As a (former) wind-surfer who now feels every muscle after a day of hauling on the wing, I'd looked at kite-surfing enviously but assumed I was past picking it up now. I'd imagined every sinew and tendon and muscle screaming as I hung off the kite.

Over the weekend former Nelsonians Andrew and Luke Bamford at Kiteboarding Cairns showed me I was wrong.

I've got a long way to go to master a board and kite, but the light touch needed to control the wing was a revelation. The instruction was just the right mix of caution and 'go-for-it' encouragement. It was fun just learning to fly that wing. They reckon that reasonably instinctive competence with it comes after 20 hours.

I'm hooked (or should I say harnessed).