Flat day fun

We have started to make the trip back north. After leaving Mimizan we have circled Bordeux in crazy rush hour traffic and headed back to Ile de Oleron. The sea is calm with no waves and none forecast for a while so we have been enjoying other activities. In four years of visiting this Island we have realised that we have not seen a lot of it until now. We have run along miles of beach and hiked around headlands. Looked at ports and even found out a bit about its history (it’s famous for making sea salt). We have had epic boules tournaments (Ruth being the victor). We have played table tennis (Sarah – we need some coaching!) and have tried to work on our balancing skills on the Indo Board we brought with us.
It is suddenly cold here – ok not England cold, but the weather seemed to change suddenly overnight. Apparently this is common around early October and all the French know to put away their summer clothes and get out the winter ones. Unfortunately we don’t have ours so we do look strange in layers of summer clothes.
After a couple of weeks of free camping we have pitched on a campsite (the last one open on the Island). We ended up next to another GB van. The man was from Northern Ireland and his friend she was from Angouleme in France. It was his 69th birthday so he invited us over for champagne. We had a great chat it is strange the French lady seemed to know more about England and Ireland than we did and we seemed to have seen a lot more of France than she had.
We are revising our plans today as there is a big fuel shortage in France and some problems in Paris where we are really hoping to head next to see Nina and Christian. We are hoping to fuel up and start making our way in the Paris/home direction and see what happens.

Happy Birthday to Mum (Sandie), Anya and Demon (dog)

To honour these special birthdays we made a special meal and opened a bottle of bubbly. In the excitement of eating steak for the first time in a long while John cut his finger during the preparation. Ow!

Emergency pizza night.

O, oh, what do you do when your camping gas runs out half way through cooking your tea and there's no where open to buy more gas - EMERGENCY PIZZA!

Rock night at Club de VB (The van)

Du pain, du vin, du boursin

Lion ceraeal - for the serious big wave rider, rrrrrrroar!

Mimizan and the foul smelling paper factory

After a day of good surf at Biarritz we journeyed north to one of our favourite places on the west coast, Mimizan Plage. As with many beach towns on the west coast there is the town and then the town plage which can often be 10km apart. For example Lacanau has Lacanau Ocean, Moliets has Moliets Plage and Mimizan has Mimizan Plage. The plage town is heaving and vibrant in the sumer but almost completely shuts down in the winter. We headed here hoping for quiet waves however we arrived at the start of the Quiksilver German Surfing Contest.
The surf was huge and getting bigger. By the end of the day perfect hollow barrelling waves were breaking all along the north and south beaches. No one was surfing except for a jet ski that was trying to tow a surfer into the waves unsuccessfully. It looked like you could park a buss inside the barrel. The next day the surf had dropped a few feet so I (John) headed in. The surf was still too big for the contest but a German surfer a bodyboarder and me eventually managed to make it out back. I caught a few before having one of my worst wipe outs ever. Taking off on a big one, the wave was steep and very hollow. I tried to put pressure on my toes to pull into the barrel but unfortunately ended up free falling head first down the wave to then be sucked round with the curl (going over the falls, surfers call it). I was then pummelled under water for what seemed like ages. When I did surface the water was so aerated that it was difficult to get my head above the surface. Ruth said later the German spectators on the beach responded with a collective uuuuuuuuuuuu!! Slightly shaken I managed to get a few better ones.
Over the next few days the size dropped and we had some great waves.
Mimizan has a huge paper factory. When the wind is blowing in your direction you get a really unusual and not very pleasant smell. There really is nothing quite like it, Ruth describes it as rotten sprouts which is the closest description.

Hendaye - board snapper!

Our next plan of action was to head south. A huge 12ft swell was on its way and we were looking for a beach with some protection. We found a camping car aire surprising central in Biarritz. It was a short walk to all of the beaches and into the centre, perfect. Not for surfing though, we ventured further south to a place just near the border of Spain called Hendaye. When we got there, there was a really mellow wave, something we hadn’t seen in a while so it was nice to get in. We got up really early the next morning and as expected the waves had built, but not a patch on what the rest of the west coast must be getting. For me it looked like a challenging paddle out but found it surprisingly alright, we were only metres from where we’d intended to sit when John turned to me and said those ginxing words, “That was alright, at least it’s not too heavy”. When suddenly on the horizon a monstrous set came through... I got out with a snapped board.
As we’d noticed from the previous day it’s not really a surfable wave at high tide. We were resting on the beach watching the crazy head high shore break when a bride and groom came walking onto the beach with their photographer. They looked lovely; him in traditional tails and her in a long white dress covered in detailed netting and a long train. We couldn’t work out at first if it was actually their wedding day and they were going for a walk and a few pictures like john and I did with Helen or whether they were doing this on a separate day (I’ve heard of people having pictures being taken on another day if the weather wasn’t good on their wedding day, and looking back to the previous weekend and the torrential rain and gale force winds we thought this could be a distinct possibility). After having a few formal photos they took off their shoes and he took off his jacket. Engrossed in their photo shoot they didn’t notice that the tide was now racing in and covered their shoes and jacket that they’d left on the sand, fortunately a bather noticed this and quickly scooped up their things before the sea took them away with it. The couple were grateful but didn’t seem overly phased by the drenched belongings or even take notice of how fast the tide was flooding. Oh dear! A few close calls meant her beautiful delicate dress started to get dirty and soggy around the bottom but this obviously didn’t come as enough warning; then came the next wave; it surged in around knee height, the groom struggle to keep her on her feet but the wave was too strong and she ended up face down completely submerged. As the photographer and groom pulled her out, face full of sand, she could barely walk as her dress must have been so heavy, but the shoot carried on, almost like it was all part of the plan. They will have an interesting wedding album. I only hope it wasn’t their actual wedding day.
We headed back up to Biarritz to the camping car aire. The first night as we’d expected the police came around the vans about tea time to collect 10 euros from everyone (we thought we must have just missed them the last time we stayed here as we didn’t arrive until a bit later). The second night we stayed they didn’t come to collect, after chatting to some other campers, we found out it’s very hit and miss whether they turn up or not. We decided it must be just when their coffee fund gets low.

“They call it stormy Monday”

In the hunt for more surfable waves we headed south again to Capbreton only to be met by a force 9 gale. We braved the weather but not the mountainous sea. Saw a council worker using a leaf blower in the middle of the gale, found it very hilarious – he seemed happy enough!

Mr Blobby

After the contest we travelled north to get out of the madness and find somewhere quieter to stay. We got on a campsite for the night (luxury) to get proper showers, get things charged up, and to do a desperately needed load of washing. We were looking forward to a chilled out night, and as most campsites are closing for the season now it might be one of our last chances. Those sites that are still open are pretty quiet (or so we thought). We remembered from last time that it’s a huge site so when checking in at reception the girl started off by saying that it’s pretty empty so we could park where we like, then her colleague interrupted her to remind her that 150 students had checked in earlier today! She advised us where to go so that we were at the other end of the site and as it’s so big we thought we wouldn’t even notice they were there. It really felt like we were the only ones there, it was like a wild life experience; we saw red squirrels, rabbits hopping around and even a woodpecker. At 9pm a concert started coming from the student’s area, it was great! We cracked open a bottle of wine or 2 and enjoyed the entertainment! At 11 o’clock the band must have been given a cut off time as they stopped but in a volume to match was ‘old school’ dance music which was fine to start with but wasn’t still as enjoyable at 6 the next morning.
We got up really looking forward to getting some quieter waves, we went down to check it first and it was quiet and looking surprisingly mellow considering the 9ft forecast. We ran back for our boards excited to get in but only 30 minutes later when we had our boards and were suited it seemed to look twice the size and twice as heavy, oh no! We gave it a go anyway, it was a really hard paddle out and after getting a few of the heavier ones on the head I (Ruth) started to feel really heavy and cold, I recognised this feeling; for the second time this week in heavier surf my wetsuit zip had forced its way down. Each arm was carrying a litre or 2 of water which felt like lead weights, so was each leg and the belly part of the suit was just like a giant water balloon. Whilst awkwardly trying to sit on my board in the worst possible place trying to zip up my suit whilst having wave upon wave dumped on my head I notice john catching the white water onto the beach pointing frantically towards the shore. There was no way we were making it through that wall of white water and with my struggle with the wetsuit I hadn’t noticed we had also been in a lateral rip which had dragged us at least 200m down the beach towards the biggest and heaviest area. That was enough to tell me someone was telling me today wasn’t a day for me to surf, a warm shower and a cuppa was calling. John however would not be so easily beaten.
John: Moliets day 1 – arrived to find huge 9ft waves and as often when the waves are big, no one was out surfing. Showing the true Scarborough surfer spirit I headed out. There followed 3 attempts and over an hour of paddling attempting to get out passed the breakers in order to surf. Fuelled on a free energy drink I had picked up I was determined. Paddle duck dive (duck your board under the waves like a duck does), paddle, duck dive, paddle duck dive... Sadly I failed and I headed in a sad man!!
John: Moliets day 2 – slightly smaller surf and fed up of old school dance music I was twice as determined, again after 3 attempts I eventually made it out back. It is amazing how noise and turbulence soon changes to calm and piece as you stroke over the incoming swells when you make it out back when the surf is big. Exhausted I managed 5 big waves before heading in slightly less frustrated and ready for a beer.

Messanges – wasn’t to be!

During the few contest lay days we had some great surfs in Moliets but twice we attempted to try out the neighbouring beach, Messanges, as we were told by a few people that the sand bars were particularly good this year.
Our first attempt was on a morning we’d stayed on an aire 10 minutes away in Moliets and arrived at the beach for first light. We checked it but decided to give it half an hour for the tide to retreat a bit, in which time we did what any English person with a spare half hour on their hands would do, we put the kettle on! The tea bags had barely had time to infuse when we had a knock on the van from a police man asking if we’d slept there (as this is illegal), when we explained we hadn’t, I’m not sure how convinced he was as early mornings doesn’t seem to be a thing the French see for pleasure. Anyway the tide didn’t improve the waves so we went back to Moliets.
Second attempt – The next morning we did the same thing, headed to Messanges for first light to check the surf, only this time when approaching the car park, instead of it being empty it was practically overflowing, we thought we must have missed something important on the swell forecast and misjudged the French surfers on their commitment to early mornings. When we reached the top of the sand dunes we were met with a sight that we definitely weren’t expecting; 100+ fishermen wearing head torches competing in some sort of fishing championships. BEACH CLOSED!! We didn’t check the surf there again.

The World Tour comes to town.

The top professional surfers in the world compete on the WCT – world championship tour. They compete in 10 contests at some of the best surf locations in the world. The leading surfer at the end of this time is crowned the world champion.
Stop number 7 of the tour brings the surfers to the best beach break in the world at this time of year, Hossegor – South West France. Hossegor is an upmarket stretch of coastline in the Basque region of France. It is famous for huge, hollow, barrelling waves that are impressive to watch but scary to surf.
We headed down to watch, very excited to see the surfers we have only seen on TV or in magazines before. This year is special as the most successful surfer of all time Kelly Slater is attempting to become world champion for an amazing tenth time. He is the Pele, Lance Armstrong or Michael Jordan of the sport.
The night before the contest started the place began to buzz, a rock concert style stage was erected as well as a huge contest site village put up on the beach. Fans started to arrive, we noticed Australians, Americans, Brazilians, Germans, Dutch, Spanish, English and of course French.
The next day we got a real taste of what watching professional surfing can be like; frustrating. You see the contest has an 11 day waiting period in which to get about 3 days worth of surfing in, so it’s not always on. Also because the contest is being televised worldwide on the web they have chosen 4 possible locations along miles of coastline, so you are not sure where it will be on. They even have a mobile judges unit so they can pick a new surf spot. This is to ensure the surfers ride the best waves in the area. Good for the web viewer, not so good for the spectator on foot. Day one after lots of waiting around it was called off.
A day later it started and it was impressive. They compete in heats and are given 20 to 30 minutes to catch waves. The surfer that can carry out the most impressive manoeuvre in the most critical part of the wave gets the highest mark from a panel of judges. The surfer’s top 2 waves count. Basically it’s who can ride the wave in with the most style.
It is amazing with surfing how close you get to the actual surfers. Many a time surfers will run past you or step over you to get to and from the sea. We got some great pictures. The French worship Kelly Slater and when he competes they go crazy flocking around him like he’s a rock star.
On a whole we got really lucky with the contest. When it was off we journeyed north to surf quieter waves and when we came back to watch we barely seemed to miss a heat.
The most impressive surfer we thought throughout was an Aussie called Mick Fanning. It came down to a final between Fanning and Slater. Fanning won in huge hollow waves that were double over head. We enjoyed the show but were glad to head to quieter spots straight after.