m8kite.com - The First Kiteboarders

Heres an update from tropical north QLD, the place to be in wintertime. Being originally from Far North QLD, the M8 family always end up back there every winter for a holiday in the sun. And this year is no exception. In fact after the record cold winter in the SE last year, we decided to stay away a little longer this time and its now been 2 months for most of us up here in the tropics. In the middle Mat made a trip to Madagascar but thats another story. We honestly reckon you would be mad to pass on an FNQ getaway yourself right now, winds up and weather is perfect.

The tradewinds season got off to a flying start but then had a slow patch which allowed us to take in some of the other sights. Theres heaps to do even when its not windy. Cableboarding if you need to ride, hiking, biking, nightlife you name it. The cable park is something else, bring your bindings for sure. Anyway for the last few weeks we have been getting a fair bit of wind again and made a trip to the Great barrier reef with Windswell tours. The accompanying photos show how great the conditions were.

Having been on countless reef expeditions we are in a good position to reccomend a good reef tour when we find one. And this new offering from Windswell is on the money for kiteboarders of any level. The boat leaves from Port Douglas and heads north past the low isles taking in fantastic views back to the rainforested mountain ranges of the Daintree. Then out of nowhere a deserted pristine sand islet appears with a beautiful fringing reef and lagoons. Crystal clear water and colurful corals are teeming with fish. A great experience to kite over.

There is absolutely nothing on the sand islet apart from the kites, boards and cold drinks waiting for your selection. If the wind is in you kite till you drop, if its not then you standup paddle, snorkel and learn to foilboard behind the tender. Eitherway you are in for a treat. Typically in winter its powered riding on your mid or small size kite with butter smooth flat water in the lee of the island and there is even a sandbar with perfect little kickers to run amock on. The lads wasted no time getting amongst it and all came away with smiles from ear to ear.

And everyone was doubly stoked because we were riding the next seasons range of kites and boards. F-one Bandit Dos kites got rave reviews for their precision and performance. M8 claSSic boards were on the water the whole time and were in hot demand amongst the crew. Next articles will go into detail on the new models, suffice to say they are well worth getting excited about. The day finished up with a kite-foilboarding session in the flat water behind the reefs, and after a quick warmup we braved the open ocean for some foilboard cruising. Where better to learn to foilboard than in the warm steady tradewinds of the great barrier reef.

To get onboard with these tours contact windswell kiteboarding www.windswell.com.au/ or tel: 0427498042

Enjoy the pics courtesy Dana Heptinstall, and we hope to see you up here, this year or next.

M8 the 1st kiteboarders

3-Aug-08 1:15AM