Paradis Plage

Flat day fun...

I met some guys out surfing who are instructors at the 5* beach resort 'Paradis Plage' - about 20 minutes up the coast from Tagazhout. So, I played my cards right and managed to get a day out at the resort!

 I thought I was doing really well.....

Apparently not.

All photos: Canon 1000d

www.Paradisplage.com

Brits on tour

Last night all the 'gappies' headed to the local City - 'Agadir' to check out the Moroccan night life. Needless to say we were not disappointed but that may be due to the amounts of alcohol we all consumed.....

Sober...

...Not so sober

Dawny

On Friday afternoons we teach English to the kids up at the local school in Tagazhout. The plan therefore is to get up early, get a dawn session in then come back to Tagazhout for the afternoon... 

Everything ran smoothly - 6:50 start, up, packed and out of the door by seven. However, slight hitch, no van or driver. We waited a few minutes; Moroccan time is 10 minutes late for everything. 7:30, still nothing, we could've stayed in bed! Eventually, 2 hours later our driver rocked up ...apparently dawnys dont exist in Morocco.

Lucy, Alice and Me

Devil's Rock, Tamracht

Canon 1000D // ISO 200 F5.6

Since we got here, only Tamri (a North facing beach 40 minutes away) has been working, though the last couple days we have been getting some swell coming in around Tagazhout, meaning we can go explore the beaches round here! So far we've only been to a few - Panoramas, Crocro and this morning Devil's rock, all three are beach breaks within 10 minutes drive of Tagazhout. It was nice, small peeling waves which are perfect waves for all of us to practice our technique on!

Flat day fun

Tagazhout is still flat, the only place that works is Tamri, a beach break 40 mins away from us. However, we, and all the other surf schools within a 20 mile radius, have been there all day everyday for the last 3 weeks... So despite it being a beach with sun, +20ºc and surf, we have all come to the conclusion that we hate the place... 

This morning, instead of stopping at Tamri we just carried on driving. We ended up road tripping up North until we came across Imsouane - a small town with a good beach break. There were still no waves but anything beats Tamri and, as we discovered, Imsouane is a really amazing place! 

Will found his secret talent

We all became 3 year olds again as soon as we found these rock pools!

Morocco has this really cool system were you can buy/catch your own fish and take it to the restaurants and they'll cook it for you. So for lunch, our surf guide Hassan got some freshly caught fish from the market and we took it to a small beach side cafe; aside from all the Moroccan belly it caused it was a great lunch!

Will @ Imsouane beach

Pictures: Canon 1000D 

We attempted to surf some of the small waves and had some fun on our foamies... Will shredded as per usual despite the swell being about 1ft.

The girls

Us girls at Paradise Valley

Canon 1000d // F8 ISO 200 

Generic Sunsets..

Sunset @ Anchor point

Canon 1000d // F8 ISO200

This evening we took a stroll down to Anchors, a world class surf break - famous for its long peeling rights.. Obviously it's flat at the mo, but we're all looking forward to watching it when its pumping! (Maybe surfing it when we're better...!)

We've been here now just over a fortnight and so far the only break that has been working is Tamri, a North facing beach a 40 min drive up the coast. Just having the one place working = busy busy busy, hurry up waves!

Camel fun

Crocro beach, Tamracht, Morocco

 GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition

The Gang

8 idiots abroad...

There's 8 of us on the course all together, the majority from England, also Will from California, Flick from Australia/Germany/doesn't really know her origins and Ni from the Maldives.

 Flick, Lucy, Alice, Me, Gary, Luke and Will

Imsouane, Morocco

Canon 1000d // F8.0 1/500 ISO400

 'The four blondes': Flick, Lucy, Me & Alice

Imsouane, Morocco

Canon 1000d // f10 1/800 ISO400

Salam Tagazhout!

And so it begins...

I've arrived at my new home for 3 months: Tagazhout - A fishing village in Morocco, 20 minutes drive from Agadir and close to some World class breaks such as Anchor Point, Killer Point and Boilers!!

 Bye Bye UK! 

@ Heathrow

Having been a 'boarding school kid' going away for long periods of time isn't a problem, though i've never been out of the country for this long before...

View from the 'Surf Berbere' roof terrace 

where we'll be staying for the next 3 months!

iPhone 4 // f/2.8 ISO 80 

I'm staying at a Surf camp called Surf Berbere, the plan is to pretty much surf all day everyday for the next 12 weeks (similar to a ski season I guess...). Aside from the surfing side we will also be helping out with the local community teaching the guys in the town English, learning french, helping out with things such as beach cleans and experiencing the general Moroccan culture. By the time we come home in December we will hopefully all be ASI level 1 surf instructors and Beach lifesavers too! 

Tagazhout by night

Canon 1000d // f3.5 ISO 800

Packed and ready to go!

Not sure whether I have enough bikinis?

Family

Sooo, today is my last day in the UK before I'm going travelling... I've been at boarding school since I was 13 so I'm pretty used to going away for such long lengths of time, especially now i'm at Uni too but it's always sad saying your goodbyes regardless of the situation!

All Photos: Canon 1000D

SURF'S UP

11.08.2013

Mens Surf Open @ Fistral Beach, Newquay.

And first place for Mens Short board final goes to... 

Billy Stairmand!!

Raglan, Newzealand

Billy Stairmand and Chris Friend still battling it out even though the comp is over!

Ben Skinner took first place in the Finals of the Mens Longboard comp!

Pictures: Taken by me

Canon EOS 1000D

BOARDMASTERS

9 - 11th August 2013

Emma and I managed to get a few days off so we headed to the North Coast to Boardmasters - Festival of surfing and music!



If you have a chance watch these videos! Such a sick weekend.

The day after we both looked as fresh as daisies (hohoho)

Photos taken by Emma or Me 

Canon EOS 1000D

Money Vs Fun

So, every student will tell you, summer jobs are the worst.. Who wants to be working when the sun is out, there are festivals and parties to be going to and Waves to catch! However, with the date i'm setting of on my travels looming I realised it was essential to get a job, though like everyone else the question posed - 'Have fun or work?' 

Or both!

I managed to grab myself a pub job in Cornwall, that way I could work, sail and surf all in one! So that's the story of how I ended up staying in the attic of a pub.

This was my room for the time I was working here, luxurious I know. For most of the time I was sharing it with my best friend Emma who also got a job here, though she left before me, meaning I was all alone in this creepy attic...

L'Espanol

Alfaix, Spain.

Whilst sitting around in gloomy, rainy Wales - the only weather Wales ever has, my Mum called me up and said 'Hey, how about a last minute trip to the South of Spain?'.

And here begins the tale of a trip in Spain with my amazing Mum!

 Always time for a bit of golf! I got artistic and put my GoPro down the hole, pretty cool eh!

 Spain is famous for its markets full of fakes! 

Grenada, The Alejandra palace.

If you get a chance, you have to visit this place. Incredible.

Photos: Mum or Me or a random tourist we asked nicely..

GoPro Hero2 / Canon EOS 1000D