (smoking, scary, fast) without fear of "cleaning up" pedestrians and still not break any laws if my kids are riding along on their quads. Does such a place exist? Or do I have to move even further afield.

Thanks again to all and you can be sure a holiday in your favorite place is on the cards when time and funds allow.

[SoutherlyBuster]

What about this for a thought ....

Purchase a rural property that has the right wind and a poddock large enough for your needs + a tractor just good enough to groom the paddock into shape. Done, your own personal buggy field.

Oh and a house on the property that you and your family likes.

Norman.

[Tianui]

Even thought of buying a turf farm, and charging too much to interest a customer!

[Goz]

What about this for a thought ....

Purchase a rural property that has the right wind and a poddock large enough for your needs + a tractor just good enough to groom the paddock into shape. Done, your own personal buggy field.

Oh and a house on the property that you and your family likes.

Norman.

Can't tell you how good that idea sounds Norman, if the grass is good enough you could sell some of it as well.

How cool would it be able to go buggying or land boarding in the back yard whenever the wind was up.

[jhn.holgate]

How cool would it be able to go buggying or land boarding in the back yard whenever the wind was up.

[Tianui]

Is that place for sale??

Any more photos or info??

Looks sweet!

[jhn.holgate]

Is that place for sale??

No, sorry! Plan on being here until we're not fit enough to mow/prune/garden! I'd love to own the hill at the back (my neighbor's) then I could take down all the fences and I'd probably buy a paraglider!

[mojo]

You want to move away?

it is my 5yr plan to move back. Been in Aus 20 yrs or something and I wanna go home these days.

cheers

Jan