Lack of wind prevents world champ Hadlow from showing off new tricks

Five times world kiteboarding champion Aaron Hadlow liked what he saw of New Zealand but it lacked one thing he always craves - wind.
"I haven't had a chance to kite yet - but it looks like it can be really good riding," he said about parts of the North Island he had seen while here on a sponsor's promotional tour.
The 20-year-old from Great Britain had been surfing at Mount Maunganui and snowboarding at Mount Ruapehu with host Dave Kay from Ruakaka Kitesports. But when they reached Ruakaka, a lack of wind prevented the world champion from testing the northern beaches' waters and showing off some of his tricks, which have won him the Professional Kite Riders Association Tour five times consecutively.
This year, Hadlow again leads the tour with only two events remaining - at Brazil and New Caledonia.
"I'm heading to Brazil this week a month before competing," he said.
"This time of year, you are guaranteed wind along Brazil's coastline so plenty of riding could be fitted in - plus it was a nice place to be," he said.
Hadlow's lifestyle allowed him to see some incredible places, he said.
"I'm based just out of London because it is so easy to travel from there and then I stay in Cape Town during the off season [United Kingdom's winter] for around three months and do plenty of riding. My parents moved there when I was young, so I go back there often.
"I'm always on the road - the competitions are from April to November, and if I'm not competing I'm away doing promotional videos, photo sessions or touring - or I'm just freeriding.
"When I am at home [in England] I'm on the computer arranging the next trip," he said.
When he was 12 years old, Hadlow was winning on the British Kiteboarding Circuit and went on to contest his first world championship series in 2004, which he won. He has kept winning every year since.
"To stay on top you have to be inventing new tricks all the time, as you are judged on the tricks you do in each eight-minute heat," he said.
"It's frustrating when you are learning how to do them but once you land it - it's a great feeling."