Archive for: Travel

As with every passing year I try to push the limits of my surfing that little bit further, both in terms of frequency and location, but also in terms of conditions: size and temperature of the water. 2008 was no different. So on a cold winters day back in mid December when the charts were showing a solid 10-15ft swell (it wasn’t actually that big) I made the call to The Dog and we decided to make the trip down to Newquay for a few days of cold water action.

The latest in the year that I have surfed in the UK is 6 December at East Runton back in 2007. This year we managed to push that date back to 13 December (only a week’s difference, but later all the same).

For the past few years, when it has got cold I have been doubling up the wetsuits wearing the 2/2 shortie underneath the 3/2 Rip Curl Classic with a few rash vests, plus Xcel 5mm boots and gloves and an O’Neill surf cap (yes they make you look like a knob, but keep you warm). This year I surfed the first day doubled-up, but the next morning I thought it was time to upgrade and get serious. Richie and I headed down to North Shore surf shop and I tried on various wetsuits. I particularly liked the Alder ones: they were in the sale, but also good quality materials. I tried on the Evo 5/4/3, but found the new top entry style too much of a stress to get in and out of, so I opted for the 5/4/3 Plasma Storm. This wetsuit is a cracker, with glide skin lining, liquid seems, super stretchy neoprene and a nice batwing enclosure to stop flushes.

Immediately after buying it, we headed out into the surf. I was toasty, minimal flushes, more flexibility and more time in the water, happy days!

I was also lucky this Christmas to receive an Xcel 2mm hooded polypro rash vest. I haven’t tried this bit of kit out yet, but I am already getting a solid pre-stoke on about our next cold water trip (penned in for sometime in January) as I know I am going to be even warmer (5/4/3 + 2mm hooded rashie is a sure fire recipe for toastyness). Throw in the Rip Curl tidemaster watch and I am set.

All I can say is thanks Santa (Rosana) for treating me well this Christmas :)

I’ve finally got around to editing my holiday photos from Athens and Crete and uploaded a few to my Flickr account, go check em out and let me know what you think!

I was pretty stoked today whilst flicking through Carve Magazine to find out that one of my photos made it into the Sessions section of issue 102. The picture was taken just before I headed off to Greece at the start of October when Rich and I hit up an early session at East Runton and were rewarded for our efforts.

Our final excursion before returning to the UK was to the Akrotiri peninsula located to the east of Chania. It is quite barren and its northern extent is lined by steep hills. We stopped at the beach at Kalathas which had a strange orange/brown sediment that was flowing into the bay creating a marked contrast the the normally blue water, I am not sure if it was pollution or something less menacing.

Our second stop was the beach at Stavros. which consisted of a beautiful, sheltered bay (where we snorkelled) with a series of rock pools with all sorts of wildlife from fish and urchins to octopus.

Our final stop was the to check out the monastery at Moni Gouverneto. As we arrived a little late in the evening we didn’t have time to get all the way down to the ruins of Moni Katholiko, but we did manage to see the Bear Cave which has a massive stalagmite in the middle resembling the shape of a bear. The main monastery at  Moni Gouverneto was quite understated from the outside, but a place of amazing calm and beautifully-kept gardens, temple and courtyard on the inside.

All in all our trip to Greece was amazing and I would definitely consider going back in the future, although I would try to avoid the high season and the places that attract the typical beer-swilling, foul-mouthed and ill-behaved, drunken English tourists.

The second of our day trips was to Elafonisi situated on south eastern tip of Crete, 43km from Kastelli and 76km from Chania.

We drove from Chania through the Gorge of Topolia and the mountain towns of Topolia, Myli, Elos, Kefali, and Vathi amongst others, taking in the breathtaking scenery as we went.

The area of Elafonisi has amazing EU blue flag beaches, perfect turquoise waters and white and pink sands. In front of the mainland is the island of Elafonisi itself. At low tide you can walk across from the main land to the island where you can walk around the dunes and swim in the sea. We snorkelled and sunbathed and generally had a very chilled out time. Another amazing day to add to our collection.