Interested to know when you first saw kiting and what you thought of it.
The first time I saw it would have probably been in the winter of 98. Living on the Gold Coast at the time and I was sailing on the western side of the Broadwater in a channel in a strong westerly wind. A guy was there with a kite and what I remember to be a surfboard to ride. He kept getting pushed downwind and was out of control. We talked about it but I wasn't really interested in trying it as it looked really scary.
At the time I never really thought it would get as popular as it has as I thought kitesurfing lacked control and was really dangerous. Kudos to the designers who made the gear safer for kiters.
Lancelin, January 1999 - bloke completely out of control swooped his kite down and almost took the head off my then girlfriend (now wife and mother of my child) as she sailed the other way. She literally dived off her board as the lines swooped her at head height...
Not exactly an auspicious welcome to kiting. But it certainly made me remember it.
The 1st time I saw kiting was at Rye front beach can't remember the year but it was before boardshorts over wetsuits became the norm 
Jay Roadley at Sandy point in the boat hole ,late 80,s early 90s on a Bombora Xit with his 2 string kite. Way before kites. There a photo somewhere. They used it as a joke in an ad i think.
it was when i was like 8, my parents got me one of those half circle shaped octupus kites with like heaps of streamers off the bottom. me being me, i tied it to my fishing rod and let all the line out, it was like 200m up in the air when i ran outta line and realised the end bit wasn't tied on.
it was awesome.
to be honest i can't remember. but it was most likely a windsurfer mate doing it. a lot of mates sold their gear to get into kiting. 3 years later they were all windsurfing again.
my first remembered memory of kiting was being at redcliffe.
my mum (bless her) pointed to the water and said wow look at the windsurfers.
my 3 year old daughter (bless her too).
said, grandma, that's not a windsurfer it's a kiter.
who cares. ****h all I here about it kniting these days. I mean kiting. We should be talking up wavesailing not kiting
The first time i saw it i was a pennyless school leaver back in 05 , i went and had a chat to an instructor i saw on the shore and asked him about prices etc, to me then 2k to get into it was totally out of the question so when i saw an ad in the paper for a bunch of WS kit for $120 i jumped at it.
BEST THING I EVER DID!!!
Now 3yrs on im glad i dont kite ( i wouldnt fit in with that crowd anyway)
And im still pennyless but so very very happy!
Mid- to late 90s on the Great Lakes.
Thought then that it was just another fad, like the kitewing of the early 80s, symmetrical sails and can-openers.
Had already predicted that those ropes lying all over the place would be a pain in the ar$e.
So I was half-right...
First time i saw kiteboarding it was sans-board.
1 guy,
1 hundred metres of beach,
1 ridiculously large kite and
1 hell of a sou-wester.
1 long downwind heel drag.
He was literally barefoot skiing on sand.
Yes I remember when kiting was hardcore.
It was all down hill from there.
Mid 90's - First time is saw it live was at Long Reef (had seen it before on the TV).
I thought it looked cool, although the jumps did look like they were happening in slow-motion.
Was I interested in taking it up? - Nah windsurfing is a big enough buz and a perpetual challenge.
I still think its cool though, and In a way, has given windsurfing an exposure to younger people.
At the end of the day its Wind and Water. So its way better than any other sport/rec., besides than windsurfing that is.
Late 90's, saw some guy on a remote beach with a massive kite, he'd just come in.
Having flown stunt kites for years I thought "How hard can this be" and asked him for a go. I now realise it was a 2 line Wipika (0% depower).
After being dragged down the beach and hearing him yelling "Let go, let go" I managed to land it on a barbed wire fence.
And then ran away!
Haven't touched the silly things since.
In the late 90's I was holidaying in Lancelin.
Saw some guys out on kites and thought "that looks kinda cool"
next day was heading out towards main break, jumped over a wave and there was a kiter down behind the waves, being dragged along while he couldnt relaunch his kite.
landed right in the middle of the strings and ended up tangled in the stuff ... disliked them ever since.
1989 in the Columbia Gorge there was a guy who rode a kite with a pair or waterskis. There was an annual race called the "Gorge Blow Out" which was a big downwinder for 20 odd miles, and legends of time - Robby Naish, Bruce Peterson, Phil McGain etc, used to do it on longboards as the wind could vary from not much, up to 50 knots.
Anyway, the kite guy went in the race and was actually first down the river but couldn't get over the finish line as there was a 200 metre or so beam reach to the finish line, and he could only go more or less dead downwind.
What a shame eh 
Circa 2000: RalInn was getting dragged across the muddy and rocky shore at Lake Eppalock. First thought: That doesn't look like much fun.
First time I saw it was when I saw their float in the Sydney Gay Mardigras parade
The first time I saw one was years ago at Yorkey's, the guy was Mat Colefax, he's the Wipika importer and I'm fairly sure he kicked it off here in Aus, firstly in FNQ.
I used to watch them walk way up wind and kite down using directional boards that they had to gybe. Mat used to be on my back all the time to have a go, he was pos it was going to take off but I thought it it looked stupid.
I even told him to give it away as it'll never take off, just shows what I know 
Kitesurfing's the best thing to happen at Yorkey's, before them it was mostly just me, now I can have a beer and yak after a sail
On Maui I think it was 1993 and windsurfers were everywhere. Saw this guy on a kite stacking so badly and out of control..... my thoughts were 'what a ridiculous sport' got a bit closer and realised it was Laird Hamilton.....who you'd see flying around on windsurfing speedboard quite a bit and looking totally in control.....
Thought kiting would never take off at the time, even up to the early 2000's kiters were 'tea-baggers' .... then in 2003 saw some footage of Robby Naish ripping up Gnarloo on a kite......... and I bought one soon after and my windsurfing equipment has been in storage since!
Still improving on the kite and the learning curve is longer and more fun I reckon.... nothing against windsurfing - it is great fun. Had my first windsurf in years here at Lord Howe Island a couple of days ago - it can be perfect for windsurfing here!
Important moments in Al, s life
1974 met a girl who didn’t wear flannels and track pants, she wasn’t from my home town and she talked kinda funny.
1988 Rollerbladed for the first time!
1999 Saw a kite surfer at Kanaha!
2007 Read on the internet that Lindsay Lohan isnt driving stick anymore (probably got sick of it while working on Herbie Fully Loaded)
When did you first see kiting? ..........11.22am 10.10.96
& what were your thoughts?............Kylie, Bob Down, Wham, Culture Club, Rainbow flags.....
I love all the negativity in here- kiters thrive on it, keep slinging boys and girls...
Rad Lad - what were you doing at the Mardi Gras to see the kiters float ??????????
Sausage - I love Wham and all those other bands you mentioned, I play them in my waterproof ipod while I ride.
Must be off - gotta go put on a tutu and dance around the office to a bit of Kylie (clearly it's what us kiters do) ...you pole dancers feel free to carry on enjoying your narrow minded pitiful existence.....
OK thanks Geoff, the first time I saw them it was at Woodies Pt back in '92 and I thought that looks really technical. What, with managing a large kite and jumping out of the water etc.
I saw them again on several occasions and they were still "jumping out of the water", then it hit me, is that it? As my kids would say "thats gay" 
Came up with the idea myself in about 1994 after flying and redesigning 1-2-4 string kites on the farm where i had nothing else to fill the time as a kid.
Mum helped me built what i thought was a big kite. (see profile for a picture)
dragged downwind on a boogy board for 20 mins.
then broke the kite.
I gave up kitesurfing for 12 years
I always knew someone would think of it and come up with better gear.
Sorry so many of you have had a negative introduction to kiting. It's what i do and enjoy, also sorry that a vocal minority of water users are complete wankers.
I windsurfed (really badly) for one very short season in 1996, but i didn't own any kit so that was the end of that.
