Butch update

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Well things have been all go in the Butcher household the past few months.

Myself and my beautiful wife Shell have sold up and left the hustle bustle of crowded UK life and flown halfway around the world back to our homeland of New Zealand to settle and live by the beach.

Shortly after touching down in Aotearoa our gorgeous baby girl Aroha Chloe Cristal Butcher arrived 8 weeks early and took us both by surprise. Both Mum & baby had a pretty rough ride in those first 2 months doing a tour of no fewer than 3 of New Zealands finest Neo Natal intensive care Units but things have settled a bit now and both are doing well.

We have a rented house right behind the sand dunes at Foxton beach, on the west coast of the lower north island of New Zealand and have a 20 second walk across the road and thru the dunes to one of NZ’s longest & finest stetches of hard packed sand, clean breaking waves and the largest area of dunes in the whole counrty. We are truly blessed.

Check the location here on Google maps…
I am the lone kiter in this area as far as I can gather and am yet to spot another kite since I have been living here for the past 2 months. Bliss!! The Norwesters here are perfect for long downwinders (and upwinders) on the beach and I have been familiarising myself with the coastline and the winds, regularly making the 30km round trip to Himatangi beach (the next town along the coast,) and beyond by way of my kgb and 9m Ozone FYX, a truly awesome combination. As the winds become more consistent in the run up to summer I will be venturing further afield and making longer runs down the coast towards the capital Wellington further south. The beach is hardpacked and wide most of the way down with only a few river inlets to navigate across on the way, and in excess of 100km of distance to cover by kgb. Not exactly the Gobi Desert, but a mission all the same. Ill keep you posted on my efforts.

My Ozone Stealth Buggy will also be getting a hard workout in and around the huge dune features here as well as on the beach. Only just yesterday I was out in the 45 knot howling winds and driving rain giving the Stealth its first New Zealand Ride and putting my wee 1.5m Imp trainer thru its paces in the gnarly conditions. The locals must’ve wondered what this crazy idiot was up to in the near storm conditions, something they will get well used to in the upcoming months.

Shell & I are currently in the process of setting up our own wee Kiteschool and Shop which we hope to launch here in Foxton Beach and right up the Kapiti Coast in the upcoming spring. We will be offering Powerkite, Landboard, Buggy and Kitesurf tuition as well as sales of Ozone kites & accessories to try and build a kite scene on a beach that is perfect for our wind powered sport right in the heart of Wind Farm Country, with the wind blowing here most days.

I am fortunate to now live at a world class landkiting beach and intend to utilise its merits to the fullest. Youll be hearing from me soon.

The photos were taken by Graeme Macgregor, a holidaymaker on the beach for the day who i caught taking photos of me… thanks Graeme

Ka kite

Butch