Now we're home and have been for a couple of weeks I have realised the lack of last week bloging for the trip. My memory has turned to jelly after three months away, not too good now back at work... but from what I can remember...
20 September
Went for an amazing 30k cycle around the island, great cycle tracks and lovely weather even though we were back in France. Left that evening heading towards Poitiers.
21 September
Went to Futoroscope today! A random break in our driving days, fantastic day out, watched a great show at the end with misty fountains and lights, and had a lot of fun.
22 September
Driving day, but stopped for lunch in a great place at 4 where we ended up staying the night, there was a wallnut tree! and some goats and some brits.
23 September
Drove to Calais and it rained a lot, vent leaked a bit! Slept at Calais
24 September
Got on the Ferry at 7 and got back to Cambridge about 4. My mum (Lou) didn't know we were coming back (it was her birthday and we decided to surprise her!) We turned up at a restaurant in Newmarket and then my dad brought my mum in and she was over the moon. Great end to our trip
11 October
It is VERY odd being back in the UK. Our house is great though and it is great to see friends and family. roll on next summer!
Saturday, 11 October 2008
Thursday, 25 September 2008
homeward bound
17th September
Dropped Jeff of (hopefully the right airport), after driving around the airport a few times looking for a place to stop, we then started our journey home, with lax plans we drove for some amount of time then decided where to go, in the end we decided to press on to our beach we visited on the way across (Spain- Oyanere) in hope of either wind or waves the next day. When we arrived a few British surfers were out but no waves to speak of really.
18th September
Headed across the rest of Spain after waking up to mirror flat half foot waves the next morning. Spain is very pretty in the north- all green and hilly, not like the hot barrenness of the south that every one goes on holiday to. Stayed in a really nice Aire just in France, next to a lake and had Tangine and a box of wine, have decided to go to Ile D' Oleron, as we missed it on the way down and mum Crabb has just flown there with Ron and said it was very nice.
19th September (Joe)
First rain test on the new vent- seemed to cope well, a bit noisy, but been so long since it last rained can't remember what the old vent and van in rain used to sound like. As we speak Lou is driving the stretch from Bayonne on Bordeaux, for anyone that hasn't done it, its a 2 hours stretch of dual carriageway with nothing but trees either side forever! Considering building a vent rain house so you can have vent open but not get rained on. France is expensive! E1.40 Litre!
(Lou) Got to Isle and parked up. Joe was very upset that you couldn't drive right up to the beach because of height barriers. So we walked (very taxing, a whole 1.4Km). Beach pretty, had a small wander and then took some very windy tracks over to the NE of the Isle, to Boulassiers. Found a free 'Camping car' parking place (lightened Joe's height barrier anger a little) with toilet and water too! Biked to town (about 2 shops and some restaurants!) and had a drink in a crazy bar then a very nice meal in a restaurant. We're def back in France, twice the price of portugal meal!
Dropped Jeff of (hopefully the right airport), after driving around the airport a few times looking for a place to stop, we then started our journey home, with lax plans we drove for some amount of time then decided where to go, in the end we decided to press on to our beach we visited on the way across (Spain- Oyanere) in hope of either wind or waves the next day. When we arrived a few British surfers were out but no waves to speak of really.
18th September
Headed across the rest of Spain after waking up to mirror flat half foot waves the next morning. Spain is very pretty in the north- all green and hilly, not like the hot barrenness of the south that every one goes on holiday to. Stayed in a really nice Aire just in France, next to a lake and had Tangine and a box of wine, have decided to go to Ile D' Oleron, as we missed it on the way down and mum Crabb has just flown there with Ron and said it was very nice.
19th September (Joe)
First rain test on the new vent- seemed to cope well, a bit noisy, but been so long since it last rained can't remember what the old vent and van in rain used to sound like. As we speak Lou is driving the stretch from Bayonne on Bordeaux, for anyone that hasn't done it, its a 2 hours stretch of dual carriageway with nothing but trees either side forever! Considering building a vent rain house so you can have vent open but not get rained on. France is expensive! E1.40 Litre!
(Lou) Got to Isle and parked up. Joe was very upset that you couldn't drive right up to the beach because of height barriers. So we walked (very taxing, a whole 1.4Km). Beach pretty, had a small wander and then took some very windy tracks over to the NE of the Isle, to Boulassiers. Found a free 'Camping car' parking place (lightened Joe's height barrier anger a little) with toilet and water too! Biked to town (about 2 shops and some restaurants!) and had a drink in a crazy bar then a very nice meal in a restaurant. We're def back in France, twice the price of portugal meal!
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Portugal and back to Spain again (featuring a guest blogger!)
6th September
Started the day with a sausage bagette and then cycled into Foz, which is a very pleasant 10 min cycle, we had a picnic (joe had more sausage sarnies, I upgraded to an egg and salad variety, (loving salad, I miss salad, and a fridge!) on the beach and then had a potter around town, very pleasant. Really appreciated the hot weather back... a vision of things to come with the rain and england looming within the next month...
7th September
Joe went for a kitesurf today which was successful until the wind died, which made it quite hard to do anything! We had a good clothes washing session, perfect drying weather! Fish man 2 (we now call him 'Fishyman' came to take out his nets and let us come on a ride with him to put the nets out which was cool.
8th September (Joe)
Not a lot of wind today so hung around a bit and read and played catch and ate and got chased by wasps. Then went and saw some good birds in the lagoon. Hit supermarket for BBQ goodness, I bought a fish! And it was only 1 euro 60 cents. Joe bought some meat and the whole lot is now squished into our ridiculous fridge (planning on upgrading next year...) mmm ice cream. Had a BBQ, fish man came to join us for for a chat while our BBQ was warming up and the tide coming in. Our BBQ was yummy and Lou enjoyed here steamed/ grilled fish.
9th September (Joe)
Really hot but no wind to speak of again, went for a cycle to bird watch then went to the sea/lagoon to go for a swim in a little lagoon with quite a big rip, practicing some rum line swimming. Then returned to the van to have some food, later fish man came over and took us out in the boat again, then we had to help another fish man get his boat of the bottom, he re-payed fishyman by giving him some “shrimp” (really clam things), and we parted with the promise of giving us some tomorrow.
10th September
We woke up to fish man putting a massive bag of white shelled things on our wing mirror; we rushed out of bed and Lou grabbed a mug in the effort of not to look like were just rushed out of bed (it was 11am) He had a good catch with 2 buckets of different fish he gave us two small “nice ones” and a massive one that he says “when people were poorer they ate this but these nicer (pointing to the smaller ones)”. After seeing the lady in the shop the day before with Lou's fish we were both trained gutters. Cut the fins of with scissors, scraped of the scales then cut down its belly and scooped out its insides with a couple of fingers. The big one was quite gutty but easy to scale, then little one opposite. We have now gone shopping as its raining and need charcoal to cook the fish.
Fish was good, made it on the BBQ with roasted potatoes done in foil and vegetable kebabs. Fish man came again and had a beer with us and then he took us out in his boat again to put his nets down. We had tales of his breakfast routine (dipping a piece of bread into a cup of coffee at 5.10 in the morning), McDonalds, and how he worked as a carpenter there and mice, something about Canada and compensation... took some pictures of him which his wife wants copies of. Promise of some more fish tomorrow!
11th September
Woke up early and put on the pre-set-up kettle ( we knew getting up early would be painful) Set off for Lisbon. Got there with no troubles, except our clock has been wrong in portugal, we are an hour early to pick up Jeff... Better than being an hour late! We have lost our vent!
Jeff: 11th to 16th September
I've been staying with Lou and Joe for five days now, and I'm amazed how sane they are after three months on the road! As one might expect, van life is somewhere between camping and house-dwelling. There's still no toilet, but one is suitably equipped for most other occasions, including some pretty advanced DIY. I'm impressed with Joe's van modifications too. Whilst their use has evolved a little, everything is fulfilling its designed purpose and staying together well.
I arrived at Lisbon airport on the 11th, was picked up by the crazy pair, and we drove to Foz de Arelho. It's a nice calm, shallow lagoon ideal for learning to windsurf. Was quite windy, so I spent most of my time uphauling, falling in and walking upwind. I managed a few high-speed stretches, though, definitely my fastest windsurfing yet. My main problem was turning into the wind whilst uphauling, and then being pulled in as the sail sliced across the wind. This was improved by putting more weight on my front foot, and trying to speed up the whole getting-on operation as much as possible.
After a couple of days, we had a roadtrip day to Traba in the North West of Spain. Joe and I navigated for most of the journey. This became pretty difficult as we approached our destination, as we were right at the resolution limit of the map. Roads around Traba were missing or, at best, unnamed on the map
but we got there by some strokes of luck and compass-assisted guesswork. That Joe and Lou have endured a three month road trip without GPS is a tribute to their resourcefulness and resolve! I found my few hours of navigation a good challenge to pass time on the road, but not one I could repeat on a day-to-day basis without professional psychiatric help. Guys: navigation on Earth is a solved problem!
Traba was more isolated than Foz, and the sea less forgiving. Save for a little paddle here and there, Lou and I didn't venture into the waves. Joe had a surf, but “wouldn't recommend the sea at Traba; I've scared myself every time I've been out!”. We messed around in a small river channel which flows into the sea, and Lou and Joe even managed a little windsurfing in it. I blame the low buoyancy of Joe's board for my poor performance at Traba! Lou and I washed our hair in the fresh water, which helped to stave off crispiness for another couple of days.
A little more driving (and navigation!) brought us East, past A Coruna, to San Xorxes. We parked up in a little forested area close to the beach. Joe and I built a hinged vent cover for the top of the van to replace the original dislodged by a football. It scratched the engineering itch nicely! I was impressed with the selection of tools, fasteners and materials in the van. It was restricted enough to make the project a decent challenge, but not to the point that craftsmanship had to suffer unduly. Lou cooked a traditional Moroccan meal in a Tangerine, or something, which topped the evening off nicely.
It's my penultimate day, and we're just getting started after a pancake breakfast. Joe's rigging a windsurfer, Lou's reading and I'm writing this. The laptop is being powered by the inverter from the auxiliary battery. The van electrics and electronics are performing well; my simple charging circuit is charging the battery when the engine is running and isolating it otherwise, my battery indicator is reporting its condition faithfully and Rob's lighting system is doing an excellent job of switching and dimming the LED strip lights in the back. There are a couple of quirks here and there, but everything's generally working well. There; a much needed electronics update!
It's been a relaxing holiday and a good glimpse into Lou and Joe's road trip, windsurf-bum lifestyle. I'm looking forward to my return home and a week of making stuff, and welcoming the pair when they return in a few weeks.
Started the day with a sausage bagette and then cycled into Foz, which is a very pleasant 10 min cycle, we had a picnic (joe had more sausage sarnies, I upgraded to an egg and salad variety, (loving salad, I miss salad, and a fridge!) on the beach and then had a potter around town, very pleasant. Really appreciated the hot weather back... a vision of things to come with the rain and england looming within the next month...
7th September
Joe went for a kitesurf today which was successful until the wind died, which made it quite hard to do anything! We had a good clothes washing session, perfect drying weather! Fish man 2 (we now call him 'Fishyman' came to take out his nets and let us come on a ride with him to put the nets out which was cool.
8th September (Joe)
Not a lot of wind today so hung around a bit and read and played catch and ate and got chased by wasps. Then went and saw some good birds in the lagoon. Hit supermarket for BBQ goodness, I bought a fish! And it was only 1 euro 60 cents. Joe bought some meat and the whole lot is now squished into our ridiculous fridge (planning on upgrading next year...) mmm ice cream. Had a BBQ, fish man came to join us for for a chat while our BBQ was warming up and the tide coming in. Our BBQ was yummy and Lou enjoyed here steamed/ grilled fish.
9th September (Joe)
Really hot but no wind to speak of again, went for a cycle to bird watch then went to the sea/lagoon to go for a swim in a little lagoon with quite a big rip, practicing some rum line swimming. Then returned to the van to have some food, later fish man came over and took us out in the boat again, then we had to help another fish man get his boat of the bottom, he re-payed fishyman by giving him some “shrimp” (really clam things), and we parted with the promise of giving us some tomorrow.
10th September
We woke up to fish man putting a massive bag of white shelled things on our wing mirror; we rushed out of bed and Lou grabbed a mug in the effort of not to look like were just rushed out of bed (it was 11am) He had a good catch with 2 buckets of different fish he gave us two small “nice ones” and a massive one that he says “when people were poorer they ate this but these nicer (pointing to the smaller ones)”. After seeing the lady in the shop the day before with Lou's fish we were both trained gutters. Cut the fins of with scissors, scraped of the scales then cut down its belly and scooped out its insides with a couple of fingers. The big one was quite gutty but easy to scale, then little one opposite. We have now gone shopping as its raining and need charcoal to cook the fish.
Fish was good, made it on the BBQ with roasted potatoes done in foil and vegetable kebabs. Fish man came again and had a beer with us and then he took us out in his boat again to put his nets down. We had tales of his breakfast routine (dipping a piece of bread into a cup of coffee at 5.10 in the morning), McDonalds, and how he worked as a carpenter there and mice, something about Canada and compensation... took some pictures of him which his wife wants copies of. Promise of some more fish tomorrow!
11th September
Woke up early and put on the pre-set-up kettle ( we knew getting up early would be painful) Set off for Lisbon. Got there with no troubles, except our clock has been wrong in portugal, we are an hour early to pick up Jeff... Better than being an hour late! We have lost our vent!
Jeff: 11th to 16th September
I've been staying with Lou and Joe for five days now, and I'm amazed how sane they are after three months on the road! As one might expect, van life is somewhere between camping and house-dwelling. There's still no toilet, but one is suitably equipped for most other occasions, including some pretty advanced DIY. I'm impressed with Joe's van modifications too. Whilst their use has evolved a little, everything is fulfilling its designed purpose and staying together well.
I arrived at Lisbon airport on the 11th, was picked up by the crazy pair, and we drove to Foz de Arelho. It's a nice calm, shallow lagoon ideal for learning to windsurf. Was quite windy, so I spent most of my time uphauling, falling in and walking upwind. I managed a few high-speed stretches, though, definitely my fastest windsurfing yet. My main problem was turning into the wind whilst uphauling, and then being pulled in as the sail sliced across the wind. This was improved by putting more weight on my front foot, and trying to speed up the whole getting-on operation as much as possible.
After a couple of days, we had a roadtrip day to Traba in the North West of Spain. Joe and I navigated for most of the journey. This became pretty difficult as we approached our destination, as we were right at the resolution limit of the map. Roads around Traba were missing or, at best, unnamed on the map
but we got there by some strokes of luck and compass-assisted guesswork. That Joe and Lou have endured a three month road trip without GPS is a tribute to their resourcefulness and resolve! I found my few hours of navigation a good challenge to pass time on the road, but not one I could repeat on a day-to-day basis without professional psychiatric help. Guys: navigation on Earth is a solved problem!
Traba was more isolated than Foz, and the sea less forgiving. Save for a little paddle here and there, Lou and I didn't venture into the waves. Joe had a surf, but “wouldn't recommend the sea at Traba; I've scared myself every time I've been out!”. We messed around in a small river channel which flows into the sea, and Lou and Joe even managed a little windsurfing in it. I blame the low buoyancy of Joe's board for my poor performance at Traba! Lou and I washed our hair in the fresh water, which helped to stave off crispiness for another couple of days.
A little more driving (and navigation!) brought us East, past A Coruna, to San Xorxes. We parked up in a little forested area close to the beach. Joe and I built a hinged vent cover for the top of the van to replace the original dislodged by a football. It scratched the engineering itch nicely! I was impressed with the selection of tools, fasteners and materials in the van. It was restricted enough to make the project a decent challenge, but not to the point that craftsmanship had to suffer unduly. Lou cooked a traditional Moroccan meal in a Tangerine, or something, which topped the evening off nicely.
It's my penultimate day, and we're just getting started after a pancake breakfast. Joe's rigging a windsurfer, Lou's reading and I'm writing this. The laptop is being powered by the inverter from the auxiliary battery. The van electrics and electronics are performing well; my simple charging circuit is charging the battery when the engine is running and isolating it otherwise, my battery indicator is reporting its condition faithfully and Rob's lighting system is doing an excellent job of switching and dimming the LED strip lights in the back. There are a couple of quirks here and there, but everything's generally working well. There; a much needed electronics update!
It's been a relaxing holiday and a good glimpse into Lou and Joe's road trip, windsurf-bum lifestyle. I'm looking forward to my return home and a week of making stuff, and welcoming the pair when they return in a few weeks.
Friday, 5 September 2008
spain and back to portugal
1st September (Joe)
Headed to garage, parked on the steep hill outside. Mechanic asked if we lived in our van, and then he let us go and park on a flat bit before he took our alternator out to poke. aAfter some poking he said need a new one, and can get one by tomorrow. Asked around a few garages and found one cheaper but can't get the part till day after so we decided to opt for man with plan 1. Seb, Chris and Will were really good checking up on us at regular intervals and being our taxi. They gave us a lift to Maternal where the boys went windsurfing and we sat in the bar spending our 4 euros wisely on beer. Then to Tonel where we stayed before, but this time with a tent. After a BBQ we retired to our tent, which is more spacious than out van bed but defiantly more cobbly, and as we found later, warmer in the mornings!
2nd September (Joe)
After a wander, the boys went for a surf in Tonel then went surf shop shopping then got a lift back to our van, where part had been fitted but battery was still being charged, we stopped for lunch a Jam, juggle and skate. Then Will rocked up () and we decided to head to Foz do Arehlo. After a long drive and getting lost twice, once down a crazy lane and once at a roundabout that had N1 signed down 3 of the 4 choices. We arrived, ate some tea and retired for the evening.
3rd September (Joe)
Woke up, headed to Foz beach for a surf with Seb and Chris. I was too rubbish to paddle out past the massive shore dump, but where the boys returned I was reassured to hear they only got a wave each too. Lou had a epic body board even though she snapped it in half on her first wave. We headed back to lagoon for lunch and a game of bowls in which we had to tie up a owner-less Labrador to stop it eating our balls. We had the first windsurf where Lou stayed out longer than me, harnessing and planing I quote . Foot straps and beach starts next! I got cold and went for another unsuccessful fish with my modified mark 3 with a real reel. Improved my casting a lot (now I have to wind for almost twice as much before I can see there is nothing in the end). The boys said their goodbyes and are heading to north France where there is wind but only 15 degrees! It rained on our way to the shop where we bough fish fingers peas and mash. After a feast and a shave I left the remaining fish fingers under the van in a Tupperware box in the cool for breakfast.
4th September (Joe & Lou)
The box was Gone!! After a look in the bushes I found the box with a big hole in the bottom and my fish fingers missing!!!
Went for a very light wind windsurf (maybe 8 knots at the best!) but all good practice! I had a go on Joe's board (103 ltr) and I went along and even managed a tack! Windsurfed across to the other side of the lagoon which was fun. Discovered they have showers in the windsurf centre next to our lay-by! First hot shower since 17th July!!!
5th September (Lou)
Really windy, I rigged up a 3.5 and Joe was on a 4.5. I came in after 6 runs after deciding I wasn't having much fun (although I was in harness and plained too...) Joe did something similar, and then we had a long nap and then woke up and it was chucking it down with rain! How dare it rain! So supermarket and a very naughty McDonalds... lightened the mood a little. Now stealing internet from a roadside location... Joe drove until we picked up a signal! Location not disclosed...
Headed to garage, parked on the steep hill outside. Mechanic asked if we lived in our van, and then he let us go and park on a flat bit before he took our alternator out to poke. aAfter some poking he said need a new one, and can get one by tomorrow. Asked around a few garages and found one cheaper but can't get the part till day after so we decided to opt for man with plan 1. Seb, Chris and Will were really good checking up on us at regular intervals and being our taxi. They gave us a lift to Maternal where the boys went windsurfing and we sat in the bar spending our 4 euros wisely on beer. Then to Tonel where we stayed before, but this time with a tent. After a BBQ we retired to our tent, which is more spacious than out van bed but defiantly more cobbly, and as we found later, warmer in the mornings!
2nd September (Joe)
After a wander, the boys went for a surf in Tonel then went surf shop shopping then got a lift back to our van, where part had been fitted but battery was still being charged, we stopped for lunch a Jam, juggle and skate. Then Will rocked up () and we decided to head to Foz do Arehlo. After a long drive and getting lost twice, once down a crazy lane and once at a roundabout that had N1 signed down 3 of the 4 choices. We arrived, ate some tea and retired for the evening.
3rd September (Joe)
Woke up, headed to Foz beach for a surf with Seb and Chris. I was too rubbish to paddle out past the massive shore dump, but where the boys returned I was reassured to hear they only got a wave each too. Lou had a epic body board even though she snapped it in half on her first wave. We headed back to lagoon for lunch and a game of bowls in which we had to tie up a owner-less Labrador to stop it eating our balls. We had the first windsurf where Lou stayed out longer than me, harnessing and planing I quote . Foot straps and beach starts next! I got cold and went for another unsuccessful fish with my modified mark 3 with a real reel. Improved my casting a lot (now I have to wind for almost twice as much before I can see there is nothing in the end). The boys said their goodbyes and are heading to north France where there is wind but only 15 degrees! It rained on our way to the shop where we bough fish fingers peas and mash. After a feast and a shave I left the remaining fish fingers under the van in a Tupperware box in the cool for breakfast.
4th September (Joe & Lou)
The box was Gone!! After a look in the bushes I found the box with a big hole in the bottom and my fish fingers missing!!!
Went for a very light wind windsurf (maybe 8 knots at the best!) but all good practice! I had a go on Joe's board (103 ltr) and I went along and even managed a tack! Windsurfed across to the other side of the lagoon which was fun. Discovered they have showers in the windsurf centre next to our lay-by! First hot shower since 17th July!!!
5th September (Lou)
Really windy, I rigged up a 3.5 and Joe was on a 4.5. I came in after 6 runs after deciding I wasn't having much fun (although I was in harness and plained too...) Joe did something similar, and then we had a long nap and then woke up and it was chucking it down with rain! How dare it rain! So supermarket and a very naughty McDonalds... lightened the mood a little. Now stealing internet from a roadside location... Joe drove until we picked up a signal! Location not disclosed...
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Tarifa
25th August Ctd...
Stayed in Tarifa and went out for some food, and then both suffered from really poorly tummies...not ideal in the van with no toilet, won't go into too much detail...
26th August
Joe felt quite a lot better when he got up, and after sending him to the pharmacy to get me some drugs I started to feel a little more like it and we decided to head to Gibraltar. Absolutely insane! Drove in (after long queue, we were advised to cycle but both felt too rough) and were greeted by red telephone boxes, British traffic lights, but unfortunately they do still drive on the right. Found a place to park (just like the UK, clamping signs everywhere!) and then headed of to find the monkeys! Went via a few shops and met some really nice shop keepers in the 'local corner shop' , they have really insane old school London accents, almost expected them to say 'alright guv'... Walked up the hill a bit and found the cable car up to the top of the rock to see the monkeys, which were amazing, comic moment was when it tried to rummage around a girl's bag for food. Headed into town for a wander round and Joe had a pie and roast potatoes in a proper English pub. Gutted, I looked on with my sore tummy and an orange juice...Headed to Las Dunas in the evening to find Will, Eve and Eric, Steve and Yens, Seb and Chris and Kia the amazing blonde German Shepherd! Poor Seb and Chris had had a properly bad day of it with the '35 minute' ferry from Morocco and a slight altercation with a Moroccan car and their bonnet...
27th August
Headed to Bologne for the boys to have a windsurf, everyone was there!
28th August
Headed to Caunos de Meca for a windsurf, Joe had a good old wave session, and I had a good relax on the beach with no sand pelting which is pretty refreshing. Glen came too!
29th August
Epic windsurfing session, went to Bologne (bolognaise) and it was about 27 knots and I went for it and had a windsurf on the 3.5. Amazing! (managed to come out and back a few times!) All headed out in Tarifa in the evening after a warm up session by the vans with some drinking games. Got Seb good with a game of Black and White...
30th August
Woke up a bit groggy, but had some breakfast and headed to Las Dunas. Went out for a windsurf, which was fantastic and a bit traumatic all in one. The task- Harness. First time success! I was very chuffed, so much so I got a bit over excited and did quite a lot of cross wind sailing and ended up a mile away from where I started...Joe had to sail up and then come and get me in the van!
31st August
Drove down to Sagres today, rather interesting van troubles on the way, the battery isn't charging and we have to get a jump start every time now, luckily we're with Will, Chris and Seb so they are kindly helping us out. Garage tomorrow.
Stayed in Tarifa and went out for some food, and then both suffered from really poorly tummies...not ideal in the van with no toilet, won't go into too much detail...
26th August
Joe felt quite a lot better when he got up, and after sending him to the pharmacy to get me some drugs I started to feel a little more like it and we decided to head to Gibraltar. Absolutely insane! Drove in (after long queue, we were advised to cycle but both felt too rough) and were greeted by red telephone boxes, British traffic lights, but unfortunately they do still drive on the right. Found a place to park (just like the UK, clamping signs everywhere!) and then headed of to find the monkeys! Went via a few shops and met some really nice shop keepers in the 'local corner shop' , they have really insane old school London accents, almost expected them to say 'alright guv'... Walked up the hill a bit and found the cable car up to the top of the rock to see the monkeys, which were amazing, comic moment was when it tried to rummage around a girl's bag for food. Headed into town for a wander round and Joe had a pie and roast potatoes in a proper English pub. Gutted, I looked on with my sore tummy and an orange juice...Headed to Las Dunas in the evening to find Will, Eve and Eric, Steve and Yens, Seb and Chris and Kia the amazing blonde German Shepherd! Poor Seb and Chris had had a properly bad day of it with the '35 minute' ferry from Morocco and a slight altercation with a Moroccan car and their bonnet...
27th August
Headed to Bologne for the boys to have a windsurf, everyone was there!
28th August
Headed to Caunos de Meca for a windsurf, Joe had a good old wave session, and I had a good relax on the beach with no sand pelting which is pretty refreshing. Glen came too!
29th August
Epic windsurfing session, went to Bologne (bolognaise) and it was about 27 knots and I went for it and had a windsurf on the 3.5. Amazing! (managed to come out and back a few times!) All headed out in Tarifa in the evening after a warm up session by the vans with some drinking games. Got Seb good with a game of Black and White...
30th August
Woke up a bit groggy, but had some breakfast and headed to Las Dunas. Went out for a windsurf, which was fantastic and a bit traumatic all in one. The task- Harness. First time success! I was very chuffed, so much so I got a bit over excited and did quite a lot of cross wind sailing and ended up a mile away from where I started...Joe had to sail up and then come and get me in the van!
31st August
Drove down to Sagres today, rather interesting van troubles on the way, the battery isn't charging and we have to get a jump start every time now, luckily we're with Will, Chris and Seb so they are kindly helping us out. Garage tomorrow.
Monday, 25 August 2008
end of Morrocco
24th August (Joe)
Woke up early ish for our drive, was going well, omitting the accidental detour to Marrakesh. After some hours of driving we had a slight van hiccup, the battery only charges when the engine is running at high revs, after some poking and wire bristling and tightening to no avail, we continued to get lost off the toll road to soon end up in the dark and running low of fuel, with unlit donkeys, cyclists and lorries in the middle of road. Things weren't ideal, after a large amount of detouring including a tour of Tanger, we asked a police man who said we had to follow signs to port med down a toll road, at then end the road appeared to end next to a massive fence with cranes and containers in; however there was a pot holey track over the brow of the hill that turned in to a very “coast” road to evidentially arrive at the boarder at about 1am, the boarder crossing is much emptier at night but still confusing and tout related. We parked near the port in ceuta to get a ferry tomorrow.
25th August
Woke up and poked van some more, still no good, got ferry back to main land Spain, went for a shop then headed to Tarifa for a some food, might head to gibralta tomorrow!
Woke up early ish for our drive, was going well, omitting the accidental detour to Marrakesh. After some hours of driving we had a slight van hiccup, the battery only charges when the engine is running at high revs, after some poking and wire bristling and tightening to no avail, we continued to get lost off the toll road to soon end up in the dark and running low of fuel, with unlit donkeys, cyclists and lorries in the middle of road. Things weren't ideal, after a large amount of detouring including a tour of Tanger, we asked a police man who said we had to follow signs to port med down a toll road, at then end the road appeared to end next to a massive fence with cranes and containers in; however there was a pot holey track over the brow of the hill that turned in to a very “coast” road to evidentially arrive at the boarder at about 1am, the boarder crossing is much emptier at night but still confusing and tout related. We parked near the port in ceuta to get a ferry tomorrow.
25th August
Woke up and poked van some more, still no good, got ferry back to main land Spain, went for a shop then headed to Tarifa for a some food, might head to gibralta tomorrow!
Saturday, 23 August 2008
Week 8 continued
20th August
Headed to get the van fixed, which in England would involve new parts, lots of man hours and much money, where as here, the man got out his welder and off he went! Met Glen, who had been in the garage (living in his van) for 5 days, his alternator/battery were on the blink and the man was trying to charge him too much money. Chatted to Glen for a while and drank calming tea and then headed back to Moulay in the evening.
21st August
Glen arrived in Moulay with a fixed van! The boys went windsurfing (Joe on his 3.5m sail and 67ltr board) I had to beat off the children with sticks from climbing all in the van. I went and drank tea with Arbie, a guy we met there who lives in a cool crazy house thing in the village. Ate at Arbie's place, he cooked a massive Tagine for us. His restaurant/room/lounge was cool, pretty Moroccan!
22nd August
The boys went out windsurfing again after Glen had been kiting in the AM and broke his board. I got chatting to a really nice girl from the Netherlands (Hilda) and her boyfriend (Harem). Went to the little tiny shop and got some things to make us all a veggie curry in the evening. The puppies returned to us today! They look happy and healthier (no ticks!)
23rd August
Headed to Essouara to do some town-related shopping! Going to leave early tomorrow morning and do our Morocco driving day and then get a Ferry on Monday.
Headed to get the van fixed, which in England would involve new parts, lots of man hours and much money, where as here, the man got out his welder and off he went! Met Glen, who had been in the garage (living in his van) for 5 days, his alternator/battery were on the blink and the man was trying to charge him too much money. Chatted to Glen for a while and drank calming tea and then headed back to Moulay in the evening.
21st August
Glen arrived in Moulay with a fixed van! The boys went windsurfing (Joe on his 3.5m sail and 67ltr board) I had to beat off the children with sticks from climbing all in the van. I went and drank tea with Arbie, a guy we met there who lives in a cool crazy house thing in the village. Ate at Arbie's place, he cooked a massive Tagine for us. His restaurant/room/lounge was cool, pretty Moroccan!
22nd August
The boys went out windsurfing again after Glen had been kiting in the AM and broke his board. I got chatting to a really nice girl from the Netherlands (Hilda) and her boyfriend (Harem). Went to the little tiny shop and got some things to make us all a veggie curry in the evening. The puppies returned to us today! They look happy and healthier (no ticks!)
23rd August
Headed to Essouara to do some town-related shopping! Going to leave early tomorrow morning and do our Morocco driving day and then get a Ferry on Monday.
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Week 8
17th August (Lou)
Left Moulay a little sooner than planned but our van was crawling with children so we told them we had to leave and they finally went... headed to Essouara, had a walk along the beach (sand blasting galore) and into the town, market galore. Had a fish lunch in a busy market fish place and had red snapper, sardines, sea bass, prawns and squid for for about 8 quid each. It was yummy and Joe ate loads of fish and he doesn't usually like it so was v good! Wandered around the market for a bit and ended up drinking crazy tea in a mans spice stall and we then thought 'be polite, buy something' so got a few bags of spices and some tea with 4 quid in our pocket and it came to 43 euros. Stunned, we said we were out of money, which was the truth, but he then insisted on frog marching us to the nearest cash point, and then subsequently 4 more as they were out of order, and getting his money. So we paid in the end about 20 quid for some tea and one bag of spice and a crapy piece of soap. Left us with a bit of a bitter taste in our mouths so returned to the van and made plans. We have decided to stay in Morocco another week or so making it two weeks total. Its cool here and very different but we decided it would be great to go back to some of the places we stopped at on the way, so our way back will basically be a 'tuned' way here; we will stop at all the places we really liked, for longer periods of time. This planning session made us both feel a little more perky I think.
I had a shower!!!!!! First one in 3 weeks! Cold but I didn't care! Amazing!!!!!!
18th August
Had a morning of hanging about in the campsite, using the washing facilities to their full extent, eating lots of lunch and then we headed to the medina (market) determined to have a much better shopping experience this time... And we did! It was good, we wandered about, avoiding spice man stall (although he came and found us somehow wandering around the market and said did we want tea, the answer this time was a firm 'Non Merci'. We found an amazing drum shop, we had been admiring the drumming in Marocco so we headed in and chatted to the guy for ages, he as really nice and friendly, but genuinely, it seemed, not so much just out to sell stuff. Joe bought a drum which is amazing! And then we were asked if we wanted tea. We decided that seeing as we had already bought stuff, that he couldn't guilt trip us, so we drank tea, and he was really nice, not out to get us at all. I bought a cool box drum thing and we chatted for ages in French and conversation turned to horoscopes, and after a long converstation the decision was made that Joe resembled a Langostine. Far too complex to explain but something to do with the moon?
19th August
Got chatting to a cool Oz guy in the campsite over breakfast and then headed to the beach to survey the windsurf conditions. Its pretty damn windy is my observation! So I have discovered internet in this beach cafe where I can see the windsurfing (although I can't make out Joe) I offended some Austians by saying I thought they were German but one of them was very friendly and chatted to me a lot! There are camels and horses on the beach and sand EVERYWHERE, it is so windy!
Left Moulay a little sooner than planned but our van was crawling with children so we told them we had to leave and they finally went... headed to Essouara, had a walk along the beach (sand blasting galore) and into the town, market galore. Had a fish lunch in a busy market fish place and had red snapper, sardines, sea bass, prawns and squid for for about 8 quid each. It was yummy and Joe ate loads of fish and he doesn't usually like it so was v good! Wandered around the market for a bit and ended up drinking crazy tea in a mans spice stall and we then thought 'be polite, buy something' so got a few bags of spices and some tea with 4 quid in our pocket and it came to 43 euros. Stunned, we said we were out of money, which was the truth, but he then insisted on frog marching us to the nearest cash point, and then subsequently 4 more as they were out of order, and getting his money. So we paid in the end about 20 quid for some tea and one bag of spice and a crapy piece of soap. Left us with a bit of a bitter taste in our mouths so returned to the van and made plans. We have decided to stay in Morocco another week or so making it two weeks total. Its cool here and very different but we decided it would be great to go back to some of the places we stopped at on the way, so our way back will basically be a 'tuned' way here; we will stop at all the places we really liked, for longer periods of time. This planning session made us both feel a little more perky I think.
I had a shower!!!!!! First one in 3 weeks! Cold but I didn't care! Amazing!!!!!!
18th August
Had a morning of hanging about in the campsite, using the washing facilities to their full extent, eating lots of lunch and then we headed to the medina (market) determined to have a much better shopping experience this time... And we did! It was good, we wandered about, avoiding spice man stall (although he came and found us somehow wandering around the market and said did we want tea, the answer this time was a firm 'Non Merci'. We found an amazing drum shop, we had been admiring the drumming in Marocco so we headed in and chatted to the guy for ages, he as really nice and friendly, but genuinely, it seemed, not so much just out to sell stuff. Joe bought a drum which is amazing! And then we were asked if we wanted tea. We decided that seeing as we had already bought stuff, that he couldn't guilt trip us, so we drank tea, and he was really nice, not out to get us at all. I bought a cool box drum thing and we chatted for ages in French and conversation turned to horoscopes, and after a long converstation the decision was made that Joe resembled a Langostine. Far too complex to explain but something to do with the moon?
19th August
Got chatting to a cool Oz guy in the campsite over breakfast and then headed to the beach to survey the windsurf conditions. Its pretty damn windy is my observation! So I have discovered internet in this beach cafe where I can see the windsurfing (although I can't make out Joe) I offended some Austians by saying I thought they were German but one of them was very friendly and chatted to me a lot! There are camels and horses on the beach and sand EVERYWHERE, it is so windy!
wk 7 ctd
12th August (Lou)
Morocco day! Set off from Tarifa at 8 (painful) and headed for Alcezeraz (can't spell this one!) where K & J had kindly informed us about where to get the cheapest tickets to Morocco (Behind the big Carrefour off Junction 112 of the E5 if anyone is going) Turned up with the plan of going shopping and then going to the place but being Spain the supermarket didn't open till 10 so we settled with some service station croissants until then. Went to see the lady in the place and after much faffing to and fro we did shopping and found the man we needed for cheap fares. The transaction went something like this:
1)Go to place at 12.30 as instructed
2)Papa comes in waving tickets
3)Papa gives us a photo of the junction we needed off the E5 and says 'you go, ferry at 1.00')
4)We ask price, and don't have enough cash for the 300 euro that he wanted so we give him 250, he seems happy and we screech to the port, breaking our plodding pace of 50mph somewhat
Ferry fine, got to Ceuta and the madness begins! You basically have to sort a form for your car and a form for each of you with your passport, go to booths and get them processed by people. Problem is, people (mainly the non tourists) push in and come out of their cars to do the forms and then are stuck in the queue behind all the other cars, so it is honking horn heaven...we had our form done wrong by our guy so the policeman wouldn't let us through but then I spoke French to him and he suddenly became incredibly polite to me! Having had this process take about an hour and a bit (which is average by all accounts) we stayed in a service station having driven about 4 hours down the road to where we were aiming for.
13th August (Lou)
Drove down to Essouria today, it took about 9 hours and we really saw some sites, the favourite being what Joe describes as a 'battle reinactment' where there were an insane number of people on a tiny road and there were hundreds of tents/stalls and it was so windy and sunny there was dust everywhere which looked like smoke. After having a peek at Essouria we headed to Moulay which is where seems to be good (although rocky and hazard filled!) for windsurfing, and good to camp. Met up with Will, James and Karen's friend and Amy and John. Good chilled out evening. And I slept all night without waking up once which is a first! (And I woke up at 7 and told this to Joe who I don't think really needed/wanted to know just then!)
14th August (Lou)
Woke up and there was a donky outside the van. There were also two puppies (flip flop sized, maybe one week old at most?) Joe said he saw someone put down a bag and they crawled out. All really sad. Gave them some milk and some other people gave them some cake. But the worst is to come.. they are totally naive and know nothing ( having been dumped on the beach) and the little brown one went a bit close to the donky's hind leg and got a very swift kick. It lay on the ground for ages crying and it was really horrible. I thought it was going to die there and then. We decided to take them in. The little brown one has been making a steady recovery but it still looks pretty sad for itself, I'm not sure it will make it through the night, although we have built them a shelter from rocks and a coat to keep the wind off and the heat in. The little black one seems pretty lively and wants its sister to play with it but it doesn't seem to want to.
Went out for grilled chicken at Cafe Moulay which was good but not as cheap as we were expecting for Moroccan food...
15th August (Lou)
The brown puppy survived the night! So pleased! It walks really wonkily but I think it did that before it was kicked in the head. Had a lazing around day today, mainly being mummy and daddy to our puppies! The black one is certainly much more adventurous than the brown one, it goes off and plays with the other dogs (of which there are loads...) where as the brown one seems to sit around and find dangers to walk near....went for a walk into the 'village' and then out the other way but got surrounded by dogs which was pretty intimidating... met some nice lads who pitched up in the evening in another Ford Transit!
Moulay is good, apart from lack of toilet and bin facilities, but the windsurfing is good to watch. There are an insane amount of kids who come round all times of the day to sell you bread and things, and crawl around your van picking everything up and inspecting it (had to be a little careful when they went near our emergency-wee-in-the-van-bottle...) Most of them are pretty cool though, and they are good to practice French out on and they are very honest and would never take anything of yours. Pups to bed in their new cereal box shelter (we are preparing them for a more wild night and can't leave the coat behind, although they are snuggled in a pair of Joe's boxers)
16th August (Lou)
Joe went for a couple of windsurf sessions today, the waves were van high, about 2m, looked scary to me, he did really well, I was proud! Some good high jumps too! Puppies doing well, black one gone all day until the crazy small child brought him back to us tonight, confident about leaving them now, he loves them! Had a chatter with the UK lads again tonight, it was James' birthday and they had a yummy looking dinner of fish and tatties and salad. Dogs sound asleep in their house.
Morocco day! Set off from Tarifa at 8 (painful) and headed for Alcezeraz (can't spell this one!) where K & J had kindly informed us about where to get the cheapest tickets to Morocco (Behind the big Carrefour off Junction 112 of the E5 if anyone is going) Turned up with the plan of going shopping and then going to the place but being Spain the supermarket didn't open till 10 so we settled with some service station croissants until then. Went to see the lady in the place and after much faffing to and fro we did shopping and found the man we needed for cheap fares. The transaction went something like this:
1)Go to place at 12.30 as instructed
2)Papa comes in waving tickets
3)Papa gives us a photo of the junction we needed off the E5 and says 'you go, ferry at 1.00')
4)We ask price, and don't have enough cash for the 300 euro that he wanted so we give him 250, he seems happy and we screech to the port, breaking our plodding pace of 50mph somewhat
Ferry fine, got to Ceuta and the madness begins! You basically have to sort a form for your car and a form for each of you with your passport, go to booths and get them processed by people. Problem is, people (mainly the non tourists) push in and come out of their cars to do the forms and then are stuck in the queue behind all the other cars, so it is honking horn heaven...we had our form done wrong by our guy so the policeman wouldn't let us through but then I spoke French to him and he suddenly became incredibly polite to me! Having had this process take about an hour and a bit (which is average by all accounts) we stayed in a service station having driven about 4 hours down the road to where we were aiming for.
13th August (Lou)
Drove down to Essouria today, it took about 9 hours and we really saw some sites, the favourite being what Joe describes as a 'battle reinactment' where there were an insane number of people on a tiny road and there were hundreds of tents/stalls and it was so windy and sunny there was dust everywhere which looked like smoke. After having a peek at Essouria we headed to Moulay which is where seems to be good (although rocky and hazard filled!) for windsurfing, and good to camp. Met up with Will, James and Karen's friend and Amy and John. Good chilled out evening. And I slept all night without waking up once which is a first! (And I woke up at 7 and told this to Joe who I don't think really needed/wanted to know just then!)
14th August (Lou)
Woke up and there was a donky outside the van. There were also two puppies (flip flop sized, maybe one week old at most?) Joe said he saw someone put down a bag and they crawled out. All really sad. Gave them some milk and some other people gave them some cake. But the worst is to come.. they are totally naive and know nothing ( having been dumped on the beach) and the little brown one went a bit close to the donky's hind leg and got a very swift kick. It lay on the ground for ages crying and it was really horrible. I thought it was going to die there and then. We decided to take them in. The little brown one has been making a steady recovery but it still looks pretty sad for itself, I'm not sure it will make it through the night, although we have built them a shelter from rocks and a coat to keep the wind off and the heat in. The little black one seems pretty lively and wants its sister to play with it but it doesn't seem to want to.
Went out for grilled chicken at Cafe Moulay which was good but not as cheap as we were expecting for Moroccan food...
15th August (Lou)
The brown puppy survived the night! So pleased! It walks really wonkily but I think it did that before it was kicked in the head. Had a lazing around day today, mainly being mummy and daddy to our puppies! The black one is certainly much more adventurous than the brown one, it goes off and plays with the other dogs (of which there are loads...) where as the brown one seems to sit around and find dangers to walk near....went for a walk into the 'village' and then out the other way but got surrounded by dogs which was pretty intimidating... met some nice lads who pitched up in the evening in another Ford Transit!
Moulay is good, apart from lack of toilet and bin facilities, but the windsurfing is good to watch. There are an insane amount of kids who come round all times of the day to sell you bread and things, and crawl around your van picking everything up and inspecting it (had to be a little careful when they went near our emergency-wee-in-the-van-bottle...) Most of them are pretty cool though, and they are good to practice French out on and they are very honest and would never take anything of yours. Pups to bed in their new cereal box shelter (we are preparing them for a more wild night and can't leave the coat behind, although they are snuggled in a pair of Joe's boxers)
16th August (Lou)
Joe went for a couple of windsurf sessions today, the waves were van high, about 2m, looked scary to me, he did really well, I was proud! Some good high jumps too! Puppies doing well, black one gone all day until the crazy small child brought him back to us tonight, confident about leaving them now, he loves them! Had a chatter with the UK lads again tonight, it was James' birthday and they had a yummy looking dinner of fish and tatties and salad. Dogs sound asleep in their house.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeycrabb
See this site for the rest of the photos! It is way too much effort with a hungry tummy to load them onto Blogger!
See this site for the rest of the photos! It is way too much effort with a hungry tummy to load them onto Blogger!
week 7
10th August (Lou)
Left Cadiz for Tarifa and met up with Karen and James- great to see friendly faces and have good chats and have fellow transit company!! Had a good windsurf, not much wind so good for me to practice my sailing and tacks and gybes!
11th August (Lou)
Joe bought new fin and a cheap sail in case my 4.5 breaks as its pretty ducktaped (Joe) First venture in to Tarifa very cool, slight to moderate levels of ponce! Lou got her bar fixed, amazingly friendly man did it for us! Drinks and proposed meal in Tarifa, staying here tonight and then off to Morocco tomorrow hopefully if we can get a ticket!
Left Cadiz for Tarifa and met up with Karen and James- great to see friendly faces and have good chats and have fellow transit company!! Had a good windsurf, not much wind so good for me to practice my sailing and tacks and gybes!
11th August (Lou)
Joe bought new fin and a cheap sail in case my 4.5 breaks as its pretty ducktaped (Joe) First venture in to Tarifa very cool, slight to moderate levels of ponce! Lou got her bar fixed, amazingly friendly man did it for us! Drinks and proposed meal in Tarifa, staying here tonight and then off to Morocco tomorrow hopefully if we can get a ticket!
week 6
5th August
Sat around waiting for the wind to kick in, lived in Guincho's car park. As day went on it looked promising with wind and waves increasing, so rigged up 4m sail and 67ltr board and headed to the beach. Wind never really filled in and with almost dead on shore and there were big waves, so joined the rest of the windsurfers either sat on the beach or failing to get out past the white water. Once again living in car park.
6th August
Red flag day on the beach, so I (Joe) woke up and went for a surf, am getting better but couldn't get out back today, massive rips and the waves were quite big. after a fin to the stomach I decided to call it a day. Found out that we had been charged extortionate amounts of money living in the car park over night and headed south to get a ferry from Setubal to Troia. Was greeted with a whole town being built at once and our exhaust repair failed, but a safety line saved the day! After deciding that the peninsula was pretty but too confusing to do anything with, and a swim for Lou, we headed on to see really big birds on posts (stalks Lou says) then continued to get lost to try and find a campsite but found a cool surf/skimboard beach in an army base area (south of Fountainhas) with other camper vans and our first Brits, that are skaters heading the other way round Europe.
7th August (Lou)
Had a good old chat and hang out with Max and Laura (our Brits!) and we swapped tales, van chat and places to go. Headed to the beach for a crazy wave swim, really big strong waves! Joe went for a surf, and we then headed down to Troja after a stop at Lidl! Joe had really good wave windsurf and I had a good van tidy. Aiming to get to Tarifa for Sunday and met Karen and her crew and then head on to Morocco from there next week!
8th August
Went to a great lagoon place, didn't windsurf but went for an amazing meal which was 25euros for 3 courses and wine, total!!
9th August
Stayed in Cadiz- rubbish because we were on a quiet riad...but then there was a nightclub at the bottom! Went fishing again and lost Joe's hooks...oops.
Sat around waiting for the wind to kick in, lived in Guincho's car park. As day went on it looked promising with wind and waves increasing, so rigged up 4m sail and 67ltr board and headed to the beach. Wind never really filled in and with almost dead on shore and there were big waves, so joined the rest of the windsurfers either sat on the beach or failing to get out past the white water. Once again living in car park.
6th August
Red flag day on the beach, so I (Joe) woke up and went for a surf, am getting better but couldn't get out back today, massive rips and the waves were quite big. after a fin to the stomach I decided to call it a day. Found out that we had been charged extortionate amounts of money living in the car park over night and headed south to get a ferry from Setubal to Troia. Was greeted with a whole town being built at once and our exhaust repair failed, but a safety line saved the day! After deciding that the peninsula was pretty but too confusing to do anything with, and a swim for Lou, we headed on to see really big birds on posts (stalks Lou says) then continued to get lost to try and find a campsite but found a cool surf/skimboard beach in an army base area (south of Fountainhas) with other camper vans and our first Brits, that are skaters heading the other way round Europe.
7th August (Lou)
Had a good old chat and hang out with Max and Laura (our Brits!) and we swapped tales, van chat and places to go. Headed to the beach for a crazy wave swim, really big strong waves! Joe went for a surf, and we then headed down to Troja after a stop at Lidl! Joe had really good wave windsurf and I had a good van tidy. Aiming to get to Tarifa for Sunday and met Karen and her crew and then head on to Morocco from there next week!
8th August
Went to a great lagoon place, didn't windsurf but went for an amazing meal which was 25euros for 3 courses and wine, total!!
9th August
Stayed in Cadiz- rubbish because we were on a quiet riad...but then there was a nightclub at the bottom! Went fishing again and lost Joe's hooks...oops.
week 5
Week 5
28th July (Joe)
Had a wicked medium wind tack and gybe session. Lou can now consistently tack (fast) and gybe and sail up wind. Good windsurf, Lou lots of fastish tacks! Awful drive till midnight, stayed at Oia with the monks (next to a floodlit monastery)
29th July
Headed to our first Portugal destination, Esposende. Very cool long lagoon and headland thing and had lunch there, but no wind. So headed to Bara and go a bit confused, saw a big lighthouse then drove round the massive shallow estury thing for an hour to get to the other side. Then Lou's campsite night didn't go that smoothly in St Jacinto - no hot water! Brrr.
30th July (Joe)
After looking at Fig do Foz, we decided it was too touristy so we headed down the beach. Very pot holey lane thing, exhaust fell off... but a hasty repair over lunch all was well, (broke behind the silencers this times to no tractor features like before). Stayed at nice car park at Pedogeo. Lots of vans and lots of fishermen.
31 July
Earlier start than normal! Head down to Foz do Arelho. Found great lagoon. Had good windsurf, diamond course! Spoke to a guy that lives near there but has been in Canada for ages (called fisherman 1), had a BBQ and made an amazing fishing rod with bamboo washed ashore, and went for a fish. No fish though.
1st August
Windsurf force 4 cross shore today. Lou got plaining and enjoyed it a lot. I had a kitesurf in the evening and it was really cool. Over powered but survived, then decided to retire in style (as opposed to wrapping around a fishing boat! Spoke to a guy that lives near there but has been in Canada for ages. Hes brothers with other guy!(so we called him fisherman 2!) We numbered them in chronological order of meeting them. Setting up some nets he has to pick up at 6!
2nd August
Windsurf very windy by the time we got out. After a valiant but failed attempt by Lou I stole her sail and set off for a go on my new small board, its very amazing really turny but I cant tack it yet. And when the wind got light I was windsurfing around waist deep in water. Fisherman 2 back regaling us with stories of where he stores all his spare car keys, he locks himself out a lot, also got a smirk from a crazy fish man that was out the whole time while we were there be wind or shine in a green fishing overalls and wellies.
3rd August
Headed to a supermarket but back to lagoon for lunch, had a windsurf in lagoon- 5m weather, and spoke the cool windsurf guy, who told us about a few good spots and said the lagoon is like a silty Vass. Rubbish kite surf -too gusty. Lou went out for a confidence gaining potter 4m recoup and managed some beachstarts! Joe went for a windsurf fish...unfortunately no luck...Then had another BBQ with highly spitty coals after getting stuck in the sand and using waffles to get out!!! (enticing the nearby donky)
4th August
Left lagoon behind and went to a REALLY windy cape place! Then arrived at Guincho, near Lisbon, very windy and wavy, now sat in van as sun going down in a force 8, sand storm, very cool!! (Lou fears sea sickness tonight...)
28th July (Joe)
Had a wicked medium wind tack and gybe session. Lou can now consistently tack (fast) and gybe and sail up wind. Good windsurf, Lou lots of fastish tacks! Awful drive till midnight, stayed at Oia with the monks (next to a floodlit monastery)
29th July
Headed to our first Portugal destination, Esposende. Very cool long lagoon and headland thing and had lunch there, but no wind. So headed to Bara and go a bit confused, saw a big lighthouse then drove round the massive shallow estury thing for an hour to get to the other side. Then Lou's campsite night didn't go that smoothly in St Jacinto - no hot water! Brrr.
30th July (Joe)
After looking at Fig do Foz, we decided it was too touristy so we headed down the beach. Very pot holey lane thing, exhaust fell off... but a hasty repair over lunch all was well, (broke behind the silencers this times to no tractor features like before). Stayed at nice car park at Pedogeo. Lots of vans and lots of fishermen.
31 July
Earlier start than normal! Head down to Foz do Arelho. Found great lagoon. Had good windsurf, diamond course! Spoke to a guy that lives near there but has been in Canada for ages (called fisherman 1), had a BBQ and made an amazing fishing rod with bamboo washed ashore, and went for a fish. No fish though.
1st August
Windsurf force 4 cross shore today. Lou got plaining and enjoyed it a lot. I had a kitesurf in the evening and it was really cool. Over powered but survived, then decided to retire in style (as opposed to wrapping around a fishing boat! Spoke to a guy that lives near there but has been in Canada for ages. Hes brothers with other guy!(so we called him fisherman 2!) We numbered them in chronological order of meeting them. Setting up some nets he has to pick up at 6!
2nd August
Windsurf very windy by the time we got out. After a valiant but failed attempt by Lou I stole her sail and set off for a go on my new small board, its very amazing really turny but I cant tack it yet. And when the wind got light I was windsurfing around waist deep in water. Fisherman 2 back regaling us with stories of where he stores all his spare car keys, he locks himself out a lot, also got a smirk from a crazy fish man that was out the whole time while we were there be wind or shine in a green fishing overalls and wellies.
3rd August
Headed to a supermarket but back to lagoon for lunch, had a windsurf in lagoon- 5m weather, and spoke the cool windsurf guy, who told us about a few good spots and said the lagoon is like a silty Vass. Rubbish kite surf -too gusty. Lou went out for a confidence gaining potter 4m recoup and managed some beachstarts! Joe went for a windsurf fish...unfortunately no luck...Then had another BBQ with highly spitty coals after getting stuck in the sand and using waffles to get out!!! (enticing the nearby donky)
4th August
Left lagoon behind and went to a REALLY windy cape place! Then arrived at Guincho, near Lisbon, very windy and wavy, now sat in van as sun going down in a force 8, sand storm, very cool!! (Lou fears sea sickness tonight...)
Week 4
Week 4
21st July (Lou & Joe)
Long drive getting very lost down lanes at one point ending up in a quarry...arrived at San Xorxe found a cool van car park with fellow windsurfers, all hidden by no entry signs. Cross off shore wind (5m weather) with 2-3m waves. Wicked windsurf but due to poor screwdriver choice, I lost a fin. Lou was a beach bum most of the day! Found that Lou's kite bar is faulty as the bar safety release releases itself. “Poo willybum”
22nd July (Joe)
Not much wind today but similar swell size, a few surfing sessions. I can now stand up and steer through small angles but had to give up, as the shore break (beach waves) was to big to get through.
23rd July (Joe)
Left for Lexe, a little town with a nice bay, noticed a large amount of smoke in the hills, there was a forest fire, the sea fire planes were choosing our bay to fill up with water in, very cool. We didn't have any food so decided to eat out so went to a bar at 5 and found out that they don't start doing food until 9! After a few hours had very nice tapas.
24th July (Joe)
Headed to Traba, just down the road from Lexe but a big wave venue in the book; “regulary gets mast high”. We arrived at the same time as a French guy who was also in Xorxe. It was goodish waves but light very off shore wind. Good windsurf though, my wave sailing is improving, still out of food we went blackberry picking and Lou made crumble and custard for pudding in the evening.
25th July (Joe)
Had another windsurf in Traba, this time in a large amount of rain. We sat under French man's sail for a bit whilst biggest storm hit and Lou was on the beach in her rather wet clothes. Then headed to Cee for a stock up. The shops were shut for a festival thing so ate out and some lady knocked Lou's drink over our food and ran away which was a bit rude! We consoled ourselves by heading to a cool place for waffles and ice cream!
26th July (Joe)
Woken by sprinklers at 3.30am and Lou stayed up from then onwards as she felt poorly. Went to find beach with no name but decided not much good for windsurfing, so then ended up going to a light house that millions of people were walking up a big hill to see (it wasn't very good). Then had lunch and a hair wash at a natural spring, by a big docked fire boat. Stayed by another lighthouse and had a BBQ. Saw a good glow worm but it wasn't very photogenic.
27th July (Joe)
Headed down to a cool beach near Portosin, ending up in a carnival at one point, had a land windsurf session, then went for a “real windsurf” but was not very good gust off shore and too sketchy for Lou.
21st July (Lou & Joe)
Long drive getting very lost down lanes at one point ending up in a quarry...arrived at San Xorxe found a cool van car park with fellow windsurfers, all hidden by no entry signs. Cross off shore wind (5m weather) with 2-3m waves. Wicked windsurf but due to poor screwdriver choice, I lost a fin. Lou was a beach bum most of the day! Found that Lou's kite bar is faulty as the bar safety release releases itself. “Poo willybum”
22nd July (Joe)
Not much wind today but similar swell size, a few surfing sessions. I can now stand up and steer through small angles but had to give up, as the shore break (beach waves) was to big to get through.
23rd July (Joe)
Left for Lexe, a little town with a nice bay, noticed a large amount of smoke in the hills, there was a forest fire, the sea fire planes were choosing our bay to fill up with water in, very cool. We didn't have any food so decided to eat out so went to a bar at 5 and found out that they don't start doing food until 9! After a few hours had very nice tapas.
24th July (Joe)
Headed to Traba, just down the road from Lexe but a big wave venue in the book; “regulary gets mast high”. We arrived at the same time as a French guy who was also in Xorxe. It was goodish waves but light very off shore wind. Good windsurf though, my wave sailing is improving, still out of food we went blackberry picking and Lou made crumble and custard for pudding in the evening.
25th July (Joe)
Had another windsurf in Traba, this time in a large amount of rain. We sat under French man's sail for a bit whilst biggest storm hit and Lou was on the beach in her rather wet clothes. Then headed to Cee for a stock up. The shops were shut for a festival thing so ate out and some lady knocked Lou's drink over our food and ran away which was a bit rude! We consoled ourselves by heading to a cool place for waffles and ice cream!
26th July (Joe)
Woken by sprinklers at 3.30am and Lou stayed up from then onwards as she felt poorly. Went to find beach with no name but decided not much good for windsurfing, so then ended up going to a light house that millions of people were walking up a big hill to see (it wasn't very good). Then had lunch and a hair wash at a natural spring, by a big docked fire boat. Stayed by another lighthouse and had a BBQ. Saw a good glow worm but it wasn't very photogenic.
27th July (Joe)
Headed down to a cool beach near Portosin, ending up in a carnival at one point, had a land windsurf session, then went for a “real windsurf” but was not very good gust off shore and too sketchy for Lou.
week 3
Week 3
14th July (Lou)
Spain...The country of getting rather lost...Today brought us in and around and inside and through the twiddly nitty gritty bits of both Bilbao (quite pleasant AND I survived driving it!) and Santander (ooh not so fun for Joe...) We did however accidentally stumble upon a BEAUTIFUL fishing village down a 12% descent (Brian survived though) It was perfect, locals wending their merry way through their day and children swimming off the harbour. It was a pretty divine accident! Elantxove was its name! Then went to find a beach but I accidentally read Joe's circling of the windsurf book wrong... and we ended up in a horrible touristy yucky place which we soon escaped, for Oyanere where we stayed literally on the beach. Downside = tried kiting, onshore wind, scared of killing people so I gave up. Treated to a pretty good firework display tonight.
15th July (Lou)
Had to wait around till 7 30 pm in the beachy place for all the people to leave before you were allowed to do water stuff... so we hung around. I got heavily into my book (The Lovely Bones, anyone looking for a good read HAS to read it, I couldn't put it down) Joe fidgeted his way through tillhalf 7 and then I had a horribly frustrating wave-over-the-head windsurfing 'session' lasting aprox 10 mins, and Joe had horribly frustrating kiting session. So we went to bed. In a slight grump! Another 4 am wake up call, Joe thought we were going to be broken into! Turned out it was just people on the beach. Phew.
16th July (Lou)
Decided to head to better calmer climes, Ria di Rodieles to be precise, very nice calm flat water wide river/sea/lagoon place. Spent the day wandering about and reading some more, an unfortunate twist of the ankle bodyboarding the day before (well, running into the sea...) no windsurfing prevailed. Found a place to park up free again, and managed to use campsite toilets too! There was an amazing labrador who was on a walk with its owner who really didn't want it to go in the water but he managed to get in there and then he lay down in protest! Amazing.
17th July (Lou)
The lady at the campsite caught me sneaking in to use her toilets. Speaking no Spanish I decided the best tactic was to make up a language, or sort of buy myself time to make up a reason for striding so confidently into her campsite. I made up a Spanish word to stall her...it went something like 'Trahida?' then thought up an ingenious story about visiting a friend... luckily she didn't understand a word of my English so I just left. Next time I might just ask if I can use her toilet.
Finally, the time came where I had an amazingly fun windsurfing session! Flat water, hardly any wind, perfect! Did tacks and gibes and upwind sailing and everything!
Moved on to a campsite for the night down the road a bit, very peaceful, at Playa Espanyol next to a more hardcore surfing beach.
18th July (Lou/Joe)
Decided to use the campsite to its full potential and do a huge amount of washing, we looked like a Chinese laundry outside our van! Joe washed the van AND turns out the graffiti rubs off (with a very good scrub!) Lathered ourselves in another luxury (shower) and then headed on for more Western climes and a supermarket after a walk down to the beach. Found another trusty port (THE place to stay when looking for free accommodation it seems...) Beer or two in the quest to find Wi-Fi connection, but alas to no avail. Then sat in bar which promised Wi-Fi but it doesn't work! Went back to the van after deciding to eat donuts and hot chocolate instead of eating tea. Found that the other side of the port was a happening Spanish festival with some stages, music and dancing old people (very quick dancing too), we did not fully partake in the wibbling, (Joe couldn't be persuaded to shake a leg with the grannies!). After waiting for the “better” people on the big stage to appear we retired with the opinion that all Spanishy music sounds quite nice but very similar.
19th July (Joe)
A four in the morning wee to a Spanish rendition of Tina Turner's Spanish twin singing ''Simply the Best ''. . . .
After a bit of a lie in we decided to escape our town to continue west. After seeing a cool beach we initially drove by, we decided to return to it (involving a maneuver across a main road, down a cliff like lane, past a river and under a bridge. Empty beach with a couple of Spanish families having BBQs on the big ones provided (!) After a snack and a walk we decided to continue, with aims of getting just north of FISSLE to a windsurf spot in the book, but we saw a cool beach on the way down another cliff lane thing, and parked in a field with only a couple of other cars. Rigged up for an afternoon windsurf of the big C shape beach. Perfect conditions for Lou to practice slightly higher wind maneuvers. After a chat to a Spanish windsurfer that came to join us (who works in Madrid- 37degrees yesterday!!), he said the point and the end of the estuary is the most northern point in Spain and that the forecast for the next few days is ideal for this beach, so we're hanging around till tomorrow see what comes.
Ate lemon chicken and maple flavour golden syrup on pancakes.
20th July (Lou)
Went for a really fun windsurf in the afternoon after Joe tried with his kite but it was a bit gusty and he didn't get on too well..Went to the most northern point in Spain! Ended the day by sleeping on the streets of O..............after a beer in a random bar
14th July (Lou)
Spain...The country of getting rather lost...Today brought us in and around and inside and through the twiddly nitty gritty bits of both Bilbao (quite pleasant AND I survived driving it!) and Santander (ooh not so fun for Joe...) We did however accidentally stumble upon a BEAUTIFUL fishing village down a 12% descent (Brian survived though) It was perfect, locals wending their merry way through their day and children swimming off the harbour. It was a pretty divine accident! Elantxove was its name! Then went to find a beach but I accidentally read Joe's circling of the windsurf book wrong... and we ended up in a horrible touristy yucky place which we soon escaped, for Oyanere where we stayed literally on the beach. Downside = tried kiting, onshore wind, scared of killing people so I gave up. Treated to a pretty good firework display tonight.
15th July (Lou)
Had to wait around till 7 30 pm in the beachy place for all the people to leave before you were allowed to do water stuff... so we hung around. I got heavily into my book (The Lovely Bones, anyone looking for a good read HAS to read it, I couldn't put it down) Joe fidgeted his way through tillhalf 7 and then I had a horribly frustrating wave-over-the-head windsurfing 'session' lasting aprox 10 mins, and Joe had horribly frustrating kiting session. So we went to bed. In a slight grump! Another 4 am wake up call, Joe thought we were going to be broken into! Turned out it was just people on the beach. Phew.
16th July (Lou)
Decided to head to better calmer climes, Ria di Rodieles to be precise, very nice calm flat water wide river/sea/lagoon place. Spent the day wandering about and reading some more, an unfortunate twist of the ankle bodyboarding the day before (well, running into the sea...) no windsurfing prevailed. Found a place to park up free again, and managed to use campsite toilets too! There was an amazing labrador who was on a walk with its owner who really didn't want it to go in the water but he managed to get in there and then he lay down in protest! Amazing.
17th July (Lou)
The lady at the campsite caught me sneaking in to use her toilets. Speaking no Spanish I decided the best tactic was to make up a language, or sort of buy myself time to make up a reason for striding so confidently into her campsite. I made up a Spanish word to stall her...it went something like 'Trahida?' then thought up an ingenious story about visiting a friend... luckily she didn't understand a word of my English so I just left. Next time I might just ask if I can use her toilet.
Finally, the time came where I had an amazingly fun windsurfing session! Flat water, hardly any wind, perfect! Did tacks and gibes and upwind sailing and everything!
Moved on to a campsite for the night down the road a bit, very peaceful, at Playa Espanyol next to a more hardcore surfing beach.
18th July (Lou/Joe)
Decided to use the campsite to its full potential and do a huge amount of washing, we looked like a Chinese laundry outside our van! Joe washed the van AND turns out the graffiti rubs off (with a very good scrub!) Lathered ourselves in another luxury (shower) and then headed on for more Western climes and a supermarket after a walk down to the beach. Found another trusty port (THE place to stay when looking for free accommodation it seems...) Beer or two in the quest to find Wi-Fi connection, but alas to no avail. Then sat in bar which promised Wi-Fi but it doesn't work! Went back to the van after deciding to eat donuts and hot chocolate instead of eating tea. Found that the other side of the port was a happening Spanish festival with some stages, music and dancing old people (very quick dancing too), we did not fully partake in the wibbling, (Joe couldn't be persuaded to shake a leg with the grannies!). After waiting for the “better” people on the big stage to appear we retired with the opinion that all Spanishy music sounds quite nice but very similar.
19th July (Joe)
A four in the morning wee to a Spanish rendition of Tina Turner's Spanish twin singing ''Simply the Best ''. . . .
After a bit of a lie in we decided to escape our town to continue west. After seeing a cool beach we initially drove by, we decided to return to it (involving a maneuver across a main road, down a cliff like lane, past a river and under a bridge. Empty beach with a couple of Spanish families having BBQs on the big ones provided (!) After a snack and a walk we decided to continue, with aims of getting just north of FISSLE to a windsurf spot in the book, but we saw a cool beach on the way down another cliff lane thing, and parked in a field with only a couple of other cars. Rigged up for an afternoon windsurf of the big C shape beach. Perfect conditions for Lou to practice slightly higher wind maneuvers. After a chat to a Spanish windsurfer that came to join us (who works in Madrid- 37degrees yesterday!!), he said the point and the end of the estuary is the most northern point in Spain and that the forecast for the next few days is ideal for this beach, so we're hanging around till tomorrow see what comes.
Ate lemon chicken and maple flavour golden syrup on pancakes.
20th July (Lou)
Went for a really fun windsurf in the afternoon after Joe tried with his kite but it was a bit gusty and he didn't get on too well..Went to the most northern point in Spain! Ended the day by sleeping on the streets of O..............after a beer in a random bar
Week 2 cnt
8th July (Lou)
4.30am brought a storm and a quick van re-location by Joe while Lou balanced herself and the half done washing up in the back! insanely windy crazy freak storm, it seemed parking right on the harbour wall does provide good views but also some crazy weather! Today brought a day of what Joe likes to call 'towns' and I like to call 'culture'. Started off finding the Aquarium which was pretty amazing... I liked the flat fish best, and Joe seemed pretty keen on the cuttlefish, although he seemed a little miffed that there was 'only one' and it 'didn't change colour' (we did watch it for a good 10 mins just to check though) Minus the hundreds of small children the experience was pretty pleasant. It wasn't till we got out and back that we realised it was open till 11pm so a night time visit probably would be more recommended to anyone thinking of going! Headed into La Rochelle after the fish for an amble. Came accross some crepes and a lady with 5 dogs, 2 cats, 3 mice and a very small bike. Unfortunately the best thing we saw was a dog walk on its front legs and the bike was blatantly a luring tactic so we made our way onto better things. Went for a cycle around 'our' end of town (the free bit) where there was a youth sailing and windsurf event going on. The evening brought crabbing (unsuccessful I hasten to add) Beers, a cycle to town and a cycle home again with a take away crepe.
9th July (Lou)
Into the forest we go... Long road with beach is how I would describe this place. The windsurf book went slightly OTT in its description of having to trek through thick pine forest to get to the beach... there were paths.... and naturists it seems! Made an AMAZING windsurf bike-surfboard-carrying-towing contraption out of the mountain board and rope (Jeff/Rob, this definately needs modifying...we will have talks...) First time surf for Joe... first wave...what a surprise he gets on his feet. Lou (green with envy) retires with her bodyboard... The evening brought excitement in the shape of my new kite having its first (very light wind) fly!
Without realising the time it was 11pm when we had packed up on beach. Ate cheese and crunchy bread, then had a night of insanely itchy feet and odd dreams where I kept talking in my sleep (apparently...)
10th July (Lou)
Went down to the beach in the afternoon
Surfed a bit
Surfed a bit more
Decided to move on, went to amazing farm place with goats and nice restaurant. Very sleepy pleasant wine region near Bordeaux. Crazily enough EVERYONE Dutch! If we didn't know better we wouldn't have thought we were in France.
11th July (Lou)
Joe's birthday!
Had present opening session in the morning then went to see the goats. Wine region pretty cool.
Headed down to a place we called 'horny', I think the French call 'Homy' place, promised good surf and nice beach. Neither great so headed to what we called 'gerald', I think the French call 'Gerald'. Still not that hot and got pretty hot under the collar too as there was nowhere to park the van. So found a abandoned circus ground to live in and went for drinks.
12th July (Lou)
Awoken by the circus coming to town! Moved and then the whole place got jammed up by circus folk (one with a lorry with 4 bendy bits parked all the way round the roundabout. so decided to head for nicer surf and better times. Went down the road and went for a walk on the next beach found a empty bit of beach but rained lots and long way to carry things, Saw miniature ponies. Then we saw a camel and a byson and a yak and a llama and 2 tigers and 3 minature goats. By the road side. Grazing. Not the tigers though. They were in a cage. Next beach Joe had a surf, looked pretty scary. Later we found a lake and had a swim. Stayed in a quiet camp site.
CAMP SITES:
Never go for anything over 2 stars. They suck! They are busy and feature clowns and swimming pools and flags. Eugh.
13th July (Joe)
Headed in to Beritz for lunch, have never seen so many people walking around with surf boards! We then headed around the coast to a beach that was full of people so ate lunch next to a crazy train station/ camper van park. After lunch we appeared in Spain, after driving down the toll road we headed off the track down some windy lanes testing the van and storage layout. After driving by a beach/ parking place that we said “we should have stayed there!” we were turned round by the police along with everyone else due to some reason, so decided to head back to our beach spot. With a crazy trailer biker bar thing. . .
4.30am brought a storm and a quick van re-location by Joe while Lou balanced herself and the half done washing up in the back! insanely windy crazy freak storm, it seemed parking right on the harbour wall does provide good views but also some crazy weather! Today brought a day of what Joe likes to call 'towns' and I like to call 'culture'. Started off finding the Aquarium which was pretty amazing... I liked the flat fish best, and Joe seemed pretty keen on the cuttlefish, although he seemed a little miffed that there was 'only one' and it 'didn't change colour' (we did watch it for a good 10 mins just to check though) Minus the hundreds of small children the experience was pretty pleasant. It wasn't till we got out and back that we realised it was open till 11pm so a night time visit probably would be more recommended to anyone thinking of going! Headed into La Rochelle after the fish for an amble. Came accross some crepes and a lady with 5 dogs, 2 cats, 3 mice and a very small bike. Unfortunately the best thing we saw was a dog walk on its front legs and the bike was blatantly a luring tactic so we made our way onto better things. Went for a cycle around 'our' end of town (the free bit) where there was a youth sailing and windsurf event going on. The evening brought crabbing (unsuccessful I hasten to add) Beers, a cycle to town and a cycle home again with a take away crepe.
9th July (Lou)
Into the forest we go... Long road with beach is how I would describe this place. The windsurf book went slightly OTT in its description of having to trek through thick pine forest to get to the beach... there were paths.... and naturists it seems! Made an AMAZING windsurf bike-surfboard-carrying-towing contraption out of the mountain board and rope (Jeff/Rob, this definately needs modifying...we will have talks...) First time surf for Joe... first wave...what a surprise he gets on his feet. Lou (green with envy) retires with her bodyboard... The evening brought excitement in the shape of my new kite having its first (very light wind) fly!
Without realising the time it was 11pm when we had packed up on beach. Ate cheese and crunchy bread, then had a night of insanely itchy feet and odd dreams where I kept talking in my sleep (apparently...)
10th July (Lou)
Went down to the beach in the afternoon
Surfed a bit
Surfed a bit more
Decided to move on, went to amazing farm place with goats and nice restaurant. Very sleepy pleasant wine region near Bordeaux. Crazily enough EVERYONE Dutch! If we didn't know better we wouldn't have thought we were in France.
11th July (Lou)
Joe's birthday!
Had present opening session in the morning then went to see the goats. Wine region pretty cool.
Headed down to a place we called 'horny', I think the French call 'Homy' place, promised good surf and nice beach. Neither great so headed to what we called 'gerald', I think the French call 'Gerald'. Still not that hot and got pretty hot under the collar too as there was nowhere to park the van. So found a abandoned circus ground to live in and went for drinks.
12th July (Lou)
Awoken by the circus coming to town! Moved and then the whole place got jammed up by circus folk (one with a lorry with 4 bendy bits parked all the way round the roundabout. so decided to head for nicer surf and better times. Went down the road and went for a walk on the next beach found a empty bit of beach but rained lots and long way to carry things, Saw miniature ponies. Then we saw a camel and a byson and a yak and a llama and 2 tigers and 3 minature goats. By the road side. Grazing. Not the tigers though. They were in a cage. Next beach Joe had a surf, looked pretty scary. Later we found a lake and had a swim. Stayed in a quiet camp site.
CAMP SITES:
Never go for anything over 2 stars. They suck! They are busy and feature clowns and swimming pools and flags. Eugh.
13th July (Joe)
Headed in to Beritz for lunch, have never seen so many people walking around with surf boards! We then headed around the coast to a beach that was full of people so ate lunch next to a crazy train station/ camper van park. After lunch we appeared in Spain, after driving down the toll road we headed off the track down some windy lanes testing the van and storage layout. After driving by a beach/ parking place that we said “we should have stayed there!” we were turned round by the police along with everyone else due to some reason, so decided to head back to our beach spot. With a crazy trailer biker bar thing. . .
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Week One
Week 1
30th June (Joe)
On getting off the ferry in Dover we traveled down to St Omer to meet up with my mum and Ron who were on there way back from a sailing and cycling holiday on the Islmer, Holland, after crossing 3 countries in a day to meet up, we met in the cent re for a drink, walk and meal before retiring to the same Aire on one of the toll roads (autoroute A26 Aire de Grand Riez to be precice).
1st July (Joe)
Day one of the real travels we headed west after hearing the word that there were big beaches to be seen in Le Touquet, we were not disappointed, the beach was massive but with only a light off shore wind and a lot of people we decided it was a normal people beach not for our likes, so after a quick look in our windsurf manual, we decided to head down to Le Crotoy. On arriving we found a sneaky parking spot right on the beach not on the pay and display road (even before we knew of this road's existence, I like to call it instinct local knowledge). To our surprise there were lots of beach dwellers in this massive mostly empty estuary apparently unaware that they were walking round in muddy sludge and not on a beach. After a trek we drive out of the village to find a Camping Car parking for 5Euros for 24hrs right on the beach and near the sea, when the sea decided to come in, so I started to set up camp, after some tussling with the Awning, it was assessed to be unsafe and need further work so was removed.
In the evening a storm was a brewing, and we saw lighting which was cool, we went to bed with the plan to get up in the morning to go for a kite surf in the shallow estuary.
2nd July (Joe)
We woke up and there was water, (my crude tide estimates worked) however the weather wasn't great with about 3 knots and a light drizzle we decided to head south in search of better things, after a look a the map we were off. This was the first of our map scale mishaps. Latter that evening we we arrived at our camp site north of le Mans in Le Grez, it was pretty exciting; we were one of 2 vans in the site, there were showers, toilets and a lake, after making camp doing some washing and food, we set up the bikes for a cycle around the lake. It was about 10.30pm at this point we set off with high spirits after getting part of the way round we realised our error in the lack of torch, our only light was Lou's red rear LED, with her inablilty to ride backwards this didn't prove that useful. We pressed on into the dark until sanity got the better off us when we headed in to a forest and our route no longer lit by the moon light on the lake. We decided to unwind around the lake and all was well, only had to walk a little bit when visibility went sub 1m.
3rd July (Joe)
We woke up with a leisurely shower and attempt 2 at cycling around the lake, this time it went more smoothly, the night before we got over ¾ of the way round. We packed up paid our dues and decided to head to the closest bit of sea that was supposed to be nice. So we headed for Pont Mahe (Point de Bile). Again later that evening (Scale error 2) we arrived some where were still not sure about where or what to do there, we knew we were near the beach (we could see it) and we found a field we assumed was free to stay in, it was for us any way)
4th July (Joe)
After waking up early from are very slanty “Free” field of rest we headed for the beach this time, however the tide was out but a good 15 knot cross shore we decided to first go for a walk to watch all the Cocklers, then have a go at flying my kite. It is amazing, I could let the bar out and it would stop pulling me almost completely, much better than my old kites, we went for lunch and waited for the tide to come in. What felt like several days later it started coming in and we got on the water wind was pretty gusty but was really cool me and Lou had a quick go as it got busier and deeper I was off with Lou as my rescue team on the beach, I think everyone else on the water was under the impression that I was in more control that I really was, After a kite and eventful “landing” and the removal of weed from my strings I went for a quick windsurf as the tide started to go away we came in and got ready for our first Date, in the “feet in the water restaurant” I paid AND I ate fish! Not sure I am keen to repeat either of the two experiences. After we retired to our abode next to the beach with aim to wake up early to catch the 7am high tide the next day.
5th July (Joe)
We failed, the tide was gone, so Lou decided to set up her face painting shop, however thanks to a 20 knot onshore sand blasting session business was not well, and a cool French cycling man told us of pastures greener a camper van parking place near beach but in trees out of the wind, after arriving there at about 2 we set up waiting for the tide to come in, just us and some other fellow vanners. As the water began to flood in so did several thousand French windsurfers all with vans and cars with trailors. I was holding out for a donkey, some with so much retro kit you needed sunglasses even though it was over cast, as the water appeared on the horizon they were off, us the Lazy Brits waited for the tide to come in a bit more then it was time for Lou's fist lesson.
Even though it was windy, wavy, and on her first short board she got up and going, almost planing once, she still thought she was rubbish though, not as pro as she seemed in no wind Galini for sure but an amazing effort! As the shore dump got up Lou headed in and I pushed out and got a couple of good runs on some pretty wavy bits of wind chop. After a quick go on Lou's board I headed in. As the mayhem left it was just us in the park again and a massive scary dog. Plans for heading out early the next day for the morning tide to plotted.
6th July (Joe)
We failed, after another encounter with the scary dog being massively tired and the tide ebbing fast we decided to head. Our aim to head just an hour away to St Brevin, after getting there were had a look and didn't approve, next stop Tharon- nice good spot, but being near the St Nazaire estury a lot of shipping and Weston Super Mare water colour, and the similar onshore brown mush, we decided to continue our venture, regretting missing the morning slot at Pont Mahe, we headed south finally finding a campsite just north and inland of Les Sables, after leaving the first one which had a camel and a circus (I assume they were together) we found a nice but pricey camp for our wash day. In sight of wave territory!!
30th - 6th July (Joe)
Going well so far- half way down France, been to nice places with wind, sun and water, (sometimes at once) been kiting and windsurfing. I am eating better, am cleaner and am better dressed than I am at home, in a van!! I have even washed my hair!
Week 2
7th July (Lou)
Got up just in time to buy some croissants from the lady at the crazy expensive campsite, and munched them (persuaded Joe to eat moldy jam too!) Headed down south again for a place called st Nicolas which promised a windsurf lagoon with no people! We got rather confused and lost. It turned out the road was closed to the lagoon so went a bit further up instead. Walked down to the lagoon place though and saw a couple of kiters doing exactly what we want to be able to do with a kite and board. Insanely windy and much sand-storm goodness so after a walk headed on to LaRochelle. Turns out I have been confusing it with Mont St Michel the whole way here... but it is pretty nice! Tried to find a free camp place and after much Joe-driving-through-town-centre we found some sailing shops and I asked a French dude where we could camp free and he said 'here' so now on harbour front. Chucking it down with rain! Went for a nice beer in town. Heading to the Oceanarium tomorrow!!
30th June (Joe)
On getting off the ferry in Dover we traveled down to St Omer to meet up with my mum and Ron who were on there way back from a sailing and cycling holiday on the Islmer, Holland, after crossing 3 countries in a day to meet up, we met in the cent re for a drink, walk and meal before retiring to the same Aire on one of the toll roads (autoroute A26 Aire de Grand Riez to be precice).
1st July (Joe)
Day one of the real travels we headed west after hearing the word that there were big beaches to be seen in Le Touquet, we were not disappointed, the beach was massive but with only a light off shore wind and a lot of people we decided it was a normal people beach not for our likes, so after a quick look in our windsurf manual, we decided to head down to Le Crotoy. On arriving we found a sneaky parking spot right on the beach not on the pay and display road (even before we knew of this road's existence, I like to call it instinct local knowledge). To our surprise there were lots of beach dwellers in this massive mostly empty estuary apparently unaware that they were walking round in muddy sludge and not on a beach. After a trek we drive out of the village to find a Camping Car parking for 5Euros for 24hrs right on the beach and near the sea, when the sea decided to come in, so I started to set up camp, after some tussling with the Awning, it was assessed to be unsafe and need further work so was removed.
In the evening a storm was a brewing, and we saw lighting which was cool, we went to bed with the plan to get up in the morning to go for a kite surf in the shallow estuary.
2nd July (Joe)
We woke up and there was water, (my crude tide estimates worked) however the weather wasn't great with about 3 knots and a light drizzle we decided to head south in search of better things, after a look a the map we were off. This was the first of our map scale mishaps. Latter that evening we we arrived at our camp site north of le Mans in Le Grez, it was pretty exciting; we were one of 2 vans in the site, there were showers, toilets and a lake, after making camp doing some washing and food, we set up the bikes for a cycle around the lake. It was about 10.30pm at this point we set off with high spirits after getting part of the way round we realised our error in the lack of torch, our only light was Lou's red rear LED, with her inablilty to ride backwards this didn't prove that useful. We pressed on into the dark until sanity got the better off us when we headed in to a forest and our route no longer lit by the moon light on the lake. We decided to unwind around the lake and all was well, only had to walk a little bit when visibility went sub 1m.
3rd July (Joe)
We woke up with a leisurely shower and attempt 2 at cycling around the lake, this time it went more smoothly, the night before we got over ¾ of the way round. We packed up paid our dues and decided to head to the closest bit of sea that was supposed to be nice. So we headed for Pont Mahe (Point de Bile). Again later that evening (Scale error 2) we arrived some where were still not sure about where or what to do there, we knew we were near the beach (we could see it) and we found a field we assumed was free to stay in, it was for us any way)
4th July (Joe)
After waking up early from are very slanty “Free” field of rest we headed for the beach this time, however the tide was out but a good 15 knot cross shore we decided to first go for a walk to watch all the Cocklers, then have a go at flying my kite. It is amazing, I could let the bar out and it would stop pulling me almost completely, much better than my old kites, we went for lunch and waited for the tide to come in. What felt like several days later it started coming in and we got on the water wind was pretty gusty but was really cool me and Lou had a quick go as it got busier and deeper I was off with Lou as my rescue team on the beach, I think everyone else on the water was under the impression that I was in more control that I really was, After a kite and eventful “landing” and the removal of weed from my strings I went for a quick windsurf as the tide started to go away we came in and got ready for our first Date, in the “feet in the water restaurant” I paid AND I ate fish! Not sure I am keen to repeat either of the two experiences. After we retired to our abode next to the beach with aim to wake up early to catch the 7am high tide the next day.
5th July (Joe)
We failed, the tide was gone, so Lou decided to set up her face painting shop, however thanks to a 20 knot onshore sand blasting session business was not well, and a cool French cycling man told us of pastures greener a camper van parking place near beach but in trees out of the wind, after arriving there at about 2 we set up waiting for the tide to come in, just us and some other fellow vanners. As the water began to flood in so did several thousand French windsurfers all with vans and cars with trailors. I was holding out for a donkey, some with so much retro kit you needed sunglasses even though it was over cast, as the water appeared on the horizon they were off, us the Lazy Brits waited for the tide to come in a bit more then it was time for Lou's fist lesson.
Even though it was windy, wavy, and on her first short board she got up and going, almost planing once, she still thought she was rubbish though, not as pro as she seemed in no wind Galini for sure but an amazing effort! As the shore dump got up Lou headed in and I pushed out and got a couple of good runs on some pretty wavy bits of wind chop. After a quick go on Lou's board I headed in. As the mayhem left it was just us in the park again and a massive scary dog. Plans for heading out early the next day for the morning tide to plotted.
6th July (Joe)
We failed, after another encounter with the scary dog being massively tired and the tide ebbing fast we decided to head. Our aim to head just an hour away to St Brevin, after getting there were had a look and didn't approve, next stop Tharon- nice good spot, but being near the St Nazaire estury a lot of shipping and Weston Super Mare water colour, and the similar onshore brown mush, we decided to continue our venture, regretting missing the morning slot at Pont Mahe, we headed south finally finding a campsite just north and inland of Les Sables, after leaving the first one which had a camel and a circus (I assume they were together) we found a nice but pricey camp for our wash day. In sight of wave territory!!
30th - 6th July (Joe)
Going well so far- half way down France, been to nice places with wind, sun and water, (sometimes at once) been kiting and windsurfing. I am eating better, am cleaner and am better dressed than I am at home, in a van!! I have even washed my hair!
Week 2
7th July (Lou)
Got up just in time to buy some croissants from the lady at the crazy expensive campsite, and munched them (persuaded Joe to eat moldy jam too!) Headed down south again for a place called st Nicolas which promised a windsurf lagoon with no people! We got rather confused and lost. It turned out the road was closed to the lagoon so went a bit further up instead. Walked down to the lagoon place though and saw a couple of kiters doing exactly what we want to be able to do with a kite and board. Insanely windy and much sand-storm goodness so after a walk headed on to LaRochelle. Turns out I have been confusing it with Mont St Michel the whole way here... but it is pretty nice! Tried to find a free camp place and after much Joe-driving-through-town-centre we found some sailing shops and I asked a French dude where we could camp free and he said 'here' so now on harbour front. Chucking it down with rain! Went for a nice beer in town. Heading to the Oceanarium tomorrow!!
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Kite purchase and a Van tour!
I bought a kite! very excited... went for the Flexifoil over the Best kite, apparently there isn't much between them, and I have flown and enjoyed the Flexifoil...So I now own a Rasta Atom 08!
The van is pretty much finished... its quite crazy how much there is to do before we go and how many things you have to think of to take!
So, here is the most recent pictures of the van interior to give those of you who haven't had the tour an idea of what it is like inside!
So this is the side sliding door and on your left there is the worktop with 2
ring gas cooker, shelf and removable panel for tool storage. Then next to that we have 2 cupboards, one is a blackboard (! exciting!) and the other wallpaper, varnished...
Next we have the pull out table which stows away to a panel like the one next to it. next to that is the fold out seat and above that the bed (on the far right) And of course, carpet for that homely touch!
All built by Joe, and Rob and Jeff are very kindly doing a lighting system and battery mounting system, I did the 'interior design', as I like to call it, or 'decorating' (with Joe's help of course!).
All in all very exciting... This is the back, as you can see, we can store 5 windsurf boards, 2 surf boards, 2 kite boards, 2 kites, sails etc etc etc and the new addition, 2 (only partly dismantled) bikes!
The foam in the top left won't be there, we are trying to tip it, if anyone wants it shout!
Over and out for now... off next monday...
xx
The van is pretty much finished... its quite crazy how much there is to do before we go and how many things you have to think of to take!
So, here is the most recent pictures of the van interior to give those of you who haven't had the tour an idea of what it is like inside!
So this is the side sliding door and on your left there is the worktop with 2
ring gas cooker, shelf and removable panel for tool storage. Then next to that we have 2 cupboards, one is a blackboard (! exciting!) and the other wallpaper, varnished...Next we have the pull out table which stows away to a panel like the one next to it. next to that is the fold out seat and above that the bed (on the far right) And of course, carpet for that homely touch!
All built by Joe, and Rob and Jeff are very kindly doing a lighting system and battery mounting system, I did the 'interior design', as I like to call it, or 'decorating' (with Joe's help of course!).
All in all very exciting... This is the back, as you can see, we can store 5 windsurf boards, 2 surf boards, 2 kite boards, 2 kites, sails etc etc etc and the new addition, 2 (only partly dismantled) bikes!The foam in the top left won't be there, we are trying to tip it, if anyone wants it shout!
Over and out for now... off next monday...
xx
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Waroo 08
Thining of getting a Waroo 08, Joe has negotiated a good deal with a man...
What colour to get though...!
Thinking of the cyan blue colour, or maybe pink/purple, ah decisions decisions...
Bought a windsurf board! Yippee!
And a DaKine Fusion Harness
Not long till we go now...
Monday, 12 May 2008
To do...*
Sort face paint stuff
Make the van bed
Paint van
Wallpaper van
Sort camera stuff
Record albulm
Pack stuff
Finish degree
* order mungeable depending on particular pressing needs
Make the van bed
Paint van
Wallpaper van
Sort camera stuff
Record albulm
Pack stuff
Finish degree
* order mungeable depending on particular pressing needs
Friday, 11 April 2008
flutter by...
Been coming up with ways of making money whilst travelling, and one of the best so far seems to be face painting, when the wind gets too much for me and there are some children/ enthusiastic adults about I can hopefully make some pennies for the beer/petrol fund!
So I had a practice on Joe as I haven't done face painting in nearly a year now... he makes a good butterfly... my Koala attempt was more like a panda or something it seems though, I had it in my head they had white eyes!!
oops xxx
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
lava sun
Looking forward to some more of this sunrise action when travelling about. It was pretty spectacular and not to be forgotten quickly...
Monday, 24 March 2008
rasta goodness
So I technically need about ten million pounds and then I could buy a 2008 kite and board... I really would in an ideal world love to purchase an 08 Flexifoil Atom which is one of the kites I felw out in Egypt and I pretty much fell in love with, also it came in Rasta colours which is always a bonus...
I need to be purchasing a harness right this very second. Unfortunately I finish my degree in approximately 5 minutes and my dissertation and about 3 bits of coursework are in in approximately 2 minutes so buying stuff right this second is not so hot for my work
pah
xx
I need to be purchasing a harness right this very second. Unfortunately I finish my degree in approximately 5 minutes and my dissertation and about 3 bits of coursework are in in approximately 2 minutes so buying stuff right this second is not so hot for my work
pah
xx
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Egypt!
Just got back from an awesome week in Egypt... downside was not much wind...(mostly about 9 knots therefore a little tricky to ride!) upsides were free beer, great company,free ice cream, sun, free pizza, sea, fish, paddle boarding, kite flying, free beer, egyptian taxi rides (resembling playing a video game...) watching the sunrise, free beer, pretty much being able to get up on a kite board (bring on wind!!!)
Got some interesting injuries from the coral
check out my almost kiteboarding picture...and the sand bar in the distance
I miss the sun, and the free beer....
xxx
good old harold...
Harold's Planet yet again comes up trumps and this was the cartoon this week...sums up pretty well my finishing uni and not getting a 'proper job'...bring on travelling! xxx
Monday, 25 February 2008
Poole
Headed to Poole harbour this Sunday with some uni kitesurfers to finish our course...not much wind unfortunately, but flew kites a bit and learned how to get up on the board. Frustrating, we were so close to riding, but needed more wind...
Bring on Egypt!
xx
Bring on Egypt!
xx
Friday, 22 February 2008
puddle me up...
The weekend began with a bump-start down the hill in Brislington ( we need to get the van fixed...) and a non-getting-lost-other-than-a-quick-re-visit-to-a-roundabout journey to Newton Abbott.
Saturday brought tasty bacon sarnies thanks to Joe's dad's sarnie shop and then a decision to head to a river. Luckily I have a distorted sense of direction and we ended up at a completely different bit of water that was about 10 miles south of Newton Abbott rather then about 2 miles north...I think I need a designated map reader for the summer...
Then I drove the van, which was pretty exciting although Joe went pretty quiet
After some food and a lick of cider for Lou we set off for somewhere near Poole to kip for the night, little did we know what was to come...
Looking at the map ( I do try and get the direction right...) I was pretty delighted to see Puddletown on there, so that had to be the obvious napping place... we ended up down some pretty interesting little lanes but we found the town of the puddles, unfortunately there were no pubs so we set off for Affpuddle (hehee) and on the way spotted Tincleton and had to turn back to make sure we had been there too.. Unfortunately there rather small little villages didn't own pubs and it was miles to Pidlington, so we had to make the executive decision to hit Bear Regis, which made up for its name in its people...
Hit the pub and met the worlds most amazing wrinkly man with a dog (called Sunny)
The old man told us tales of the village, his dog (mainly), his ex wife being knocked up by his stepdad (things got personal!) how he isn't allowed to drink (necking 5 pints) and the like. Sunny is a plush rescue greyhound who has the life of luxury in his sofa-bed with blanket to tuck him in at night.
Headed back for the van and after some adventurous weeing having jumped over a fence into an alotment complete with frost...it was a heads-under-the-cover-sleep because it was approx minus 4 degrees. brr... (complete with bristolian twang)
Sunday morning brought an adventuroud bump start down a country track. Once Joe had realised he was hurtling down the hill in reverse, he managed to bump the van and came back up the hill (thanks go to the friendly man with a paper under his arm for helping me push)
Headed to Poole for a day of hanging about with Tom. Didn't windsurf in the end, the tide was right out and there was no wind...
The van still needs a name, I like Ralph. Or maybe it should be Mr Bump...
Joe is going to start re-making the inside soon...
xx
Saturday brought tasty bacon sarnies thanks to Joe's dad's sarnie shop and then a decision to head to a river. Luckily I have a distorted sense of direction and we ended up at a completely different bit of water that was about 10 miles south of Newton Abbott rather then about 2 miles north...I think I need a designated map reader for the summer...
Then I drove the van, which was pretty exciting although Joe went pretty quiet
After some food and a lick of cider for Lou we set off for somewhere near Poole to kip for the night, little did we know what was to come...
Looking at the map ( I do try and get the direction right...) I was pretty delighted to see Puddletown on there, so that had to be the obvious napping place... we ended up down some pretty interesting little lanes but we found the town of the puddles, unfortunately there were no pubs so we set off for Affpuddle (hehee) and on the way spotted Tincleton and had to turn back to make sure we had been there too.. Unfortunately there rather small little villages didn't own pubs and it was miles to Pidlington, so we had to make the executive decision to hit Bear Regis, which made up for its name in its people...
Hit the pub and met the worlds most amazing wrinkly man with a dog (called Sunny)
The old man told us tales of the village, his dog (mainly), his ex wife being knocked up by his stepdad (things got personal!) how he isn't allowed to drink (necking 5 pints) and the like. Sunny is a plush rescue greyhound who has the life of luxury in his sofa-bed with blanket to tuck him in at night.
Headed back for the van and after some adventurous weeing having jumped over a fence into an alotment complete with frost...it was a heads-under-the-cover-sleep because it was approx minus 4 degrees. brr... (complete with bristolian twang)
Sunday morning brought an adventuroud bump start down a country track. Once Joe had realised he was hurtling down the hill in reverse, he managed to bump the van and came back up the hill (thanks go to the friendly man with a paper under his arm for helping me push)
Headed to Poole for a day of hanging about with Tom. Didn't windsurf in the end, the tide was right out and there was no wind...
The van still needs a name, I like Ralph. Or maybe it should be Mr Bump...
Joe is going to start re-making the inside soon...
xx
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Smurf Morocco...
http://www.corduroylines.com/issue1_august07/
This is the link for the specific Morocco article in the magazine...
x
This is the link for the specific Morocco article in the magazine...
x
trouser surf...
I went to see some old friends over the weekend and they were telling me tales of Morocco and surfing, and Ed suggested a longboarders online magazine which could be a good source of travel and surf info...
Check it out at http://www.corduroylines.com
Worth a look, especially for Morocco trip info...
Four weeks until Egypt
Pretty excited
x
Check it out at http://www.corduroylines.com
Worth a look, especially for Morocco trip info...
Four weeks until Egypt
Pretty excited
x
Thursday, 7 February 2008
Lets go fly a kite...
So the weekend of fun is shaping up, and it seems Joe is heading westwards to pick up the van on the friday, then we'll head down to Devon that night, then back to Poole for Sunday so I can complete my kiting course there. Also, Joe has sold some of his kit (kites and lines) and therefore is stocking up on some more windsurf sales.
Thought of the day: Why does my shower brand itself as a 'sports' edition?
Thought of the day: Why does my shower brand itself as a 'sports' edition?
Monday, 28 January 2008
24 hour surf trip
having a few minature trips before summer travelling extravaganza, I headed down to devon with uni friends after exams, took Joe's 7 foot board, waves were ok but the tide had just gone out and I didn't stand up...but still, didn't get hit over the head with the board which has got to be good
Joe and I are heading to devon or to wales or somewhere in a couple of weeks for a van trip
Then I am hitting Egypt for a week's kitesurf action over easter, woop!
Joe and I are heading to devon or to wales or somewhere in a couple of weeks for a van trip
Then I am hitting Egypt for a week's kitesurf action over easter, woop!
Friday, 11 January 2008
Stuff to take
I have listed the things I am going to try and take, may need a lorry.
SURF
7' minimal surf board
a body board
6' bunty short board
KITESURF
11m Best Waroo pro
135 Naish Thorn
WINDSURFING
Boards
67 Ltr Tabou Da Curve
84 Ltr JP Freestyle Wave
103 Ltr Mistral Joker
Sails
4.0m superstar
4.5m superstar
4.7m superstar (one of my old sails)
5.0m superstar
5.3m Neilpride Zone (one of my old sails)
5.9m Disco
keeping the extra old sails as Lou will need some so a tight quiver will be useful and there not worth very much anyway.
MASTS ECT.
400 Goya Sails 75% rdm
430 Ezzy Sails 91% rdm
140 - 200 boom
138- 192 boom
45cm rdm extension
35cm rdm extension
2 deck plates
1 deck plate cover
1 mast protector
Dakine Thermo kite harness
OTHER STUFF
Guitar
laptop
Storm Rider Surf Guide to Europe
The Kite and Windsurfing Guide
Tricktionary
Map of Europe
skate board
roller blades
GI mountain board
5.5m buster kite
Camera
and squashy cow
This is all i can think of off the top of my head!
SURF
7' minimal surf board
a body board
6' bunty short board
KITESURF
11m Best Waroo pro
135 Naish Thorn
WINDSURFING
Boards
67 Ltr Tabou Da Curve
84 Ltr JP Freestyle Wave
103 Ltr Mistral Joker
Sails
4.0m superstar
4.5m superstar
4.7m superstar (one of my old sails)
5.0m superstar
5.3m Neilpride Zone (one of my old sails)
5.9m Disco
keeping the extra old sails as Lou will need some so a tight quiver will be useful and there not worth very much anyway.
MASTS ECT.
400 Goya Sails 75% rdm
430 Ezzy Sails 91% rdm
140 - 200 boom
138- 192 boom
45cm rdm extension
35cm rdm extension
2 deck plates
1 deck plate cover
1 mast protector
Dakine Thermo kite harness
OTHER STUFF
Guitar
laptop
Storm Rider Surf Guide to Europe
The Kite and Windsurfing Guide
Tricktionary
Map of Europe
skate board
roller blades
GI mountain board
5.5m buster kite
Camera
and squashy cow
This is all i can think of off the top of my head!
Thursday, 10 January 2008
mast extension
Joe bought me a present, which I could share with him, and he told me I had to guess what it was...the only clues I was given was
''it is cold to the touch''
and
''it is smaller than a mountain board''
after considering the options (ice cream, a fish, an ice cube to name some of the logical explanations) I guessed correctly, so I now own my first piece of kit!
''it is cold to the touch''
and
''it is smaller than a mountain board''
after considering the options (ice cream, a fish, an ice cube to name some of the logical explanations) I guessed correctly, so I now own my first piece of kit!
Monday, 7 January 2008
We Have Definate Transport
My dad has agreed to sell me his long wheel base high top transit van, this will be a wagon of choice for this venture.
So hopefully I will spend some exiting days building it to hold all my stuff I have been slowly Hording.
So hopefully I will spend some exiting days building it to hold all my stuff I have been slowly Hording.
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