DAY 1 - cobwebs gone for all group members.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Phil G - first major jumps and landing them, very nice!
2. Cam B - super smooth back to toesides (after some awesome surface face drags...)
3. Ryan S - upwind body dragging and thankfully doesn't feel the need for the board leash any more. Edging beginning to take shape and p-stance being ironed out
4. Shannon H - Cobwebs out since last kite in April. Edging beginning to get stronger and stance improving
5. Sam V - First time successfully riding in both directions, losing a fair bit of ground but up and cruising. Must improve riding goofy as never done this before.

Awesome times, around 30 knots all morning, dropping down to 15-20 in the afternoon. Kite Point for both sessions, 6 hours of riding and Chris/Warren/Martin/Cam made it back to dry land on Nananu Ira from Kite Point... just!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 3 - DAY 2 - awesome progressions made by the group today, starting to jump forwards in leaps and bounds...

Kite Point in the morning followed by an outer reef sandbar session before big downwinder home.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Phil G - Landing first backrolls, ripping around on directional board for the first time and looking great carving around, first kiteloops in 25+ knot winds, great work Phil!

2. Sam V - Nailing his riding in a big way. Checked off riding upwind, confidence on goofy direction, toeside and nice toe to heel carve turns. Massive steps forwards, awesome stuff!

3. Shannon H - Nice directional and weight changes on board, beginning to nail going from solid edge to down...wind carves. First time toeside riding, weight changes improving to toeside.

4. Cam B - awesome attemps at F16's in strong winds, definitely no holding back, huge launches and looked like fun on the small waves as he carved his way downwind.

5. Ryan S - Holding ground easily and beginnings of toeside riding. Looking very solid and comfortable out there now, huge progressions not far off.

Cam tearing along at the sandbar!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 3 - DAY 3 - Nice chilled out morning, a couple of hours in front of the lodge followed by an epic downwinder into the sunset.

Day 3 HIGHLIGHTS

Shannon H - nice big edge to edge toe and heel carves and much improved edging and kite/edge balance.

Phil G - Kiteloops, downloop carve turns and solid backrolls riding away powered.

Sam V - Nice edge to edge carving, as well as toeside riding and toe to heel carve turns.

Ryan S - First time jumping, edge to edge carving, attempted heel to toe carve turns very close, just need to power kite more and recover line tension earlier.

Cam B - Ripping early in the day on a windsurfer, worst hangover of the team ;)

Phil G tearing along on his surfboard!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 3 - Day 4 HIGHLIGHTS

Wind has dropped off a bit today, sitting around 15 knots all day. Enough to hold ground, tough getting upwind. 2 Sandbar and downwinder sessions today, great times!

Phil G - Backroll Kiteloops, unbelievable effort! Also riding away from backrolls relatively comfortable.

Shannon H - Riding toeside and in complete kite distruction mode! Also looks great in kankles...

Ryan S - made it back to lodge in one piece, again edge is getting better and beginning to be able to pump back leg more and more each session.

Sam & Cam - bought back some awesome trevally, great sushimi, top work guys!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 3 - Day 5 & 6 Highlights

The trades are back, blowing day and night around 20-25 knots. A few fantastic downwind sessions from the sandbar, and we managed to time low tide perfectly for some flatwater perfection at the sandbar.

Shannon H - After a nightmare board loss (turned up on the tip of the ...island at 1am) he's been ripping it. Toeside riding and jumps have been improving rapidly!

Phil G - Double Backrolls, much bigger jumps, and carving the chop on the way home have looked great.

Sam V - Upwind with ease, toeside carving, jumps all looking great.

Ryan S - Toeside improving, jumps looking great, overall confidence skyrocketed!

Cam B - Ripping the backroll to toeside, big raleys, mixing it up.

Nice little sunset session back to the lodge!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 3 - Day 7

Morning session in front of the lodge...

Great to see after a week of solid kiting Phil G and Cam B tearing around out the front of the lodge 20 minutes before their airport transfer was set to leave. Great times!

Afternoon session to Reef,

a great afternoon session, Shannon, Mel, Martin, Phil and I had a great session as we waited for the new group to arrive!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE TOUR 4 - Day 1

New group, wind on the way up, Kite Point session in the morning (~14 knots) and afternoon (~16 knots)

Peipei - went from not keeping kite in air to start the day to beginning to body drag and relaunch late in the day. Great improvement Peipei!

Shannon H - only one to stay upwind for both sessions, edge looks perfect, jumps going well and riding toeside with confidence!

Mel M - Riding regular looks great, holding ground, goofy direction board was too flat and lost ground there. Upwind body drag working 50%, too upwind 50%

Nathan - Too powered with bar, losing ground through this and weight to centred on board, not getting backwards against kite enough for solid edge.

Pei Pei Consolidating the basics at Kite Point!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 4 - Day 2 - Morning session

Great wind this morning, around 20 knots at Kite Point.

Everyone was happy and lit on smaller kites, great to see.

Frederic - upwind body drag looks great, relaunch technique looking good, very close to getting kite up quick and easily each time. Riding looking great to the natural side.

Peipei - great body dragging effort, starting to gain body control in the water and control the kite when it's powering up. Close to board ready!

Shannon - great backroll efforts today. some huge launches which were clearly not intended but looked great :)

Mel - Looks like she's found it, great work holding ground, edge looking fantastic, now for the real test this afternoon!

Nathan - Much better edge this morning than yesterday, not dragging bar in when overpowered so much and holding ground far better. Time for the big progression now!

Mel sorted, enjoying a beautiful downwinder home!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 4 - Day 3

Morning and afternoon sessions to Kite Point today. Was around 25-35 knots all day. Plenty of power on the small kites!

Shannon - jumps getting higher, backroll attempts were great and rode a few away through the day. Strongest conditions Shannon's ridden in.

Peipei - Definitely the best bodydrags completed so far. Far better core stability and balance in the water. Nearly getting upwind body drags.

Mel - very solid riding, best edge yet, upwind natural, just missing cross wind goofy. Strongest conditions out in yet.

Nathan - upwind for the first time today, positioning and edge much better and far less choking the kite.

Frederik - great edge in tough conditions. Riding is progressing very well, first time holding a good edge and not flattening board out this afternoon.

Freddy holding a strong edge in tough winds. Great work mate!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 4 - Day 4

Kite Point morning and afternoon sessions, huge jumps forwards for the group today, info is clearly sinking in and now being put into practice.

Nathan - upwind comfortably, carve turns along the waveline nailed.

Shannon - going huge with his jumps, backrolls riding away on occasion.

Mel - Holding ground and returning back to the point, much stronger frame.

Frederik - upwind for the first time, returning to beach and well upwind.

Peipei - able to complete full runs without crashing kite, comfort jumping a lot, getting board on feet assisted and holding balance as drifting downwind. Ready for starts!

Never dropped below 25 knots through the day, often 30+!

Nathan mid carve turn onto his toes!

FIJI WINTER ESCAPE Tour 4 - Day 5

Insanely good wind yet again. 25+ knots consistently all day again. We had a lit Kite Point session in the morning followed by a brilliant Sand Bar Run in the afternoon, big downwinder finishing right on Sunset was amazing!

Peipei - first time popping up on the board, big improvements to...day.

Mel - Upwind consistently, also did well carving around and having fun on the downwinder.

Nathan - upwind easily, jumps "interesting" :) and had a blast carving around and tearing the chop apart on the downwinder.

Frederik - upwind consistently, jumps beginning well, working on carving downwind and riding toeside

Shannon - nice carves downwind through the afternoon, jumps are definitely increasing in height and backrolls are getting more and more consistent.

Playtime in Fiji... jumping over the boat and into the distance!

After 5 days straight of 25+ knots (13 days straight for some) we decided that today we'd only go for one boat session and we'd time it perfectly for dead flat water! It was undoubtedly the session of the season, low tide out at the reef meant we had the flattest water imaginable, ...then after the downwinder back in to Safari Lodge we used the reefs straight off the front beach for another hour or two for even more butter smooth water to finish the week! It was fantastic to share this experience with acquaintances that through the course of the week had become good friends and who had had the kite experience of a lifetime!

Clinics to iron out the kinks and maximise progression!

Frederik - from not riding at the start of the week to getting upwind, downwind carves, toeside, jumps, transitions to name a few. Fantastic work out there mate!

Shannon - took the day off and headed to Golden Dreams for a Scuba Session and to rest the body after 13 days straight of kiting!

Nathan - with his new found control and skills took full advantage of
the dead flat water on the reef line and had an amazing session before
carving his way along the waves back to the lodge.

Peipei - up and riding, had a fantastic session and made it nearly the
whole way back to the lodge.

Mel - upwind, downwind carves, toeside carving along the waves,
fantastic skills out there.

Was fantastic to meet Paul & Ben from Sydney and share a few days
with them as well, also great to get a kite in with Rueben from NZ as
well as the windsurfing gang who made Safari Lodge their home for the
week as well.

Morning yoga to get bodies ready for a big day on the water!

Epic wind and oldschool dangles!

Chris with a big 1 footer over an unhooked Martin!

Ppppei pppppei!                                                    Boat trip out to the Sandbar!

Adam can't wait to get out on the water!

Boat Trip to Kite Point, Tour 1

Ready for the week ahead. Gerry, Adam, Harry & Declan!

Amazing wind, warm water, great people... TOUGH TO BEAT!

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