Thursday 15th November Day 70: Winds were very light.. We loaded ourselves up with kite gear and set off on our bikes to the beach. The wind seemed even lighter on the beach than at the van. SJ used the frenzy while I set up the large scorpion. After ½ hr of running around I got the kite in the air. We both practiced some riding blind etc. The wind picked up enough to try some unhooked rotations but it wasn’t much fun. In the evening we went into town to escape the van. We found a restaurant and ate some really good fish.
Friday 16th November Day 71: We left Peniche. The wind seemed to have moved to an easterly which A) meant gusts B) v little beach to ride on C) fookin cold. I didn’t sign up for this sort of cold! We made our way to a campsite in Madelena just south of Porto. There is a nice beach here, useless for kiting tho.. It seems to be much colder and I am not looking forward to the next couple of weeks of campsite showers. They are generally ok but the shower blocks are usually devoid of heating and windows, not good.
Saturday 17th November Day 72: Went into Porto to have a look. Interesting journey in through v narrow streets you wouldn’t want to drive a car along let alone a bus! Beautiful city in the sunshine. Looked at lots of churches again, did a bit of light clothes shopping. Ste was v pleased to find a suitable man bag and winter coat. Wandered across the awesome iron bridge on the upper level and then down to the river side for some lunch in the sunshine. Took a tour of a port lodge in the afternoon and did some tasting. Ste had to take the camera off me as I kept taking the same photo of the houses on the edge of the Douro in different light. Got the bus back, Ste was going
green because of the twisty journey and greasy lunch.
Sunday 18th November Day 73: Had a run along the wooden walkways by the beach before leaving Madalena. Drove North first stop Esposende. Saw some interesting motorbike racing on the motorway, apparently a big biker community North of Porto. Esposende was very pretty river estuary, again another awesome flat water spot had there been any wind. Hazy sunshine and cold today. After lunch drove on to Viana. Campsite is right next to beach and we were lucky enough to get a brief evening session as the wind had picked up a bit. Pleased able to do first 540 back rolls to toeside. V cold in evening had to try and warm up van with hairdryer.
Monday 19th November Day 74: V bad night sleep after being terrorised til 4am by kamikaze mosquito. Don’t know where the bugger kept hiding but he escaped Steve twice and me once, though without my contact lenses there was v little chance of hitting him. Discovered he’d got Steve in the end just to the right of the eyebrow. Had porridge for brekkie it was so cold. Pissing it down pretty much all day, got stuck at the toilet block when light rain turned into downpour. Brief trip to supermarket and rest of day in the van. Finally persuaded Steve to put the heating on, no longer have to rely on heat from one candle and the hairdryer. Awesome hot air system had the van up to a nice temperature in no time. Found and executed mosquito.
Tuesday 20th November Day 75: Got up to bright sunshine. Didn’t last for long. Had a run and then headed into Viana as tide was in and it started drizzling. Got the little ferry across and spent some time roaming the streets. Nice town with some funky clothes shops. Went up to see the church on top of the hill. Took the funicular up...was frigging scary and vv fast and steep. View from the top was cool, could see the boat yard, the bay and fields behind the sand dunes. Looked a bit like Rio and seems to have a weird tropical microclimate, probably why there are still mosquitoes. After a large pizza for lunch found some internet and booked the ferry home. Sad times but nearing the end of this part of the journey and had enough of nights in the van with zero entertainment.
Wednesday 21st November Day 76: Started the day unsure whether to drive on to Spain or see if the weather cleared and we could get a last session. The sun came out so we decided to stay. Spent the morning sorting out all the kit and packing-up kites. After lunch ummed and ahhed about whether to landboard on the small bit of sand available or risk the cold and kitesurf. Steve decided to kitesurf, I ducked out as I had a cold. Ste had a good session in the waves with the 13m instinct edge whilst I worked on my filming skills. He confirmed that it was v cold when he came in, but nothing a hot shower and cup of tea wouldn’t sort out. SD it was indeed very cold, my feet and other appendages were freezing, it was fun tho...
Thursday 22nd November Day 77: We drove out of Viana and up the valley of the Rio Lima into the Peneda Geres national park. The views were v scenic, lots of wooded hills, ye olde style building and terraces with vines on. We stopped when we reached the Spanish border for a couple of photos and then drove on. The scenery changed once we entered Spain, it seemed harsher and there was more deforestation (SD: the Portuguese are very into trees). After a while we reached the Sanabria National Park where we planned to stay the night. It was really picturesque with wooden cabins, lakes and woods everywhere. The weather was a lot colder and there was a dusting of snow on the surrounding hills. Unfortunately the campsite we planned to stay in was closed. We had some pasta and re-fuelled then decided to drive onwards to a campsite a bit South of Leon which was open. Up on the plains the landscape was pretty barren with lots of farming but still pretty nice with the sun setting behind us. When we reached the campsite it looked a touch on the salubrious side so I made Steve go into the “motel” at the side. The place wasn’t very appealing and when he came out we decided to drive onwards until we got tired. After another hour or so we were well and truly in the mountains, getting tired and irritable. We took a turn off the motorway and ended up on a single track road in the outback. With no sign of anywhere suitable to wildcamp Ste took over the driving. We headed back over the motorway to a town which may have a suitable place. There was a huge cement factory with lots of train tracks and after a couple of turnarounds we found somewhere by the railway track where a couple of lorries were parked-up. Finally stopped we cooked up some dinner and then went to sleep.
Friday 23rd November Day 78: We woke-up in Mataporquera with a good view over the frosty mountains. It had been a cold night and there was ice on the puddles on the railway track. The van took a while to warm-up before we had breakfast. Back on the road we were glad we had stopped in the mountains or we would have missed the scenic views of the Picos de Europa on the drive down. It only took an hour or so to reach our final stop before the ferry at Santillana del Mar. This part of Spain is really green and it would be nice to spend some time exploring it when it’s a bit warmer. The mountain biking looks really cool. We had a look round the medieval town and brought some artesan products for presents. The rest of the day was spent eating the remaining food we had and trying to pack some of our stuff.
Saturday 24th November Day 79: It was only an hour or so drive to get to Bilbao. A supposedly stress-free journey before jumping on the ferry. Unfortunately heavy rain during the night meant that the van had little chance of clearing the waterlogged mud and getting back on the tarmac. Our fears were confirmed when the wheels starting spinning. Steve was dispatched to head to the back and push in the rain. With very little weight in the front and a front wheel drive we still weren’t going anywhere. After searching for something to put under the wheels and provide a little grip we got the door mat and tried shoving it under the front tyre. Luckily this did manage to get us moving, and after a couple tries, more pushing and swearing we managed to get onto the tarmac. Relieved that we weren’t going to miss the ferry we drove on to Bilbao. We waited for some time to board the ferry but finally got the van on and found our cabin. We were a little disappointed at the size of the cabin though surprised that it had an en suite. The boat itself had a lot of space and things to do, but little to entertain without parting with your cash. Clientele were predominately booze cruisers whose sole aim was to drink throughout the trip and buy as many cigarettes as possible. Once the sun went down the seas got increasingly rough and Steve started to suffer from sea sickness. After a light meal of salad and fruit we got an early night.
Sunday 25th November Day 80: The disco had only gone on until 2.30am so we had a fairly decent night’s sleep. The sea was calmer and Steve had got his sea legs and so managed a full English for breakfast. We passed the time reading and playing on the PSP and finally got off the ship at Portsmouth at about 7 in the evening. 80 days, 3 countries and 4,000+ miles we were back on home soil.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Portugal onwards
Thursday 1st November Day 56: We hit the road and within 20 minutes had passed the border into Portugal. There were no border formalities. Within a few miles the countryside did feel slightly different to Spain, there seemed to be less rubbish for a start. Our first stop was cabanas de Tavira. When we pulled up we could see a couple of Instincts across the river estuary on the island. After a wander, finding the kiteshop and a bit of faffing we got a small boat across the river to the sandbank / island with some kit. Typically, by the time we got there the wind had dropped off and it wasn’t enough to kitesurf. The locals were really friendly and the local kiteshop owner was keen to gauge our interest in buying some Ozones. We had seen the second hand kites on the web and were interested anyway so we were happy to have a go on her 07 11m instinct sport. We both agreed that it was indeed a nice kite and faster tuning than the 06 and made an arrangement to meet at 0930 (luckily as the clocks are back another hour this wasn’t as early as we thought) the next day to try a 13m sport and 9m light. After some sitting we caught the boat back across and moved on to the campsite at Olhao (which definitely isn’t pronounced how you expect it). The campsite was really nice, but busy (prompting a short-lived dispute about whose responsibility it was to select the optimum pitch) and the pitch we eventually found was at the back overlooking the salt flats. In the evening we set off on the bikes to look around the local area and found ourselves making an impromptu visit to the local nature reserve which was really stunning in the evening sun. The whole area around Ria Formosa is lovely and the coast is a series of sandbars, lagoons and little islands which looks ideal for kiting.
Friday 2nd November Day 57: An early start to head back to Tavira Cabanas. The sun woke us up anyway and we made it to the kite shop by 09:30. The shop owner took us across the ria and we spent about an hour trying out 13m Instinct Edge, 12m Light and 11m Sport. You can definitely tell the difference in the way the kites are designed. There wasn’t enough wind to get on the water so we only had the chance to static fly. Limited by the choice available to us in second hand kites we decided that the 13m Edge and 9m Light would probably be a good addition to our quiver. Back on dry land we headed to the cash machine to withdraw some money for our purchases. Unfortunately the machine got a little upset and swallowed Steve’s card. Despite protesting with the cashiers we were told we couldn’t get it back for another three and a half hours. We filled the time having a great meal at the local restaurant which did a very tasty and reasonable prato del dia, and reading the latest kitesurf mag the shop owner had lent us. Finally we got the cash and the kites and headed back to the campsite....stressful day!
Saturday 3rd November Day 58: We headed off early to check out Fuseta, a short way back up the road to Olhao where it looked like there woud be lots of little lagoons and islands to explore. We got there early but the wind was only about 12-14mph and there was no-one else out so we thought we’d head to the lagoon at faro where the wind was supposed to be a bit stronger. After a short detour due to a missed exit we turned off to the Praia da Faro. We could see at least 20+ kites on the lagoon as we drove down. The only drawback was that the beach / lagoon was a good 25 minute walk from the parking. We only took the 13m Instinct Edge as the wind seemed quite light. When we finally got there we both had a good time trying out the 13m on the flat water. Although the Edge is high aspect we both found it really stable and a nice fly in the conditions. After a couple of hours we packed up as the wind had died and the lagoon was emptying. We regretted our lack of foresight as we hadn’t brought any water or food with us to the beach. By the time we got back to the van we were both v thirsty. We drove on to a campsite at Quarteira and refuelled.
Sunday 4th November Day 59: Unable to find internet we were unsure whether to head on down the coast or go back to the lagoon at Faro. As it seemed pretty windy we decided to go back to Faro as the lagoon had been mint the day before. It was a bit windier so Steve took the 11m and I brought along the 9m Light to see what it was like. Steve headed out first and had a good session doing grabs, transitions and rotations. I tried the 9m for a bit but it needed the back lines and 5th line shortening a bit so was quite twitchy first time out. It wasn’t really windy enough for it so I stole Steve’s 11m instead and practiced some lame jumps, toeside and carves. At about half two we made the long trek back and then got some good food at the cafe. We decided to head on to Amarcao that night and found a campsite. Had pasta.
Monday 5th November Day 60: We made the decision to go onwards to Alvor to see if the river mouth there would be a good spot. The beach was really nice and after a wander down to the breakwater to check out the lagoon it felt like the wind would be ok. Unfortunately once we’d got our kit together and started our journey down the path it felt like the wind had dropped. We climbed the nearest sand due and concluded that the wind was indeed a lot lighter but decided to carry on to the lagoon and hope it would pick-up. We waited a couple of hours reading, scaring off sand flies and trying out the 13m but there definitely wasn’t enough. As soon as we packed up and started back to the van it picked up a bit but when we got back and checked with the wind meter it was only 12mph or so. We drove on to Sagres. After Lagos the development petered out and the countryside improved. Down at the tip the beach at Martinhaal looked cool but the developers were already moving in. We went to the lighthouse for a gander and then found he campsite.
Tuesday 6th November Day 61: Up early we cycled to the nearest beach to have a look and watch the birds. The area around Sagres is lovely with lots of migrating birds and pine forests. We spent the day up at Carrapateira where we were told you could landboard. But there was no wind and the sand definitely wasn’t hard enough so we just enjoyed the sun and swam.
Wednesday 7th November Day 62 (two months in!): We left Sagres early and headed properly North for the first time on our trip. The countryside of the Alejanto made for some nice chilled driving and enjoying the view. We stopped briefly at Porto Covo for a stroll but then decided to go on to a lagoon further up the coast in case there was wind. There was no wind and little to keep us there so after a brief sandwich we went back to Porto Covo which was more visually appealing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. SD fell asleep on the beach and got a little sunburnt. Later on our mission to find a restaurant which was open was unsuccessful so we spent another night in the van (SD I had noticed that most of the restaurants/business seemed to be closed until mid-November but SJ didn’t take any notice).
Thursday 8th November Day 63: With no wind days forecast we headed inland to the town of Evora. The drive was nice and rustic with varying quality of road surface (SD mainly a convex bumpy road surface that caused the van to rattle worryingly). We wandered into Evora and had a look at the roman ruins, numerous igrejas, pracas and parks. After coffee and some quality cakes we decided we didn’t want to wait another 2 hours until the restaurants opened and so headed back to the campsite for another night in the van.
Friday 9th November Day 64: We drove on to Costa Caparica so we would be in Lisbon for Saturday. Much of the beach is being re-developed so there were lots of vistas of concrete. We finally made it to a restaurant for a good meal out having a top-notch mariscos com arroz and coffee at a restaurant on the front.....then headed back to the campsite for yet another night in the van.
Saturday 10th November Day 65: Up early we got the bus followed by metro into Lisbon. Did lots of sightseeing and wandering, and also had a great lunch in a restaurant just outside the Barrio Alto. SD- We found the top of the elevator that is made of ironwork (Elevador de Santa Justa), the view from the top was great although my legs turned to jelly after the dodgy spiral staircase to get up.
We had loads of time in the afternoon so we got the tram to Belem and grabbed a ferry across the Tejo to Costa Caparica. On the way we decided that kitesurfing on the Tejo was definitely out as not only is there some petrochemical depots, a kick arse current (I imagine) it was also full of jellyfish.
Sunday 11th November Day 66: Sarah was 28 today...woohoo! we drove to Foz do Arelho and celebrated by spending the night in the van and drinking. Steve made a card out of tinfoil (SD- It was a craftwork masterpiece!!).
Monday 12th November Day 67: Still no wind and forecast for the rest of the week looks poor. Went for a run, cleaned the van, did the washing and found some internet.
Tuesday 13th November Day 68: Left Foz as wind definitely wasn’t going to be nearly enough for kitesurfing. Headed to Peniche to see whether there was any potential for landboarding. Found the main beach behind the dunes. The tide was heading back in but the sand was hard enough for landboarding and there was a good 8mph or so of wind. We had some lunch then got the 12m frenzy out for some light wind action. We practiced surface handle passes and blind riding until the water got too high then headed to the campsite. The campsite was only a short distance from the beach which made a nice change as we wouldn’t have to drive anywhere to ride. After sorting out the van we wandered into town to have a look at the place, find internet and get some food. Once it got dark we headed back and spent another exciting evening in da van.
Wednesday 14th November Day 69: There was no wind when we first got up but after some food, when Steve started to take his bike apart, it began to pick-up. Bike back together (and clicking which he had thought was a broken bottom bracket resolved by simply tightening the bracket) we got our kit together and biked to the beach. The wind gradually picked up as the tide came in and Ste enjoyed practising on the 13m instinct whilst I flew the 12m Frenzy. We both had a good session, Ste managed a pop-shovit and I nailed some more 540s from toeside, got my 360s more inverted and worked on riding blind. After some lunch we went out on the bikes again cycled out around the headland, explored the town some more and had coffee and pastries.
Friday 2nd November Day 57: An early start to head back to Tavira Cabanas. The sun woke us up anyway and we made it to the kite shop by 09:30. The shop owner took us across the ria and we spent about an hour trying out 13m Instinct Edge, 12m Light and 11m Sport. You can definitely tell the difference in the way the kites are designed. There wasn’t enough wind to get on the water so we only had the chance to static fly. Limited by the choice available to us in second hand kites we decided that the 13m Edge and 9m Light would probably be a good addition to our quiver. Back on dry land we headed to the cash machine to withdraw some money for our purchases. Unfortunately the machine got a little upset and swallowed Steve’s card. Despite protesting with the cashiers we were told we couldn’t get it back for another three and a half hours. We filled the time having a great meal at the local restaurant which did a very tasty and reasonable prato del dia, and reading the latest kitesurf mag the shop owner had lent us. Finally we got the cash and the kites and headed back to the campsite....stressful day!
Saturday 3rd November Day 58: We headed off early to check out Fuseta, a short way back up the road to Olhao where it looked like there woud be lots of little lagoons and islands to explore. We got there early but the wind was only about 12-14mph and there was no-one else out so we thought we’d head to the lagoon at faro where the wind was supposed to be a bit stronger. After a short detour due to a missed exit we turned off to the Praia da Faro. We could see at least 20+ kites on the lagoon as we drove down. The only drawback was that the beach / lagoon was a good 25 minute walk from the parking. We only took the 13m Instinct Edge as the wind seemed quite light. When we finally got there we both had a good time trying out the 13m on the flat water. Although the Edge is high aspect we both found it really stable and a nice fly in the conditions. After a couple of hours we packed up as the wind had died and the lagoon was emptying. We regretted our lack of foresight as we hadn’t brought any water or food with us to the beach. By the time we got back to the van we were both v thirsty. We drove on to a campsite at Quarteira and refuelled.
Sunday 4th November Day 59: Unable to find internet we were unsure whether to head on down the coast or go back to the lagoon at Faro. As it seemed pretty windy we decided to go back to Faro as the lagoon had been mint the day before. It was a bit windier so Steve took the 11m and I brought along the 9m Light to see what it was like. Steve headed out first and had a good session doing grabs, transitions and rotations. I tried the 9m for a bit but it needed the back lines and 5th line shortening a bit so was quite twitchy first time out. It wasn’t really windy enough for it so I stole Steve’s 11m instead and practiced some lame jumps, toeside and carves. At about half two we made the long trek back and then got some good food at the cafe. We decided to head on to Amarcao that night and found a campsite. Had pasta.
Monday 5th November Day 60: We made the decision to go onwards to Alvor to see if the river mouth there would be a good spot. The beach was really nice and after a wander down to the breakwater to check out the lagoon it felt like the wind would be ok. Unfortunately once we’d got our kit together and started our journey down the path it felt like the wind had dropped. We climbed the nearest sand due and concluded that the wind was indeed a lot lighter but decided to carry on to the lagoon and hope it would pick-up. We waited a couple of hours reading, scaring off sand flies and trying out the 13m but there definitely wasn’t enough. As soon as we packed up and started back to the van it picked up a bit but when we got back and checked with the wind meter it was only 12mph or so. We drove on to Sagres. After Lagos the development petered out and the countryside improved. Down at the tip the beach at Martinhaal looked cool but the developers were already moving in. We went to the lighthouse for a gander and then found he campsite.
Tuesday 6th November Day 61: Up early we cycled to the nearest beach to have a look and watch the birds. The area around Sagres is lovely with lots of migrating birds and pine forests. We spent the day up at Carrapateira where we were told you could landboard. But there was no wind and the sand definitely wasn’t hard enough so we just enjoyed the sun and swam.
Wednesday 7th November Day 62 (two months in!): We left Sagres early and headed properly North for the first time on our trip. The countryside of the Alejanto made for some nice chilled driving and enjoying the view. We stopped briefly at Porto Covo for a stroll but then decided to go on to a lagoon further up the coast in case there was wind. There was no wind and little to keep us there so after a brief sandwich we went back to Porto Covo which was more visually appealing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. SD fell asleep on the beach and got a little sunburnt. Later on our mission to find a restaurant which was open was unsuccessful so we spent another night in the van (SD I had noticed that most of the restaurants/business seemed to be closed until mid-November but SJ didn’t take any notice).
Thursday 8th November Day 63: With no wind days forecast we headed inland to the town of Evora. The drive was nice and rustic with varying quality of road surface (SD mainly a convex bumpy road surface that caused the van to rattle worryingly). We wandered into Evora and had a look at the roman ruins, numerous igrejas, pracas and parks. After coffee and some quality cakes we decided we didn’t want to wait another 2 hours until the restaurants opened and so headed back to the campsite for another night in the van.
Friday 9th November Day 64: We drove on to Costa Caparica so we would be in Lisbon for Saturday. Much of the beach is being re-developed so there were lots of vistas of concrete. We finally made it to a restaurant for a good meal out having a top-notch mariscos com arroz and coffee at a restaurant on the front.....then headed back to the campsite for yet another night in the van.
Saturday 10th November Day 65: Up early we got the bus followed by metro into Lisbon. Did lots of sightseeing and wandering, and also had a great lunch in a restaurant just outside the Barrio Alto. SD- We found the top of the elevator that is made of ironwork (Elevador de Santa Justa), the view from the top was great although my legs turned to jelly after the dodgy spiral staircase to get up.
We had loads of time in the afternoon so we got the tram to Belem and grabbed a ferry across the Tejo to Costa Caparica. On the way we decided that kitesurfing on the Tejo was definitely out as not only is there some petrochemical depots, a kick arse current (I imagine) it was also full of jellyfish.
Sunday 11th November Day 66: Sarah was 28 today...woohoo! we drove to Foz do Arelho and celebrated by spending the night in the van and drinking. Steve made a card out of tinfoil (SD- It was a craftwork masterpiece!!).
Monday 12th November Day 67: Still no wind and forecast for the rest of the week looks poor. Went for a run, cleaned the van, did the washing and found some internet.
Tuesday 13th November Day 68: Left Foz as wind definitely wasn’t going to be nearly enough for kitesurfing. Headed to Peniche to see whether there was any potential for landboarding. Found the main beach behind the dunes. The tide was heading back in but the sand was hard enough for landboarding and there was a good 8mph or so of wind. We had some lunch then got the 12m frenzy out for some light wind action. We practiced surface handle passes and blind riding until the water got too high then headed to the campsite. The campsite was only a short distance from the beach which made a nice change as we wouldn’t have to drive anywhere to ride. After sorting out the van we wandered into town to have a look at the place, find internet and get some food. Once it got dark we headed back and spent another exciting evening in da van.
Wednesday 14th November Day 69: There was no wind when we first got up but after some food, when Steve started to take his bike apart, it began to pick-up. Bike back together (and clicking which he had thought was a broken bottom bracket resolved by simply tightening the bracket) we got our kit together and biked to the beach. The wind gradually picked up as the tide came in and Ste enjoyed practising on the 13m instinct whilst I flew the 12m Frenzy. We both had a good session, Ste managed a pop-shovit and I nailed some more 540s from toeside, got my 360s more inverted and worked on riding blind. After some lunch we went out on the bikes again cycled out around the headland, explored the town some more and had coffee and pastries.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Tarifa - Isla Cistina
Thursday 25th October 2007 Day 49: Luckily the rain cleared and the day was sunny if getting a little cold. We went down to the local beach but the wind was cross-off and not getting up to much so we decided to go to Los Lances again. We went a bit further down this time as the lagoon seemed to be flooding all the way down because of the high tide (full moon). Steve went straight out on the instinct and was loving the flat water. He tried some new moves as I took some photos. After a while I got my board and stole the kite off Steve to see how I got on with the Instinct. The lagoon was running down so I headed for the waves instead and had some fun. When we both tired we packed up and got a coffee and some internet at the local cafe.
Friday 26th October 2007 Day 50: The day dawned with bright sunshine and no clouds. We spent some time sorting out the van and then went to have a look to see if the wind would pick up. There wasn’t enough so we went to Bolonia round the corner to see what the beach was like. It was really nice but still very calm so we spent our time climbing the sand dune and having a look at the roman ruins.
Saturday 27th October Day 51: Our last day in Tarifa. We spent the morning chilling out and practising flat 3s off a bar Steve had strung from a tree. It seemed to work well as a way of practising the handle pass and body movements, and by the end the move made a lot more sense to us. The wind was Llevante again and gusty at Valdevaqueros so later in the afternoon we had a look at the lagoon to see if it was any better and get some petrol for the journey. Steve couldn’t resist the flat water so we put our boardies on, grabbed our boards and set-up the Instinct. There was hardly anyone out compared to previous weekends and the evening it was Poniente. Steve soon discovered why....a couple of tacks down the lagoon and the wind had picked up a lot and was really no fun. Within 10 minutes or so he was back complaining about the gusts and we were packing up. That evening we went for a final meal at 100% fun and enjoyed their vanilla and hot raspberry sauce ice cream special.
Sunday 28th October Day 52: We left the campsite fairly early and made our way to Seville. The journey was nice and easy and the countryside was really pretty with rolling farmland and not much rubbish. We saw a lot of Spaniards out on Sunday shoots with their dogs. We also saw 100s of the same VW car and thought we were having déjà vu until we saw a sign to the VW test run. The campsite on the outskirts of Seville didn’t have the most accurate of directions but we got there in the end.
Monday 29th October Day 53: We got up slowly and headed into Seville for mid-morning. First impressions of the city were good. Lots of tree lined roads, fountains and interesting architecture. We spent some time wandering around, getting a feel for the place and trying to work out how to get into the Alcazar. Unfortunately it was closed so instead we headed for the Cathedral and the Giralda tower which gave a great view of the city. The rest of day was spent having some leisurely tapas, wandering the shops and the river bank and eating ice cream. There wasn’t all that much going on because it was a Monday so once we got tired we headed back to the van. We picked up a selection of cheese and some red wine on the way home. The cheese we kept buying always seemed to be quite tasteless so we decided to try a whole variety. After tasting all 8 cheeses we learnt that sheep cheese (oveja) was definitely the nicest, goat (cabra) was pretty good (as always), curado and semi curado were a bit tasteless really, queso do Idiazabal is alright (bit like port salut, sort of), and tierno doesn’t taste of much. After the cheese we settled down to watch the first episode of spooks as we’d finally got access to the internet for long enough to download something.
Tuesday 30th October Day 54: After a short detour to Decathalon and Carrefour we left Seville and travelled west towards Portugal. We had one last stop in Spain before crossing the border. West of Huelva we headed to the coast to check out the spots at Isla Cristina / Canela. Although the town was pretty touristy the stretch of coast between Antilla and Cristina was really nice so we decided to stay at the local campsite. We went for a run in the afternoon and spent some time mincing. The highlight of the day was when we discovered that the Gnocchi we’d brought had a free gift of an inflatable magnetic dartboard and three darts. Awesome! We quickly inflated the yellow plastic ring and with the aid of some dental floss Steve strung it from the cupboard door above the cab. A challenge was laid down for the first to 500 points. Sarah quickly took the lead whilst Steve lost concentration trying to decide whether it was easier to throw the darts from the sitting position Sarah adopted, or the standing position he originally went for. The game was tense but Steve never quite regained composure and despite the late introduction of an “exact points” rule Sarah managed to hit the magical 500 with two stunning final throws which hit exactly the “10 and “25” she needed. Steve’s misery at losing was further compounded when five minutes later we left the van to do the washing up and he discovered a pigeon had recently shat on his flip-flop. This hadn’t been the first bird-shitting incident of the trip; Steve had unfortunately been the victim of a direct hit by a swallow whilst waiting in a queue at the Alhambra. He wondered whether the avian world was getting revenge for air rifle days in his formative years or whether he was just unlucky.
Wednesday 31st October Day 55: We walked a few miles along the beach. There were a few guys in the water pumping on a handle, it was only later we realised this was some sort of shellfish sifting technique It looked cold and hard work as they were hit by small waves. Sarah wanted to see what was on the other side of a harbour wall. Unfortunately there was a channel of unknown depth before the wall so we turned around and had a little walk through the town, which was ok. There was a little wind in the afternoon so I took some kites onto the beach. I just managed to get the kite wet and almost dump the kite on a Spaniard’s head.
As November 1st is All Saints Day there was open air raves starting on the beach near the camp site from around at 7pm. There seemed to be about 3 competing sets of music, with the rubbish Spanish hip-hop winning. I think the last of the music died at around 6am. We really had to feel for the mainly older people on the campsite.
Friday 26th October 2007 Day 50: The day dawned with bright sunshine and no clouds. We spent some time sorting out the van and then went to have a look to see if the wind would pick up. There wasn’t enough so we went to Bolonia round the corner to see what the beach was like. It was really nice but still very calm so we spent our time climbing the sand dune and having a look at the roman ruins.
Saturday 27th October Day 51: Our last day in Tarifa. We spent the morning chilling out and practising flat 3s off a bar Steve had strung from a tree. It seemed to work well as a way of practising the handle pass and body movements, and by the end the move made a lot more sense to us. The wind was Llevante again and gusty at Valdevaqueros so later in the afternoon we had a look at the lagoon to see if it was any better and get some petrol for the journey. Steve couldn’t resist the flat water so we put our boardies on, grabbed our boards and set-up the Instinct. There was hardly anyone out compared to previous weekends and the evening it was Poniente. Steve soon discovered why....a couple of tacks down the lagoon and the wind had picked up a lot and was really no fun. Within 10 minutes or so he was back complaining about the gusts and we were packing up. That evening we went for a final meal at 100% fun and enjoyed their vanilla and hot raspberry sauce ice cream special.
Sunday 28th October Day 52: We left the campsite fairly early and made our way to Seville. The journey was nice and easy and the countryside was really pretty with rolling farmland and not much rubbish. We saw a lot of Spaniards out on Sunday shoots with their dogs. We also saw 100s of the same VW car and thought we were having déjà vu until we saw a sign to the VW test run. The campsite on the outskirts of Seville didn’t have the most accurate of directions but we got there in the end.
Monday 29th October Day 53: We got up slowly and headed into Seville for mid-morning. First impressions of the city were good. Lots of tree lined roads, fountains and interesting architecture. We spent some time wandering around, getting a feel for the place and trying to work out how to get into the Alcazar. Unfortunately it was closed so instead we headed for the Cathedral and the Giralda tower which gave a great view of the city. The rest of day was spent having some leisurely tapas, wandering the shops and the river bank and eating ice cream. There wasn’t all that much going on because it was a Monday so once we got tired we headed back to the van. We picked up a selection of cheese and some red wine on the way home. The cheese we kept buying always seemed to be quite tasteless so we decided to try a whole variety. After tasting all 8 cheeses we learnt that sheep cheese (oveja) was definitely the nicest, goat (cabra) was pretty good (as always), curado and semi curado were a bit tasteless really, queso do Idiazabal is alright (bit like port salut, sort of), and tierno doesn’t taste of much. After the cheese we settled down to watch the first episode of spooks as we’d finally got access to the internet for long enough to download something.
Tuesday 30th October Day 54: After a short detour to Decathalon and Carrefour we left Seville and travelled west towards Portugal. We had one last stop in Spain before crossing the border. West of Huelva we headed to the coast to check out the spots at Isla Cristina / Canela. Although the town was pretty touristy the stretch of coast between Antilla and Cristina was really nice so we decided to stay at the local campsite. We went for a run in the afternoon and spent some time mincing. The highlight of the day was when we discovered that the Gnocchi we’d brought had a free gift of an inflatable magnetic dartboard and three darts. Awesome! We quickly inflated the yellow plastic ring and with the aid of some dental floss Steve strung it from the cupboard door above the cab. A challenge was laid down for the first to 500 points. Sarah quickly took the lead whilst Steve lost concentration trying to decide whether it was easier to throw the darts from the sitting position Sarah adopted, or the standing position he originally went for. The game was tense but Steve never quite regained composure and despite the late introduction of an “exact points” rule Sarah managed to hit the magical 500 with two stunning final throws which hit exactly the “10 and “25” she needed. Steve’s misery at losing was further compounded when five minutes later we left the van to do the washing up and he discovered a pigeon had recently shat on his flip-flop. This hadn’t been the first bird-shitting incident of the trip; Steve had unfortunately been the victim of a direct hit by a swallow whilst waiting in a queue at the Alhambra. He wondered whether the avian world was getting revenge for air rifle days in his formative years or whether he was just unlucky.
Wednesday 31st October Day 55: We walked a few miles along the beach. There were a few guys in the water pumping on a handle, it was only later we realised this was some sort of shellfish sifting technique It looked cold and hard work as they were hit by small waves. Sarah wanted to see what was on the other side of a harbour wall. Unfortunately there was a channel of unknown depth before the wall so we turned around and had a little walk through the town, which was ok. There was a little wind in the afternoon so I took some kites onto the beach. I just managed to get the kite wet and almost dump the kite on a Spaniard’s head.
As November 1st is All Saints Day there was open air raves starting on the beach near the camp site from around at 7pm. There seemed to be about 3 competing sets of music, with the rubbish Spanish hip-hop winning. I think the last of the music died at around 6am. We really had to feel for the mainly older people on the campsite.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tarifa
All the days start to merge into one......
The next day the wind had picked up to 40+ knots. We were cautious about going out so watched the Best riders down for the launch of the 08 kites. A few of them were doing some good stuff, nice powered kite loops with the odd handle-pass thrown in. We sat it out again and then cycled into town to find some wifi. It was more than a bit of a struggle against the Llevante on the way in but had a nice jet effect on the way back.
The following day the Llevante had dropped off a bit, so after wandering up the dunes and watching a Peter Lynn rider getting dragged the length of the bay once their 8 metre venom bow-tied, we went to get our kit. The wind was ok and we both had a good session. After a break Steve persuaded me to go back out again even though the wind seemed to be dropping. I did say that if I ended up swimming back in I’d blame him entirely. After one tack the wind dropped to next to nothing and kites started falling out the sky all over the place. I almost made it back in kitelooping but unfortunately the way was blocked by the lines of other kites so I ended up swimming.
Next morning there was no wind again so we cycled into town to look at the shops and get more supplies. After lunch the wind picked up, still Llevante but not too bad. We both had a really good session and there were no walks back up wind.
Friday was windy early and we made our way down to the beach that was full of kites and had another good day on the water, starting rotations.
Saturday 13 October 2007: woke up to find the wind had really kicked in and shock!! there were some clouds in the sky. We went down to the beach and I had a go on the water but the wind was gusty and pretty horrible. We gave up before lunch as we were planning on heading into town to watch the England v France match. Sarah suggested we walk to town rather than getting a taxi. I had thought this might be an option but did not want to suggest it to Sarah as if it went wrong I would be in the doghouse.
After a shower and a quick sleep we set off for town at about 4:50pm. It should be about 4-5 miles as the crow flies down the beach. The wind had unfortunately picked up so that we were walking into about 30-40+mph of wind. Progress wasn’t slowed much but the pain of the sand whipping your legs was a bit excessive.
About 2 miles in we reached our first rocky obstacles. We climbed over them to find that the route might get difficult around a campsite so we decided to head for the road. The “path” to the road was overgrown with gorse and other nasty stuff that added a good few minutes and yelps to our journey. Once we were on the road progress was swift, we turned off onto Los Lances (northern end) to find that Tarifa town looked closer and manageable, so we set off on the last 3+ miles of beach.
Except for the odd random thorny leaf it was good going. We watched a couple of guys launching kites in the lagoon that forms from the Rio Jara, the ankle depth water looked inviting. We hadn’t considered the difficulties that the lagoon could represent to our journey. 2 hours into our “walk” we reached the point at which the lagoon met the sea. I made a futile stab at crossing but as Sarah mentioned there was a worryingly dark channel and I wasn’t dressed for a swim. Sarah entered the water but the combination of windswept lagoon water and swell meeting meant that Sarah’s glad rags were getting wet, therefore alternative routing was required. This presented a problem, we could see that dark channels were blocking our route in all forward directions. Our only option was to go back, I was not happy. We crossed the lagoon to the Rio Jara campsite, I knew from earlier forays that Rio Jara was 3km from the town, the point at which we gave up crossing the channel the beach was 1.5km from the town... disheartening.
We started walking down the edge of the road, at about 3 hours and 6 miles into our journey we reached the edge of Tarifa town. We made a dash for the Plus supermarket to buy mini cookies and a drink.. unfortunately every surfer bum in Tarifa also picked this time to go to Plus.. Half an hour later we were off down the road filling up with much needed sugar (I knew at this point it was another mile to the Tarifa medina walls). We reached the old town and at this point I enquired with Sarah as to the way to the “Irish” bar that had the rugby on.. “It’s down here, I think, it might have been Irish, or it might just have had a guiness sign”.. I controlled a silent rage as I lead Sarah round the old town following the route of an earlier cycle journey ignoring the pleas of “ I thought you would remember when I mentioned the bar”...
Luckily we found the bar, the match did indeed start at 2100 so we had an hour to kill. We found a bar with beer, cocktails and pizza. 2 beers a mojito and half a pizza later I was feeling much happier. We went to the “Irish” bar and watched the tense match. The French at the bar disappeared quickly after the match. We got talking to 2 Navy pilots about kiting and Gibralter and a few too many drinks later we decided to get a taxi. I knew where the taxi rank was so I steered Sarah straight to it. The journey was quicker than the walk and cost 11 euro... 11 euro at 2am!!! A 3.5 hr and 6+ mile walk when we could have got a taxi.. I was pissing myself all the way back to the van...
Sunday 14 October 2007 Day 38: Hungover did nothing of note.
Monday 15 October 2007 Day 39: Went down to the beach and I went out a couple of times. The wind was horribly gusty. Sarah tried but got lofted on the beach and decided to give it a miss. We went down again later at 6ish for a walk and the wind was perfect and the sun was out. Sarah couldn’t decide if she wanted to go out. We walked to the massive dune at the end of the beach and back, and then Sarah decided to go out. We got down to the beach and the wind had died, Sarah was kicking herself.
Tuesday 16th October 2007 Day 40: Went down to the beach early as wind was looking good. Got down there about 10:30 and didn’t leave until after five stopping only briefly for lunch (4pm!). Both knackered but pleased the wind had been ok. Changed sheets for first time since leaving Salisbury...they had been starting to stick to us. Had meal out in the evening, large amount of pork, fat and salt, think we may have seen a lunar eclipse on the way back as the moon was orangey / red. Had meat sweats all night.
Wednesday 17th October 2007 Day 41: Took it a bit easier today as both were aching from the day before and Ste had a bad ankle. Did our washing in the morning. Campsite cat seems to have adopted us, funny animal but deffo for sure has fleas. It seems to spend its days wandering aimlessly around, hiding in long grass, jumping in long grass and occasionally mounting trees. It also seems to have strange affection for our van tyres and has been spotted sharpening claws on them and also licking them. Wind seemed to die once we got down to the beach after lunch so sunbathed for a while. Luckily picked-up again and had a good late afternoon session. Had fun playing the sea battle travel game Amy had bought us in the evening, Sarah sunk all Ste’s ships...woohoo! definitely better than travel kerplunk.
Thursday 18th October 2007 Day 42: Cycled into town to look for footpads for my board, didn’t find any so went back to the campsite. We decided to head down to the beach for the afternoon and the wind kicked in nicely with few gusts for a change. It was a great session until Sarah lost her board. She had gone for a rotation, got more height than expected and come down backwards, the kite ditched and by the time it re-launched she had no idea where the board was. I went past and saw the board, deciding to pick it up on the next run, unfortunately when I got back I couldn’t see it anywhere. We waited on the beach but it didn’t wash in. We even walked the length of the beach at night but no luck, it’s probably on its way to the America.
Friday 19th October 2007 Day 43: Stormy rainy day. After walking the beach one more time we drove into town to look for new board for Sarah. 7 hours later she bought one from the first shop we had gone to before lunch.
Saturday 20th October 2007 Day 44: Weather started off stormy and Steve’s ankle was still hurting. After a couple of hours the clouds cleared but the wind was still really strong so we decided to have a day of rest reading and mincing in the sun. At tea-time we went for a short bike ride to the top of the dunes where you can see the length of the Las Dunas / Valdequeros beach it was a pretty awesome site with all the weekend kitesurfers and windsurfers out. We got a taxi into town later that night to watch England lose against South Africa.
Sunday 21st October 2007 Day 45: The wind was still strong but Steve decided to give it a go and got on well with the 11m depowered, Sarah got bored.
Monday 22nd October 2007 Day 46: Another sunny day...got up earlyish (8:30) and cycled to top of dunes. Waited for the Poniente to kick in. Wind picked up around lunchtime and we both headed out. Sarah tried out the 666 and decided it was as good if not better than the Underground, 123 definitely seems to be the best size. Both practiced toeside carves, rotations and grabs on the water.
Tuesday 23rd October 2007 Day 47: Another day of Poniente promised we got up slowly then went down the beach to wait for the wind, the day had been pretty cloudy and it felt a lot colder with the Westerly wind coming in off the Atlantic. Steve tried a couple of times to get going but it wasn’t really enough. We headed to Los Lances to see if it was any better down there and have a landboarding session if there wasn’t enough. Steve immediately regretted leaving his wetsuit back at the campsite as there quality wind and the water was packed with kites. I set-up the 13m venom and headed out in the waves. After a failed start, when I seemed to get in the way of all the good kiters, I made it past the shorebreak. The waves were good fun and I had a decent session messing around in them as Steve did some filming of the locals (including Gisela Pulido) practicing their handlepasses. Worried that Steve was getting bored and starting to get cold I headed back in for a landboarding session. The wind was spot on for the 13m on land and we both enjoyed trying out some new moves in our first land session since Leucate. Steve was landing 540 transitions to toe-side and I got my first 540 from toe-side. We also got some got ok filming although I think our camera work needs practice and we would benefit from a tripod. After the session we headed to the supermarket to pick up some beers and then got takeaway pizzas for the first time on the trip.
Wednesday 24th October 2007 Day 48: With another day of Poniente predicted we woke up aching from the session the day before but hungry for some more. Unfortunately heavy rain kicked in at about 11am. It rained most of the day.. We found internet..
The next day the wind had picked up to 40+ knots. We were cautious about going out so watched the Best riders down for the launch of the 08 kites. A few of them were doing some good stuff, nice powered kite loops with the odd handle-pass thrown in. We sat it out again and then cycled into town to find some wifi. It was more than a bit of a struggle against the Llevante on the way in but had a nice jet effect on the way back.
The following day the Llevante had dropped off a bit, so after wandering up the dunes and watching a Peter Lynn rider getting dragged the length of the bay once their 8 metre venom bow-tied, we went to get our kit. The wind was ok and we both had a good session. After a break Steve persuaded me to go back out again even though the wind seemed to be dropping. I did say that if I ended up swimming back in I’d blame him entirely. After one tack the wind dropped to next to nothing and kites started falling out the sky all over the place. I almost made it back in kitelooping but unfortunately the way was blocked by the lines of other kites so I ended up swimming.
Next morning there was no wind again so we cycled into town to look at the shops and get more supplies. After lunch the wind picked up, still Llevante but not too bad. We both had a really good session and there were no walks back up wind.
Friday was windy early and we made our way down to the beach that was full of kites and had another good day on the water, starting rotations.
Saturday 13 October 2007: woke up to find the wind had really kicked in and shock!! there were some clouds in the sky. We went down to the beach and I had a go on the water but the wind was gusty and pretty horrible. We gave up before lunch as we were planning on heading into town to watch the England v France match. Sarah suggested we walk to town rather than getting a taxi. I had thought this might be an option but did not want to suggest it to Sarah as if it went wrong I would be in the doghouse.
After a shower and a quick sleep we set off for town at about 4:50pm. It should be about 4-5 miles as the crow flies down the beach. The wind had unfortunately picked up so that we were walking into about 30-40+mph of wind. Progress wasn’t slowed much but the pain of the sand whipping your legs was a bit excessive.
About 2 miles in we reached our first rocky obstacles. We climbed over them to find that the route might get difficult around a campsite so we decided to head for the road. The “path” to the road was overgrown with gorse and other nasty stuff that added a good few minutes and yelps to our journey. Once we were on the road progress was swift, we turned off onto Los Lances (northern end) to find that Tarifa town looked closer and manageable, so we set off on the last 3+ miles of beach.
Except for the odd random thorny leaf it was good going. We watched a couple of guys launching kites in the lagoon that forms from the Rio Jara, the ankle depth water looked inviting. We hadn’t considered the difficulties that the lagoon could represent to our journey. 2 hours into our “walk” we reached the point at which the lagoon met the sea. I made a futile stab at crossing but as Sarah mentioned there was a worryingly dark channel and I wasn’t dressed for a swim. Sarah entered the water but the combination of windswept lagoon water and swell meeting meant that Sarah’s glad rags were getting wet, therefore alternative routing was required. This presented a problem, we could see that dark channels were blocking our route in all forward directions. Our only option was to go back, I was not happy. We crossed the lagoon to the Rio Jara campsite, I knew from earlier forays that Rio Jara was 3km from the town, the point at which we gave up crossing the channel the beach was 1.5km from the town... disheartening.
We started walking down the edge of the road, at about 3 hours and 6 miles into our journey we reached the edge of Tarifa town. We made a dash for the Plus supermarket to buy mini cookies and a drink.. unfortunately every surfer bum in Tarifa also picked this time to go to Plus.. Half an hour later we were off down the road filling up with much needed sugar (I knew at this point it was another mile to the Tarifa medina walls). We reached the old town and at this point I enquired with Sarah as to the way to the “Irish” bar that had the rugby on.. “It’s down here, I think, it might have been Irish, or it might just have had a guiness sign”.. I controlled a silent rage as I lead Sarah round the old town following the route of an earlier cycle journey ignoring the pleas of “ I thought you would remember when I mentioned the bar”...
Luckily we found the bar, the match did indeed start at 2100 so we had an hour to kill. We found a bar with beer, cocktails and pizza. 2 beers a mojito and half a pizza later I was feeling much happier. We went to the “Irish” bar and watched the tense match. The French at the bar disappeared quickly after the match. We got talking to 2 Navy pilots about kiting and Gibralter and a few too many drinks later we decided to get a taxi. I knew where the taxi rank was so I steered Sarah straight to it. The journey was quicker than the walk and cost 11 euro... 11 euro at 2am!!! A 3.5 hr and 6+ mile walk when we could have got a taxi.. I was pissing myself all the way back to the van...
Sunday 14 October 2007 Day 38: Hungover did nothing of note.
Monday 15 October 2007 Day 39: Went down to the beach and I went out a couple of times. The wind was horribly gusty. Sarah tried but got lofted on the beach and decided to give it a miss. We went down again later at 6ish for a walk and the wind was perfect and the sun was out. Sarah couldn’t decide if she wanted to go out. We walked to the massive dune at the end of the beach and back, and then Sarah decided to go out. We got down to the beach and the wind had died, Sarah was kicking herself.
Tuesday 16th October 2007 Day 40: Went down to the beach early as wind was looking good. Got down there about 10:30 and didn’t leave until after five stopping only briefly for lunch (4pm!). Both knackered but pleased the wind had been ok. Changed sheets for first time since leaving Salisbury...they had been starting to stick to us. Had meal out in the evening, large amount of pork, fat and salt, think we may have seen a lunar eclipse on the way back as the moon was orangey / red. Had meat sweats all night.
Wednesday 17th October 2007 Day 41: Took it a bit easier today as both were aching from the day before and Ste had a bad ankle. Did our washing in the morning. Campsite cat seems to have adopted us, funny animal but deffo for sure has fleas. It seems to spend its days wandering aimlessly around, hiding in long grass, jumping in long grass and occasionally mounting trees. It also seems to have strange affection for our van tyres and has been spotted sharpening claws on them and also licking them. Wind seemed to die once we got down to the beach after lunch so sunbathed for a while. Luckily picked-up again and had a good late afternoon session. Had fun playing the sea battle travel game Amy had bought us in the evening, Sarah sunk all Ste’s ships...woohoo! definitely better than travel kerplunk.
Thursday 18th October 2007 Day 42: Cycled into town to look for footpads for my board, didn’t find any so went back to the campsite. We decided to head down to the beach for the afternoon and the wind kicked in nicely with few gusts for a change. It was a great session until Sarah lost her board. She had gone for a rotation, got more height than expected and come down backwards, the kite ditched and by the time it re-launched she had no idea where the board was. I went past and saw the board, deciding to pick it up on the next run, unfortunately when I got back I couldn’t see it anywhere. We waited on the beach but it didn’t wash in. We even walked the length of the beach at night but no luck, it’s probably on its way to the America.
Friday 19th October 2007 Day 43: Stormy rainy day. After walking the beach one more time we drove into town to look for new board for Sarah. 7 hours later she bought one from the first shop we had gone to before lunch.
Saturday 20th October 2007 Day 44: Weather started off stormy and Steve’s ankle was still hurting. After a couple of hours the clouds cleared but the wind was still really strong so we decided to have a day of rest reading and mincing in the sun. At tea-time we went for a short bike ride to the top of the dunes where you can see the length of the Las Dunas / Valdequeros beach it was a pretty awesome site with all the weekend kitesurfers and windsurfers out. We got a taxi into town later that night to watch England lose against South Africa.
Sunday 21st October 2007 Day 45: The wind was still strong but Steve decided to give it a go and got on well with the 11m depowered, Sarah got bored.
Monday 22nd October 2007 Day 46: Another sunny day...got up earlyish (8:30) and cycled to top of dunes. Waited for the Poniente to kick in. Wind picked up around lunchtime and we both headed out. Sarah tried out the 666 and decided it was as good if not better than the Underground, 123 definitely seems to be the best size. Both practiced toeside carves, rotations and grabs on the water.
Tuesday 23rd October 2007 Day 47: Another day of Poniente promised we got up slowly then went down the beach to wait for the wind, the day had been pretty cloudy and it felt a lot colder with the Westerly wind coming in off the Atlantic. Steve tried a couple of times to get going but it wasn’t really enough. We headed to Los Lances to see if it was any better down there and have a landboarding session if there wasn’t enough. Steve immediately regretted leaving his wetsuit back at the campsite as there quality wind and the water was packed with kites. I set-up the 13m venom and headed out in the waves. After a failed start, when I seemed to get in the way of all the good kiters, I made it past the shorebreak. The waves were good fun and I had a decent session messing around in them as Steve did some filming of the locals (including Gisela Pulido) practicing their handlepasses. Worried that Steve was getting bored and starting to get cold I headed back in for a landboarding session. The wind was spot on for the 13m on land and we both enjoyed trying out some new moves in our first land session since Leucate. Steve was landing 540 transitions to toe-side and I got my first 540 from toe-side. We also got some got ok filming although I think our camera work needs practice and we would benefit from a tripod. After the session we headed to the supermarket to pick up some beers and then got takeaway pizzas for the first time on the trip.
Wednesday 24th October 2007 Day 48: With another day of Poniente predicted we woke up aching from the session the day before but hungry for some more. Unfortunately heavy rain kicked in at about 11am. It rained most of the day.. We found internet..
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Granada & Alhambra
The no wind forecast for the following few days and general ming-pit of La Manga meant after a day we decided to bail and head for Tarifa via Granada. The campsite we were staying in was nice enough but the fact it had a pet washing parlour didn’t really fit in with the kitesurfing scene we were looking for. Setting out from La Manga down to Cartegena Ste was ecstatic to find not only a proper hypermarket but also a Decathalon to browse through. He’d been suffering from a lack of purchasing opportunity and once inside the shops was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff for sale. A month without constant internet browsing had definitely taken its toll and we escaped without acquiring anything else to clog up the van. There had only been the briefest of flirtations with the suggestion of buying a fishing rod or an aluminium picnic table and none of the stuff we “definitely needed” to optimise our van lifestyle was found.
Onwards through Cartegena there was some concern about whether the road we had chosen to take, against the advice of the sat nav, actually existed. On the map it had said it was due to be completed in early 2007 but there was no evidence from the signposting that it had actually opened. Luckily for us the Spaniards were just a bit behind on the signage and the road was indeed open, not only that but it was empty as well. If anyone ever buys a Ferrari then we would definitely recommend the AP7 down from Cartegena for a speed run, it even beats the M1 early on Christmas day, it was just a shame our top speed was 60mph.
The mountain scenery on the drive inland was spectacular and made a change from the coastal vistas we’d gotten used to. The last bit on the decent into Granada was particularly beautiful and we did wonder whether we should have spent some time checking out the national park. The drive round Granada itself didn’t really make the city appeal, we found ourselves in the first traffic jam for some weeks and started to wonder whether it had been a good idea to stop there. Despite being close to the city the campsite was really lovely. Nice pitches and a lovely old terrace with a pool and views of the mountain. We had a refreshing swim to cool down after the drive and then drank a fair bit of wine which had been on offer in the campsite supermarket before passing out.
The night before we had managed to arrange afternoon tickets to visit the Alhambra the following day. We got up slowly and caught the bus into town. The morning we spent wandering aimlessly round the town and despite not having a map we managed to see almost all the churches, mosques and the old Islamic quarter. Following a good Morrocan lunch we wandered up to the Alhambra where we spent a good 4 or 5 hours looking at all the old buildings and gardens. It is bloody impressive (SD: but dull, even my incessant photo taking didn’t annoy Sarah enough) and well worth a visit as is the city itself. Once it got dark we caught the bus back to the campsite for a wholesome meal of frankfurters.
The drive out of Granada on the Sunday morning was nice and easy and it wasn’t long before we hit the coast. The Costa del Sol was as disgusting as expected. The whole stretch west from Malaga is just a wreck of concrete and golf courses. Once clear of Algeciras it starts to open out, and by the time you get near Tarifa it is much greener. We drove through Tarifa but most of the town was closed as it was Sunday so we went to find a campsite and check out the beach. After looking at a couple we settled on one opposite Valdevaqueros. The wind was picking up so we went straight to the beach to see what the score was. Soon the place was rammed with kiters, pretty much the same as Wallop on the sea. The standard of kiting was really good and we both felt a bit daunted about heading out so we decided to sit it out and see if it was quieter on the Monday.
The next day saw quite a few people leaving the campsite and it was definitely quieter. There was no wind in the morning so we cycled into town to see what it was like and look at a couple of the campsites further in. The old town is really nice with numerous cafes and restaurants, the strip with all the kite shops on is a bit tacky but still alright and although there is some evidence of building there is some hope that the developers won’t ruin this bit of coast. Once we got back from lugging the shopping in we headed down to the beach to find the wind had picked-up to a decent amount. We got our kit and went out for our first session on Valdevaqueros. The wind was a bit gusty as it was coming from the east but good enough and we both had a good session. That night we tried to bike to a wifi lounge but after 10 minutes or so decided the road was too dangerous in the dark so went for a Mexican at the hotel down the road.
Onwards through Cartegena there was some concern about whether the road we had chosen to take, against the advice of the sat nav, actually existed. On the map it had said it was due to be completed in early 2007 but there was no evidence from the signposting that it had actually opened. Luckily for us the Spaniards were just a bit behind on the signage and the road was indeed open, not only that but it was empty as well. If anyone ever buys a Ferrari then we would definitely recommend the AP7 down from Cartegena for a speed run, it even beats the M1 early on Christmas day, it was just a shame our top speed was 60mph.
The mountain scenery on the drive inland was spectacular and made a change from the coastal vistas we’d gotten used to. The last bit on the decent into Granada was particularly beautiful and we did wonder whether we should have spent some time checking out the national park. The drive round Granada itself didn’t really make the city appeal, we found ourselves in the first traffic jam for some weeks and started to wonder whether it had been a good idea to stop there. Despite being close to the city the campsite was really lovely. Nice pitches and a lovely old terrace with a pool and views of the mountain. We had a refreshing swim to cool down after the drive and then drank a fair bit of wine which had been on offer in the campsite supermarket before passing out.
The night before we had managed to arrange afternoon tickets to visit the Alhambra the following day. We got up slowly and caught the bus into town. The morning we spent wandering aimlessly round the town and despite not having a map we managed to see almost all the churches, mosques and the old Islamic quarter. Following a good Morrocan lunch we wandered up to the Alhambra where we spent a good 4 or 5 hours looking at all the old buildings and gardens. It is bloody impressive (SD: but dull, even my incessant photo taking didn’t annoy Sarah enough) and well worth a visit as is the city itself. Once it got dark we caught the bus back to the campsite for a wholesome meal of frankfurters.
The drive out of Granada on the Sunday morning was nice and easy and it wasn’t long before we hit the coast. The Costa del Sol was as disgusting as expected. The whole stretch west from Malaga is just a wreck of concrete and golf courses. Once clear of Algeciras it starts to open out, and by the time you get near Tarifa it is much greener. We drove through Tarifa but most of the town was closed as it was Sunday so we went to find a campsite and check out the beach. After looking at a couple we settled on one opposite Valdevaqueros. The wind was picking up so we went straight to the beach to see what the score was. Soon the place was rammed with kiters, pretty much the same as Wallop on the sea. The standard of kiting was really good and we both felt a bit daunted about heading out so we decided to sit it out and see if it was quieter on the Monday.
The next day saw quite a few people leaving the campsite and it was definitely quieter. There was no wind in the morning so we cycled into town to see what it was like and look at a couple of the campsites further in. The old town is really nice with numerous cafes and restaurants, the strip with all the kite shops on is a bit tacky but still alright and although there is some evidence of building there is some hope that the developers won’t ruin this bit of coast. Once we got back from lugging the shopping in we headed down to the beach to find the wind had picked-up to a decent amount. We got our kit and went out for our first session on Valdevaqueros. The wind was a bit gusty as it was coming from the east but good enough and we both had a good session. That night we tried to bike to a wifi lounge but after 10 minutes or so decided the road was too dangerous in the dark so went for a Mexican at the hotel down the road.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
La Manga
We got back to the hotel at around 7.15am... we managed to get a few hours sleep before we had to check out. I woke sarah at about 11.15 because I was pretty hungry (we hadn’t eaten anything but a pretty horrible bocadillo at 3pm the previous day). I was not surprised to find that it took another 45mins to leave the room. Even though we had only been in it for around 11 hours Sare had managed to spread her stuff into every drawer, cupboard and surface and now had to re-pack. I was dressed and packed in about mins. The years of training for getting the train were dying hard.
We left the hotel and found a really nice little restaurant on the edge of a square to have some food. We ate and watched the world go by for an hour in the shade and then made a move for the ferry. Hopes of some new super ferry were dashed as the good old “Carmen del Mar” was in the dock. We boarded and went to sleep in the lounge. I woke up and decided to get some sun.. We went out on deck and it was very warm and nice. There did seem to be a lot of banging around and it turned out some guys were repairing the life boats. Thankfully not adding more duct tape to hold them together.
When we reached the camp site in Javea I tried and failed (again) to get wifi from the reception guy. I resolved that people just don’t want me to have internet. We sunned ourselves for a day and missed out on the lovely pool as it closed when we walked towards it for a swim.
The next day it was time to move. We had decided to make our way down to Santa Pola – south of Alicante. After a few interesting sat nav directions we made it onto the correct route. The trip down was uneventful and the scenery was not great. There doesn’t seem to be a square inch the Spanish aren’t building on. On arrival at Santa Pola we had wind but also “No kite surfing” signs, there seemed to be some kites further down the beach so we made our way down in the van trying to get some wifi. We found a hotspot, so an hour later when I emerged from the van the wind had died to below the required level. The area wasn’t that nice so we decided to head down to Mar Menor near Murcia.
Our first stop was Lo Pagan at the northern end of Mar Menor. The spot book had a photo of an unspoiled spit of sand with no buildings and campers parked down the road. We think the reality was very different. I say we think because I can’t quite believe it’s changed so much since the photo was taken. The whole area was built up and the entrance to the spit had bollards. Palm trees had also been placed all the way down a path on the spit making launching difficult. We moved on to La Manga.
The Spaniards had been busy, the skyline of La Manga is dominated by some surprisingly large buildings. The campsite we found was also huge, 1km from door to beach with masses of pitches and bungalows. I experienced some more camper envy here as there were some huge coach style motorhomes which even had supply tents. I decided we should cycle into the town to find a kite shop. This was around 6pm.. It turned out to be a bad idea, the address we had was old and there seemed to be nothing around. We went to the tourist info and it turned out to be 3km down the road. We decided to go to the supermarket and then head back. Sarah was becoming concerned about the busy roads and impending darkness, and therefore decided to cycle at less than 10mph... why go slower when you are worried about the dark? I don’t know.
The next morning there was a huge storm that lasted aound 4 hours. We were once again relieved to find that the van did not leak.
We left the hotel and found a really nice little restaurant on the edge of a square to have some food. We ate and watched the world go by for an hour in the shade and then made a move for the ferry. Hopes of some new super ferry were dashed as the good old “Carmen del Mar” was in the dock. We boarded and went to sleep in the lounge. I woke up and decided to get some sun.. We went out on deck and it was very warm and nice. There did seem to be a lot of banging around and it turned out some guys were repairing the life boats. Thankfully not adding more duct tape to hold them together.
When we reached the camp site in Javea I tried and failed (again) to get wifi from the reception guy. I resolved that people just don’t want me to have internet. We sunned ourselves for a day and missed out on the lovely pool as it closed when we walked towards it for a swim.
The next day it was time to move. We had decided to make our way down to Santa Pola – south of Alicante. After a few interesting sat nav directions we made it onto the correct route. The trip down was uneventful and the scenery was not great. There doesn’t seem to be a square inch the Spanish aren’t building on. On arrival at Santa Pola we had wind but also “No kite surfing” signs, there seemed to be some kites further down the beach so we made our way down in the van trying to get some wifi. We found a hotspot, so an hour later when I emerged from the van the wind had died to below the required level. The area wasn’t that nice so we decided to head down to Mar Menor near Murcia.
Our first stop was Lo Pagan at the northern end of Mar Menor. The spot book had a photo of an unspoiled spit of sand with no buildings and campers parked down the road. We think the reality was very different. I say we think because I can’t quite believe it’s changed so much since the photo was taken. The whole area was built up and the entrance to the spit had bollards. Palm trees had also been placed all the way down a path on the spit making launching difficult. We moved on to La Manga.
The Spaniards had been busy, the skyline of La Manga is dominated by some surprisingly large buildings. The campsite we found was also huge, 1km from door to beach with masses of pitches and bungalows. I experienced some more camper envy here as there were some huge coach style motorhomes which even had supply tents. I decided we should cycle into the town to find a kite shop. This was around 6pm.. It turned out to be a bad idea, the address we had was old and there seemed to be nothing around. We went to the tourist info and it turned out to be 3km down the road. We decided to go to the supermarket and then head back. Sarah was becoming concerned about the busy roads and impending darkness, and therefore decided to cycle at less than 10mph... why go slower when you are worried about the dark? I don’t know.
The next morning there was a huge storm that lasted aound 4 hours. We were once again relieved to find that the van did not leak.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
On to Ibiza
The following day we headed onto Javea where we were going to leave the van and kites and journey to Ibiza. We managed to sort out the details for the ferry on the way through Denia, and luckily got some internet so we could try and find a hotel. Saturday morning we got up early and got a taxi to the port. It turned out we could have spent at least another hour in bed as we were excessively early. The ferry itself looked a little on the rusty side but we thought they must have spent all the money on the interior on cafes and things o keep us entertained like there had been on the Brittany Ferries boat on the way to France. We soon learnt differently, the interior was actually a total skank pit with no restaurant, no shop or entertainment, it started to look like our decision not to bring anything to read may have a been a bad one. The 70s decor and general shabbiness of the interior didn’t add to the experience. We spent most of the journey asleep or sunbathing on the deck watching the approach to the island.
Once in the port we spotted one of the hotels we’d liked the look of on the internet, luckily they had one room left for the weekend. The room was really nice, recently re-decorated with nice bathroom, fridge, t.v. and a balcony overlooking one of the busiest streets in Ibiza town. We decided to find some food first and then go for a wander round the shops. We had a great 3 course meal with wine, a short siesta and then went shopping. We both managed to find some more clothes to buy and then went back to the hotel to get changed.
The balcony definitely came into its own once the bars opened up. It was brilliant for people watching, seeing the bar bints trying to entice people in for drinks and all the dodgy deals that were going on. After a few beers we went out to the bars and then onto El Divino. The night was ok but only cheesy Hed Kandi music and mostly Brits trying to pull. At about 4 we decided to call it a night and went back to the hotel to sleep.
The next day we woke-up a bit late, had some breakfast and got ready to go to Space. We got there at about midday and aside from a pass-out to get some lunch didn’t leave until 18 hours later. Quality night, good music.
Once in the port we spotted one of the hotels we’d liked the look of on the internet, luckily they had one room left for the weekend. The room was really nice, recently re-decorated with nice bathroom, fridge, t.v. and a balcony overlooking one of the busiest streets in Ibiza town. We decided to find some food first and then go for a wander round the shops. We had a great 3 course meal with wine, a short siesta and then went shopping. We both managed to find some more clothes to buy and then went back to the hotel to get changed.
The balcony definitely came into its own once the bars opened up. It was brilliant for people watching, seeing the bar bints trying to entice people in for drinks and all the dodgy deals that were going on. After a few beers we went out to the bars and then onto El Divino. The night was ok but only cheesy Hed Kandi music and mostly Brits trying to pull. At about 4 we decided to call it a night and went back to the hotel to sleep.
The next day we woke-up a bit late, had some breakfast and got ready to go to Space. We got there at about midday and aside from a pass-out to get some lunch didn’t leave until 18 hours later. Quality night, good music.
Minor incident in Valencia
That night we decided to stay out at Trabucador and wild camp with the other vans there. The Guardia Civil came out and had a look at who was there in the evening but didn’t seem fussed that there were people staying there and no-one was asked to move. We had a few beers as the sun went down and ste went out again for a quick evening session. As it got dark the wind really picked-up, the 40 knots that had been forecast for the daytime had definitely arrived. Our van was side on to the wind so as it increased it really started to rock. We sleep a little bit but the rocking was a bit off putting and in the early hours we moved our van to face the wind so we didn’t get knocked over if it went really crazy. Neither of us slept particularly well and early the next morning it was still hooning, the highest reading Ste got on the wind meter was 53mph! We hung around a bit to see if it dropped off through the morning and watched a crazy German head out on a 5 meter after a launch which saw him narrowly avoid the wooden pier. Even the local that turned-up seemed to think it was a bad idea so we thought it best to give-up and head off.
We drove on down to Oliva south of Valencia. The drive down was going nice and smoothly and we thought we may be able to get an evening session in, that was before a dopey Spanish bloke decided to pull slowly across from the opposite side of the road directly in front of our van going at 60mph. I had seen the guy move slowly to pull out then hesitate, and had thought he had seen a large white van heading along the road. Apparently not, he later said he was watching the restaurant he was pulling into and thinking of his lunch which was why he didn’t spot us. I slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid his car, skidded for about 10 metres to the side of the road and narrowly avoided slamming into the parked cars in front of the restaurant. As soon as we stopped, a bit shaken up and not happy that someone had managed to hit our van I jumped out and had a good shout at the driver asking him what the hell he was doing. He admitted it was his fault straight away and we took some time exchanging all our details, getting photos of the damage and details of witnesses in case we had any problems claiming later. The rest of the journey passed uneventfully and we arrived in Oliva and checked into the next campsite.
There was no wind that evening but the next day after lazing around on the beach and playing Frisbee it built up to something decent in the evening. Ste tried the 16 scorpion for the first time and we both worked on our wave technique, struggling a bit to stay upwind.
We drove on down to Oliva south of Valencia. The drive down was going nice and smoothly and we thought we may be able to get an evening session in, that was before a dopey Spanish bloke decided to pull slowly across from the opposite side of the road directly in front of our van going at 60mph. I had seen the guy move slowly to pull out then hesitate, and had thought he had seen a large white van heading along the road. Apparently not, he later said he was watching the restaurant he was pulling into and thinking of his lunch which was why he didn’t spot us. I slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid his car, skidded for about 10 metres to the side of the road and narrowly avoided slamming into the parked cars in front of the restaurant. As soon as we stopped, a bit shaken up and not happy that someone had managed to hit our van I jumped out and had a good shout at the driver asking him what the hell he was doing. He admitted it was his fault straight away and we took some time exchanging all our details, getting photos of the damage and details of witnesses in case we had any problems claiming later. The rest of the journey passed uneventfully and we arrived in Oliva and checked into the next campsite.
There was no wind that evening but the next day after lazing around on the beach and playing Frisbee it built up to something decent in the evening. Ste tried the 16 scorpion for the first time and we both worked on our wave technique, struggling a bit to stay upwind.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Spain
We waited in Port Bacares for another night for the wind but it never showed so decided to give up and move onwards to Spain. A spot near to the Ebro Delta sounded particularly promising as it was billed in the book as “one of the windiest places on the Spanish med”. There wasn’t much time to get to Ibiza so we decided to skip to the whole of the Costa Brava and drive on down to Tarragona.
We spent a good seven hours on the road including a 2 mile tailback for the border caused by over enthusiastic border guards?? no, just some guys handing out leaflets.. and arrived that evening in St Carlos de la Rapita. The Spanish seemed to be putting a lot of money into building decent roads and the driving was a lot quicker than on the French side. Another bonus was that even if they were re-surfacing the road they didn’t close it off, we’d met with many “route barre” in France which had resulted in a number of detours adding costly mileage. St Carlos looked to be a pleasant Spanish town and it was much sunnier and warmer than France. After a couple of beers (and a good time on the PSP) we decided to walk into town to see if we could find somewhere for tapas. Before setting-off the 3 mile walk into town hadn’t sounded that much, however, once we started along the busy road that smelt of shit we soon realised the error of our ways. We tried to walk along the sea front but the path was equally treacherous. After 40 minutes or so with no sign of any bars a good 20 minutes still to get into town and with the darkness approaching Ste decided to call the abort and suggested we had back before it got too late. There were a number of cross words spoken given the long drive, hazardous walk and now a 40 minute walk back to the van which had little food in it, however, the journey back was fine and Ste managed to put together a meal before we crashed out.
The next day we cycled into town to get a feel for the place, try and find some wifi and check the conditions. The forecast looked light for that day but afterwards it was predicted to build to a good 40 knots for the next few days. Ste decided we should cycle out to the spot and have a good look at the ebro delta along the way. We set off in the sunshine with only water and two bananas for sustenance. Ste assured me it would be more than adequate for the 10 miles out and 14 back to the campsite. The road was flat and predominately straight but with little shade. We saw a large amount of bird life; egrets, herons and many other sticky legged birds including flamingos. We also saw snakes, frogs, crayfish, and hundreds of shrimp. When we finally made it to the beach at Trabucador we agreed it had been worth the cycle. There was a lovely undeveloped white sand beach on one side and on the other side of the sandbar a decked area and pier with perfect flat water conditions. We sat and enjoyed our bananas and then began the long cycle home.
Needless to say it wasn’t the nicest ride in the hottest part of the day with no food nor shade, some cross words were had when we got back to the town at gone 3pm and all the restaurants were closing after lunch (SD - 20 miles @ around 15mph would have been fine as the terrain was flat... Sarah's moochy pace unfortunately brought the average down to about 10 so it did take longer than planned in the heat of the day). However, we found a nice supermarket and got some food went back and crashed out at the van. Later on we headed back to Trabucador after we had spotted kites up in the distance. Once we got there the wind was too light to get going but we enjoyed a beer on the deck. The next day we checked out of the campsite and headed straight to the spot. It was fairly windy so we tried to get going early on but there just wasn’t quite enough. We chilled out in the sun for a bit and as the afternoon drew on the wind increased to a decent amount. We both headed out on the water and had a great session on the flat water. The highlight of the session definitely had to be when we were both some way out and spotted Flamingos flying overhead.
We spent a good seven hours on the road including a 2 mile tailback for the border caused by over enthusiastic border guards?? no, just some guys handing out leaflets.. and arrived that evening in St Carlos de la Rapita. The Spanish seemed to be putting a lot of money into building decent roads and the driving was a lot quicker than on the French side. Another bonus was that even if they were re-surfacing the road they didn’t close it off, we’d met with many “route barre” in France which had resulted in a number of detours adding costly mileage. St Carlos looked to be a pleasant Spanish town and it was much sunnier and warmer than France. After a couple of beers (and a good time on the PSP) we decided to walk into town to see if we could find somewhere for tapas. Before setting-off the 3 mile walk into town hadn’t sounded that much, however, once we started along the busy road that smelt of shit we soon realised the error of our ways. We tried to walk along the sea front but the path was equally treacherous. After 40 minutes or so with no sign of any bars a good 20 minutes still to get into town and with the darkness approaching Ste decided to call the abort and suggested we had back before it got too late. There were a number of cross words spoken given the long drive, hazardous walk and now a 40 minute walk back to the van which had little food in it, however, the journey back was fine and Ste managed to put together a meal before we crashed out.
The next day we cycled into town to get a feel for the place, try and find some wifi and check the conditions. The forecast looked light for that day but afterwards it was predicted to build to a good 40 knots for the next few days. Ste decided we should cycle out to the spot and have a good look at the ebro delta along the way. We set off in the sunshine with only water and two bananas for sustenance. Ste assured me it would be more than adequate for the 10 miles out and 14 back to the campsite. The road was flat and predominately straight but with little shade. We saw a large amount of bird life; egrets, herons and many other sticky legged birds including flamingos. We also saw snakes, frogs, crayfish, and hundreds of shrimp. When we finally made it to the beach at Trabucador we agreed it had been worth the cycle. There was a lovely undeveloped white sand beach on one side and on the other side of the sandbar a decked area and pier with perfect flat water conditions. We sat and enjoyed our bananas and then began the long cycle home.
Needless to say it wasn’t the nicest ride in the hottest part of the day with no food nor shade, some cross words were had when we got back to the town at gone 3pm and all the restaurants were closing after lunch (SD - 20 miles @ around 15mph would have been fine as the terrain was flat... Sarah's moochy pace unfortunately brought the average down to about 10 so it did take longer than planned in the heat of the day). However, we found a nice supermarket and got some food went back and crashed out at the van. Later on we headed back to Trabucador after we had spotted kites up in the distance. Once we got there the wind was too light to get going but we enjoyed a beer on the deck. The next day we checked out of the campsite and headed straight to the spot. It was fairly windy so we tried to get going early on but there just wasn’t quite enough. We chilled out in the sun for a bit and as the afternoon drew on the wind increased to a decent amount. We both headed out on the water and had a great session on the flat water. The highlight of the session definitely had to be when we were both some way out and spotted Flamingos flying overhead.
Across France to the Med
The forecast for the following week for the whole of the south-west corner of France looked particularly shite so onwards we went to the med. The route up the Garonne valley above Bordeaux was really nice...green fields, vineyards and chateaus. We stopped for the night near Agen at a nice campsite by a watermill. After a bit of chilling out we wandered around to try and find something to occupy ourselves until the evening. The road from the campsite wasn’t very inviting for a run or cycling but luckily there was a small play area out front which had a fairly large trampoline. We spent a good hour or so messing around relearning back flicks and front somersaults and watching the selection of animals the campsite had in a small pen. Six or seven chickens, four goats, two pigs and three giant rabbits seemed to be a particularly good mix to go for and you don’t need that much space.
Driving down through Toulouse and Narbonne the scenery isn’t as nice as the other side, more barren and industrial, Carcassonne looked pretty impressive. I asked Ste if he wanted to stop and take a look but he expressed disinterest unless it was a spot particularly renowned for hotties. Arriving in Leucate the first thing that struck us was the lack of decent wind. Ok so there was a slight breeze but nothing beyond 8 or so mph. A couple of buggiers and landboarders were practicing rolling backwards and forwards at a slow speed but apart from the old guys fishing there was bugger all else going on. We pulled into the camping municipal behind the beach and went for a quick light wind land session, the dry salt beds go on for a good couple of miles and the rock hard surface meant it was easy to get going although a bit slippy at times. After an hour or so of rolling we got bored and went back for food and to watch the bats catching flies as the sun set.
The next day the pattern of windless days continued so we went in search of some wireless internet to check out the forecast. It wasn’t looking good and the signs of no wind frustration started show even more when we saw the forecast for the UK was much better with practically a whole week of perfect wind at the Ho! Ste started to get particularly stroppy and bemoan the lack of hotties, wind, sun and anything to do. We did a little bit of landboarding to pass the time but with barely 6mph of wind it really didn’t hit the spot. Onward to a different campsite for the night in Port Bacares and things started looking grim, we had hoped that there may have been at least one bar showing the France-Ireland rugby, it was Friday after all and we felt we had a earned a night in a bar drinking after all the hard work driving we had done, however it was a desolate ghost town. Very few bars, none of them busy and none of them showing the rugby despite the fact they were hosting the bloody cup. Ste played incessantly on the PSP and we both took to drink to blot out the lack of wind and anything to do.
Driving down through Toulouse and Narbonne the scenery isn’t as nice as the other side, more barren and industrial, Carcassonne looked pretty impressive. I asked Ste if he wanted to stop and take a look but he expressed disinterest unless it was a spot particularly renowned for hotties. Arriving in Leucate the first thing that struck us was the lack of decent wind. Ok so there was a slight breeze but nothing beyond 8 or so mph. A couple of buggiers and landboarders were practicing rolling backwards and forwards at a slow speed but apart from the old guys fishing there was bugger all else going on. We pulled into the camping municipal behind the beach and went for a quick light wind land session, the dry salt beds go on for a good couple of miles and the rock hard surface meant it was easy to get going although a bit slippy at times. After an hour or so of rolling we got bored and went back for food and to watch the bats catching flies as the sun set.
The next day the pattern of windless days continued so we went in search of some wireless internet to check out the forecast. It wasn’t looking good and the signs of no wind frustration started show even more when we saw the forecast for the UK was much better with practically a whole week of perfect wind at the Ho! Ste started to get particularly stroppy and bemoan the lack of hotties, wind, sun and anything to do. We did a little bit of landboarding to pass the time but with barely 6mph of wind it really didn’t hit the spot. Onward to a different campsite for the night in Port Bacares and things started looking grim, we had hoped that there may have been at least one bar showing the France-Ireland rugby, it was Friday after all and we felt we had a earned a night in a bar drinking after all the hard work driving we had done, however it was a desolate ghost town. Very few bars, none of them busy and none of them showing the rugby despite the fact they were hosting the bloody cup. Ste played incessantly on the PSP and we both took to drink to blot out the lack of wind and anything to do.
France - West coast
After a brief stop in Port Manech we headed out of Brittany and onwards down the west coast of France. Our next two stops; Noirmoutier and Chateillon plage both proved to be windless although pleasant enough. We spent our time sunbathing, swimming and biking, and learnt one important thing, that is don’t order “Bulots” in a French restaurant unless you’re particularly keen on eating cold sea snails.
This part of the coast felt more touristy and developed than Brittany and although the kiting spots we saw looked alright without the wind we didn’t see much point in hanging around. After a few too many u-turns in stupid places we learnt to ignore the sat nav when it told us to go straight through the narrow streets of small French towns instead of following the “toutes directions” sign.
Further on down the coast we stopped near Royan which has a good lagoon at high tide. Unfortunately there was still no wind so we did some more biking to Royan to look at a kite shop and then La Palmyre. On the cycle route we had to laugh at the signs that informed cyclists of the impending “route difficile” which basically meant there were a couple of slight hills instead of the route being totally flat. We wandered around the lagoon at La Palmyre, which would be amazing if the wind played ball, and sunbathed a bit watching the birds and sailors but eventually got bored and made our way back trying to avoid the hazardous pelaton of French geriatrics on bikes for the first time since they were eleven years old.
This part of the coast felt more touristy and developed than Brittany and although the kiting spots we saw looked alright without the wind we didn’t see much point in hanging around. After a few too many u-turns in stupid places we learnt to ignore the sat nav when it told us to go straight through the narrow streets of small French towns instead of following the “toutes directions” sign.
Further on down the coast we stopped near Royan which has a good lagoon at high tide. Unfortunately there was still no wind so we did some more biking to Royan to look at a kite shop and then La Palmyre. On the cycle route we had to laugh at the signs that informed cyclists of the impending “route difficile” which basically meant there were a couple of slight hills instead of the route being totally flat. We wandered around the lagoon at La Palmyre, which would be amazing if the wind played ball, and sunbathed a bit watching the birds and sailors but eventually got bored and made our way back trying to avoid the hazardous pelaton of French geriatrics on bikes for the first time since they were eleven years old.
Across to France 1st stop - Brittany
Next day was again beautiful sunshine and we headed straight for the port. The crossing was great, extremely calm seas, comfortable boat, good food, couple of dolphins and a short kip later and we arrived in France. Complete disorganisation over directions, poor French signage and the incredibly slow sat nav ensured that we got lost straight away in Roscoff and by the time we made it to the campsite in Sainte Marguerite the office was closed. However, there were instructions to find a pitch if they had closed and we did that and managed to catch the sunset over the dunes before supper.
The first day in Brittany we wandered down to the beach to check out the wind and conditions; the tide was out and the wind was offshore but Steve managed to spot kites on a far off beach (Lampaul-Ploudalmezeau) where the wind would be onshore. We jumped in the van and headed round the coast to find a kite school and some locals setting-up on the beach. As the tide was still out we decided to try a bit of landboarding first. We set-up our kites and messed around on the beach for a bit before deciding the wet sand wasn’t that much fun and sea definitely looked more inviting. A quick change of clothes and we grabbed our kitesurf boards and took to the water. Conditions were really good, clear water, sunshine and only a few learners to contend with. We both had a good session which was only slightly marred by the fact Ste managed to take out one of the locals who looked very unhappy about it despite his profuse apologies. As the tide came in we decided to call it a day and head back to the campsite. The forecast for the next few days didn’t look good so we headed onward the next morning.
We moved on round the coast and decided to call in at Penhors as we headed south. Penhors is a 15km stretch of pure white sand with crystal clear water and the bonus of hard packed sand, with the sun shining it looked like a tropical island but unfortunately was totally windless. We had some lunch and as the tide came back in a light breeze picked up. We grabbed the frenzy and our boards and went to set-up on the beach. The wind was decent enough and we spent a good hour bombing up and down the beach towing each other. Penhors is possibly the best landboarding spot in the world and we definitely plan to return for longer one day.
The first day in Brittany we wandered down to the beach to check out the wind and conditions; the tide was out and the wind was offshore but Steve managed to spot kites on a far off beach (Lampaul-Ploudalmezeau) where the wind would be onshore. We jumped in the van and headed round the coast to find a kite school and some locals setting-up on the beach. As the tide was still out we decided to try a bit of landboarding first. We set-up our kites and messed around on the beach for a bit before deciding the wet sand wasn’t that much fun and sea definitely looked more inviting. A quick change of clothes and we grabbed our kitesurf boards and took to the water. Conditions were really good, clear water, sunshine and only a few learners to contend with. We both had a good session which was only slightly marred by the fact Ste managed to take out one of the locals who looked very unhappy about it despite his profuse apologies. As the tide came in we decided to call it a day and head back to the campsite. The forecast for the next few days didn’t look good so we headed onward the next morning.
We moved on round the coast and decided to call in at Penhors as we headed south. Penhors is a 15km stretch of pure white sand with crystal clear water and the bonus of hard packed sand, with the sun shining it looked like a tropical island but unfortunately was totally windless. We had some lunch and as the tide came back in a light breeze picked up. We grabbed the frenzy and our boards and went to set-up on the beach. The wind was decent enough and we spent a good hour bombing up and down the beach towing each other. Penhors is possibly the best landboarding spot in the world and we definitely plan to return for longer one day.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Cornwall
So....we finally made it on the road. After a hectic two weeks of packing-up and disorganised moving we said an emotional goodbye to our home of four years. To all those people who had asked when we would actually realise that we were leaving our jobs and house for good the answer was definitely the morning we left, only then did it really register. We did a last circuit of Salisbury on our bikes, dropped off keys and jumped in the van to head to Cornwall.
The drive down to Gwithian took a good five hours and we both had the opportunity to get to appreciate the sheer speed that is possible in a fully loaded (more dinner sets than really was required) Fiat Ducato 1.9 TDI motorhome. After all those years of swearing at the caravans that had slowed us down on frantic weekend trips to the beach we took pleasure in the fact that we were now one of those arseholes who can only reach a max speed of 24 mph on steep hills on the A30. We didn’t care, we weren’t in a hurry; we had the sat nav to guide us and the friendly community of motorhomers to wave at as they passed in the opposite direction. The sat nav was particularly great on this occasion, Steve had usefully loaded it with every single point of interest he could think of so we knew when we were passing banks, supermarkets and of course most importantly gay bars, the fact that this slowed down the system so much that it kept crashing didn’t really matter especially as we’d put in the wrong postcode for the campsite.
After some interesting u-turns we finally got to the campsite and pitched-up. We watched the sun set over the water whilst enjoying a lukewarm beer, had a good meal at the local pub and then crashed out. Next day we met up with the other kiters who had come down for the competition and Nick and Pips arrived to enjoy the weekend. Unfortunately there was a total lack of wind and sun for the majority of the day so we spent most of it mooching around, drinking hot chocolate and sitting. Luckily in the evening the weather cleared and a reasonable breeze picked-up so we were able to get an evening land session in as the sun-set.
The next day the wind was a little more promising and as the tide went out the comp zone and kiters set-up. The freestyle buggy and landboard comp was run. There were few competitors with 8 kiters in total in the top-flight board and only two women competing. The 3 buggiers decided to do only a single best-trick heat and Craig Sparkes took the title. However, Hank was particularly good in the heat and definitely gave the most throughout the heat. The ladies competed with the men, which made for some interesting heats against Lewis, Joe and Diarmuid. The conditions weren’t great and low wind and soft sand made it a bit of a struggle. In the men’s competition it was a close call, however Lewis took the title in the end with Diarmuid second and Joe Hockley in third.
That night we had a bbq (fanned with a kite pump for more heat!) and a few more beers. A couple from across the campsite gave us 2 freshly caught mackerel in exchange for some salt. We stuck in some sliced lemon & taragon (a van full of household items can be useful) and stuck them in the bbq. Best fish supper of the trip so far.
The comp came to a close and many of the riders packed-up and headed home. However we stayed on an extra night and were treated to a clear sunny day with light wind. We made the most of the conditions on the Bluff, kitesurf spot number 1 on the trip, and managed to work on our upwind abilities. After a good session we said our goodbyes to Nick and Pips and made our way to Truro to take care of the final preparations before we sailed to France. We stayed at a campsite near Looe Bay for our final night in the UK; it had a beautiful view but was a bit on the desolate side with characters that wouldn’t have been out of place in Royston Vasey. Steve managed to innocently pick-up a couple of guys only ten minutes or so after stepping out of the van.
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