kitesurfing lesson 3

this is gonna be short, but yesterday morning (saturday) i texted andrew (kitesurfing instructor) and asked if i could come for a lesson, and he said to go to pt. chevalier at noon. he said he could pick me up for an extra 20 dollars, and i asked if there was a bus and he said probably, but i could also walk. online it said it would take an hour and 45 min, but i had nothing else to do so i decided to walk (and take the bus if i got tired). it was pretty far and took nearly that long, but i wasn't too tired (although my feet did hurt from wearing my flip flops, i also walked for about 3 hours in them the previous day). there was this really funny ad on a lot of bus stops i went by that had a picture of pineapple lumps (nz candy), then said "makes up for god giving" and then a picture of ugg boots. i really wish i had my camera.

the beach is in a park on the side of one of the little corners of the auckland harbour, so there were no waves which was nice. there were 4 french people in the lesson, and then a guy who had bought his own stuff but was a complete beginner, and howie, the guy from the yacht that came with the italian girls to my first lesson. andrew and his wife/girlfriend minot (also french) were both teaching, as well as another guy named cyrus. when he asked what size kite i wanted i decided 6m again, which is what i had the last time when the wind was lighter, but it had felt a little under-powered then, and he said good choice. the french people had all been to 2 lessons before as well, although some of them had gotten the board then and some had not. we all inflated our kites and launched, and then carried our boards to the water. cyrus helped me get to the water and gave me some pointers, but before long i was a ways down wind of him, so i was basically on my own figuring things out (which was actually kind of nice). andrew was up and kiting around checking on everyone and helping catch lost boards and stuff, and basically we would just keep trying until we got to a yellow buoy and some windsurfers, and then we'd have to walk back upwind which was tiring and time-consuming. i think that's where an instructor with a boat or jetski would be really nice, until you learn to ride upwind.

after a bit i was up and riding to the right (the way i normally wakeboard) but getting up to the left was harder. i had done it a couple times by the end. i also lost my board twice but i body dragged upwind and got it (after a lot of back and forth). andrew was very impressed that i had gotten my board back myself though, i think he was doing a lot of fetching for the others. he said when he went by after i'd gotten up the first time that he could tell by the huge smile on my face.

by around 5 i was pretty tired and we took our kites down and walked up the beach a last time. minot had been teaching the beginner guy, and she said he taken off too hard while body dragging and injured himself, and that the guys are always reckless. while we were taking our kites down and waiting for everyone she and the french people were conversing in french, and i caught an occasional word i understood, but really, nothing at all. they were really nice though, and included me in english several times. andrew gave us a safety lesson on what to do if you are out away from shore and can't fly your kite anymore (unhook and use it as a sail to get back to shore if you can, and if not, roll it up and use your board to float and start swimming).

then i was preparing to go catch the bus back, but andrew asked the french people where they were going and if they could give me a ride and they said sure which was really nice. they have been here 5 months and work for air nz (i told them i wouldn't hold it against them about my lost bags). after that i had dinner, showered, and did my photos and blog and went to bed. 

now it's 4pm on sunday and i REALLY need to study for my anthro test on wednesday and look at my comp sci project (which is due may 28 but the others in the class seemed to think that wasn't enough time).