Wake: So Caity, have you been to NZ before?

Caity: No! It was my first time to New Zealand! With no expectations of what the weather would be like, It was still a shock to be looking at snow capped mountains while I was riding.

What did you think of the event?

From a riders point of view, its great to go to an event and get well looked after. We were handed drinks, shade and prizes, and received plenty of information on the event details prior to the event and kept up to date on the day of the running of it. These little details makes it worth attending. From the spectators point of view, it was great weather, plenty of entertainment and the standard of riding was definitely enough to get excited about.

I take it you met a few NZ riders for the first time. Any standouts?

The New Zealand riders are so good. We take for granted how good we have the weather here in Australia whereas in New Zealand its so cold! So the guys who have stuck with wakeboarding and participated in events in NZ are so keen for it all the time. The wakeboard community is a lot smaller in NZ so I noticed that the riders are really close and get along really well with each other. Watch out for David Stubbs and Nick Gibson!

Did you find any differences and/or similarities with Australian events?

Aussie events and NZ events are similar with the format of the event and the atmosphere. It was different because it's such a small community and to be a successful event, it had to be made big. It included highly respected sponsors like Oakley, Mountain Dew and Ronix, who threw in money and prizes. The event created excitement with the Christchurch locals and promoted the sport of wakeboarding exactly the way it should be promoted - with high energy.

Any highlights?

Wearing a steamer in the middle of Summer.