Perfect Kite Day 2024 in Christchurch, New Zealand -- fun for all!

[@SingaporeCityWalks]

This Kite Day was a delightful event. Nice to see so many types of kites being flown. Hope the 1st time and also the young fliers will make this into a life-long hobby. Your kites and inflatables are outstanding. I also wish that wholesome events like this should be free from politics.

[@JimNicholls]

Yes, for the new fliers to maintain their interest would be great, but what we usually experience is that 99% of them will not fly a kite again until, perhaps, next year's Kite day. Maybe it will be different this time!

[@cyntil4362]

Such a fantastic display!!...great effort Jim, wow!!..

[@JimNicholls]

Thank you, Cynti. It was very lucky that we had such great weather, as our summer has been very unsettled. I think everyone who came to the beach had a good time.

[@longbeachpeninsulawaphotos]

WOW! look at all those kites and that huge beach crowd. You have to say Kite Day 2024 was a HUGE SUCCESS. Congrats on turning the day into a kite festival to always be remembered.😎😎😎

[@JimNicholls]

Thanks, Jim. It was a fun day, and we were blessed with what I think was the best Kite Day weather I've experienced. Everyone had a good time, for sure.

[@longbeachpeninsulawaphotos]

So good to see. We normallly see an empty beach and to see it that full. Was just outstanding

[@JimNicholls]

You won't see a crowd like that in any of my other videos, that's almost certain.

[@flyingfish1849]

@@JimNichollsGreat job flying- and what a great crowd! The tide must have been out to give you so much space! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much sand , people, and so many kites (except for your extravaganzas!!). And cheers to your sons for helping pack it all out! Great day, great video!

[@JimNicholls]

@@flyingfish1849 Thanks, Steve. Yes, it was a particularly low tide, so there was lots of space for everyone. I think that even normal low tides on that part of the beach probably expose more sand than where I usually fly.

[@deweygravesjr.122]

That was a great video Jim. Looked like a perfect day. Your display looked beautiful. Nice crowd and a lot of kites, perfect. Thanks Jim!

[@JimNicholls]

It was the best weather I can remember for the event, Dewey, and would have been very hard to beat. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@NB_KITES]

the beautiful scenery on the beach, the various types of kites that fly must be fun.

[@JimNicholls]

It was certainly a fun day for everyone, and the weather was almost perfect. I'm glad that you enjoyed the video.

[@craigh3381]

Thank you for sharing Jim...a nice crowd enjoying the kite flying..your display was nice and colorful..all looked like fun.

[@JimNicholls]

Glad you enjoyed i, Craig. We were so lucky with the weather, in what is a very unstable summer here, and everyone had a great time.

[@silverly0]

This was such a fun day with such ideal conditions, and it had a fantastic turnout! I'm glad you also had fantastic day as well!

[@JimNicholls]

It was certainly a perfect day, very unusually for this summer, which has been generally very unstable with few flying days. I don't know how you are on the other side of the Tasman, but here 2023 was the worst kite-flying year I can remember, and I'm hoping there will be more good days in 2024.

[@ronstewart9792]

What a fantastic kite day Jim. So fun to see so many people having a great time flying kites. Thanks Ron

[@JimNicholls]

We were so lucky with the weather, Ron, and as you know, that makes all the difference to an event like this.

[@TheKRU251]

Fantastic solo display Jim. I too liked the 'Stealth' aircraft silhouette aircraft kite. Along with Scott Joplin soundtrack. Wonderful !

[@JimNicholls]

Thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you're keeping warm - not much scootering going on at the moment, I guess, although I used to ride my Lambretta in all weathers (no alternative, as I couldn't afford a car back in 1960!)

[@CirrusRC]

Great to see so many kites flown. Glad you had the weather and well done on your own display Jim.

[@JimNicholls]

Thanks, David. It really was an ideal day, and apart from a few minutes early on, the breeze was perfect all through the event. It was a lot of fun, but of course a little tiring!

[@pfkites8967]

Beautiful display. Many people visit the kite day. Nice sharing😊

[@JimNicholls]

Thank you. There were certainly a lot of people on the beach. Some probably came to escape a hot day in the city, but I'm sure they enjoyed the kites anyway.

[@kiteflyingdownunder....car6272]

What a great day. Looked to be another record number of people both enjoying the kites and flying. So nice you could encourage all those children to fly their kites along with your fun display. Well done Paul & Mike with their support.

[@JimNicholls]

It was a perfect day, Carl, and it's a great pity you couldn't make it after the late change of dates. The on-shore wind was ideal, and the temperature warm but not too hot. We'll have to try to repeat it when you come up here soon.

[@PanyingPilot]

It is nice to see an emphasis on the general population enjoying the event as opposed to competition. I am surprised that more of the regular fliers did not show up for the day. Too, if you had to trek to the car, you must have gotten a late start, yes? With the assortment of stick kites and laundry, it is a good thing your boys were there to help. One trip to the car is enough! I hope the ice cream was good.

[@JimNicholls]

Not a late start, Glenn. On the contrary, I was there well before the event started. I was informed there was no reserved parking for kite-flyers this year, only for important people like council staff, a broadcasting van, a kite seller, but not those actually providing the show. Of course, the PLK team had a large reserved beach space and parked on the beach with their vehicles. I chose to fly away from the official area, and because of the hot day, parking on that side of the pier was already full, and the space I eventually found was much more distant than I would have liked. I made three journeys to the beach, and it was great to have help at the end.

[@PanyingPilot]

@@JimNicholls in kiting circles, you are legendary.

[@JimNicholls]

Many would not agree. Someone asked one of the prominent NZ Kite Association members where she could find me on Saturday, and was told that I was "a grumpy old man"! (I don't like them much, either).

[@PanyingPilot]

...and the whole thing was bumped up the calendar by an entire month.

[@JimNicholls]

I know some people who were very angry about that change, which was done far too late. At least two of my kite-flier friends who were coming missed out because they couldn't change their arrangements to suit, and one lost money on cancelled air fares. It was a real botch-up, not untypical of those responsible.

[@Kupper-Kites]

Great impressions from your kite days, the weather was apparently very nice for kite flying and what a lot of spectators came... 👍

[@JimNicholls]

It was certainly a good day, and I think the conditions were the best I've ever experienced on our Kite Day, and much better than our usual weather this summer. Many people came to the beach to keep cool on this hot day, but enjoyed the kites anyway. I hope you're keeping warm in your cold winter!

[@Kupper-Kites]

@@JimNicholls Thank you for your comment, I also think that, as you can see in your video, you had a few very nice kite days... it's about time that our winter is over and I can fly kites again, at the moment it's snowing and temperatures It's around 0 degrees, which is much worse. Our kite field is currently about 2m (7 feet) under water... that will take some time until it gets better... but the kite year has only just begun. ..

[@rayr1426]

What a great local show. It is nice when smaller kites are participating. Future big kite fliers? Thanks for sharing, Jim.

[@JimNicholls]

Thanks, Ray. Yes, I hope some of the young flyers develop a lifelong interest, as we old ones won't be flying much longer!

[@anwarjamaludin8325]

Good day, Sir Jim Nicholls. I'm here (in my living city ) solely kites flyer. Look very strange as no one else wanna to develop such interest. Young flyers ? I'm not very sure about their existing. Kites? You have to fly yours if you wanna to see it into the wind. Believe you, Sir. Old ones won't be there much longer. Keep it up 'into the wind'. No 'tiring' for the legend such as Sir@@JimNicholls God bless!

[@JimNicholls]

@anwarjamaludin8325 I am 83 years old, so I certainly won't be flying much longer. Young people sometimes fly a kite for a few minutes, but then they lose interest and want to look at a screen again. It's very sad. I hope you can find someone to fly kites with you soon.

[@SMALLsails]

Looks to have been a fantastic day! A great deal of packing up at the end of the day though. Minus 3 degrees here in the UK with the floods just about receding. Looking forward to days like yours in a few months….

[@JimNicholls]

Yes, packing up is always the worst part of flying. I just watched one of your videos (and commented). Dunstable Downs is a great kite-flying area these days, I hear, but when I lived in the town many years ago, there was never a kite to be seen. I used to watch the gliders, though, and I guess they're still around?

[@SMALLsails]

Yes, Dunstable Downs is a great place, managed by our National Trust with good space for kite flying and very popular with families and children on summer bank holidays. The gliders still operate from the airfield at the bottom of the hill and paragliders regularly jump off the Downs. The wind can be a bit hit and miss though, and the sea is nowhere to be seen unfortunately. I appreciate you watching and commenting, thanks Jim

[@JimNicholls]

I shall keep an eye on your videos, but I guess this time of year is not conducive to flying. I came across an old photo recently of my Mini covered in snow when I was living in Dunstable.

[@Mzteresam]

What a great display you put on, even though the festival date changed, I hope that your friends coming for the "original" date still come, and that the weather will be fantastic then too. At least you'll be able to park closer to your favorite stretch of beach. How do you usually haul all your supplies from car to sand when your sons aren't there? I have a balloon tire (2 wheels) beach cart which works OK as long as I only load it with kites and kite accessories. If I add 2 beach chairs, it tends to sink into soft sand. In my opinion, you are the best kite mentor in the world. Thanks for encouraging young and old folks (like me) to fly!

[@JimNicholls]

Thank you, Teresa. It was hard work, but a very enjoyable day, and it was great to see so many children experiencing the joy of kite-flying. I have a four-wheel beach cart, but I almost never use it, the last time being several years ago. I find it simpler to just carry everything myself, which is not too bad if the distance is not great. I never sit down at the beach, so I don't have chairs to add to my burden, but that might change soon as old age is definitely slowing me down. Being 83 is not as easy as I'd like it to be!

[@EvanPang-w4i]

Nice!

[@JimNicholls]

Thanks, Evan!

[@chaojiang3133]

So sad i need work at Saturday

[@JimNicholls]

Yes, it's sad, Jiang. I wish you could have been there.