Boarding Down Under
So, you want to go boarding but where is the best place to go? Well I can definitely say that the best place ever is Australia, though as Australia is a big place I’ll narrow it down for you a bit more, head down geelong way in Victoria and you shall find the Mecca, utopia, or Valhalla of KiteATB!
If you ever have looked into the Australian kite scene then you would have probably heard of the Kite Power guys, who have a shop down in geelong, you may have even see Goshen ripping it up on their site. That magical place where the videos were shot was at "Dogrocks", an odd name but a great place.
So after a journey into the middle of the countryside (far away from the usual rambling public) you drive up a lane, and see a few rocks, at first I thought that the place looked small, or must still be elsewhere; but no it was just over the other side of the rocks, and there it was laid out in front of me a couple of acres of trimmed grass, and the main attraction a huge wave like feature which could me ridden all over and off depending on the wind.
After standing in awe looking at the place, I decided that I better start and ride, out came the 4m Blade II, while Goshen and Bruce were unpacking the new Blade III's (had only just hit their shop, and was their first virgin outing).
Well, I guess you guys must wonder what it is like to ride the rocks up close, and carving along them at speed. The God honest truth is that it is an amazing feeling, as you can see from some of the pictures the terrain is very varied, with flat tops, dips curves, and angles all to play with. So it means that you can go to one far corner of the area, build up speed, slowly graduate onto a bit of rock which goes from being a small slope into the side of the "rocks", and from there you can continue wallriding or go and head up to and end up running through a puddle. . .as I almost did! It is quite a sense of exhilaration when riding on it, as the connection between your board and the ground is different to as if you were riding on grass, or sand, its more solid, (well it is rock!) so also has the "impact factor" of also trying to play semi safe on it, so as not to hurt yourself.
Of course, some of my time was spent just standing around watching Goshen as he blatted around the place picking up speed and using some of the smaller outlying rock features as kickers to launch of, and pull of tricks including no-hands, foot offs, spins and grabs, etc, the usual things but pulled off in stylish moves. One place that Goshen's style does show off, is on the main rock, in which he seems to do quick board manuals or having no fear when launching off a jump at the top and floating down for a while (picture in Goshens' gallery).
The kite decisions were of a funny choice that day with kites ranging from 3m upto 8.5m, yet whatever kite used tricks were abound. It is amazing to think that such a spot exists which is say 10 minutes drive out from Geelong, into the middle of nowhere. . .and Geelong is well in the middle of nowhere as well, so its pretty far out in on-where land. So you don’t get the trouble of the passers-by thinking that right where you want to park your kite is an ideal spot for a picnic. It’s one location that I would consider as kite heaven!
From travelling around the place in Australia I must say that the attitude down Geelong way was a nice relaxing one, friendly guys willing to help you out. A big thanks to Goshen and Bruce, from the Kitepower Geelong store, and also to Steve at the Kitepower Sydney Store. Also hello to the boarders that I met down at Eastern Park in Geelong.
So guys, if you fancy a break and thinking about heading out to Australia check out the sights and sounds of Melbourne (with all its pubs), and then pop over to Geelong and hire a board. . and go find a space to board in the freedom down under!
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