Other Oz Freeride Travel Questions

[Pro-pulsion]

I don't have any intentions of going any time soon but I am very interested to know how one goes about arranging the trip there. Zack Bright went last year, Bruno from Brazil did too according to the Rip N Ride 6 video...so how did they arrange everything? Hotels and vehicle rental I can see being booked either through the Oz Freeride site or one of the travel sites. But what about transporting your ski? I assume it gets loaded into a cargo bay and sent by flight, ocean liners probably would take weeks to get there and might not arrive the way it left. What about a trailer...do you rent a trailer when you get there or send your ski on its own trailer? Any restrictions on transporting fuel? It's one subject I have not seen on here yet, nor searched for either lol...but times change and so do regulations, so any updates on the red tape...or the price for airfare on air mailing a ski?

 

[makejetskiinggreatagain]

Subscribed. I'm interested as well.

 

[700Pirate]

I usually fly my ski around on the same flight as me and check it cargo. It works out about the same price as the coach air ticket I paid. Clearing it always takes a few hours. Just learned to be patient. I am sure it is quicker in Oz though. Those guys have customs & cargo dialed. My only experience comes from flying it to South Africa, Ski in their big surf, then leave.

 

[SirMrManGuy]

Don't know about Oz, but at the NZ freeride there is usually a ski available for international riders, so you might just be able to fly over and ride someone else's.

Never flown with a ski but I'd try and check it in on the same flight, and rent a pickup at the airport and chuck it in the back, no trailer needed. Avoid ocean freight like the plague, the industry is full of criminals. NZ (and probably OZ) has some funky customs regulations regarding water sports equipment so look into that a bit and maybe even contact the customs department. When I imported my ski from the US by ocean freight , I had to sign all sorts of forms saying it was cleaned and dried properly and the probably will look at the ski(they are concerned about didymo and other invasive algae's), same for wetsuits.

That or post up on OZ freeride forum, someone will probably have extra space on their trailer. Usually good to pair up with a local anyway, more fun and the'll be able to hook you up with stuff like a tools and a jerry can (you won't be able to fly with fuel anyway, and you'll have to drain the ski). What fuel do you run? Avgas isn't that hard to find here. 2stroke oil is easy to find, Valvoline and Mobil are at most auto parts stores and plenty of yamaha dealers for yamalube.

 

[Pro-pulsion]

I only run 91 pump fuel with Lucas semi synthetic mix. But that won't be an issue, I have no intentions of going...maybe someday but not anytime in the foreseeable future. I figured that it would be a good question to ask though since I have never seen it asked and probably someone on this site will be looking to travel with their ski sometime soon. You see all these guys doing long distance traveling and it just begs to be asked, how do they get their gear there lol. Do you remember All My Crazy Friends? They bounced around the map following guys like Ross Champion and Mark Gomez, they made it look easy and affordable =)