Faiser Chief's Blog

Return of the chief

2007-03-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

So back to travelling here there & everywhere.

Been to Cambridge...

Gloucester...

...Trowbridge (no picture funnily enough), Salisbury, Bristol, Dulverton, Dorset & I am now in....
The Channel Islands, Guernsey!!!

Got here on the ferry which left from Portsmouth...

I have my own appartment. The Lounge...

The Kitchen...

My Bedroom...

Even the surfboards had their own Bedroom & Beds!!!

The Swimming pool!!

Here's where I work...

The Pharmacy is the largest supplier of BoTox & Aesthetic's in Europe!

This is my desk (I work pretty hard)...

The view from the Pharmacy...

T

Neil & Prit's wedding

2006-12-23T13:24:00.000-08:00

Neil & Prit's wedding registration ceremony was at Brighton's town hall...

They both looked really happy signing the register - shame they would'nt look at my bloody camera! ;-)

Confetti makes an appearance..

Before the happy couple got whisked away in a stretch limo...

...with champers...

...to the reception...

Some are happy to have their photo taken...

...others not so happy...

The cake is cut...

...and things get messy towards the end of a great do! Well done & congrats to Neil & Priti..

... heres to you guys!!

Saturday 07th October - How long since last update?

2006-12-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry its been so long since I updated my blog spot - I've been busy at work with no internet access.

So I left Superdrug Ilfracombe that week & hung up the badge for a while...

So this weekend me & "The family" went to check out the 6ft Dosa at forest gates "Dosa" restaurant...

I had a couple of weeks of after leaving Ilfracombe which was much needed to repair my surfboard & wetsuit.

Rips & Rocks!

2006-10-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 20th September 2006 is a day I will remember for the rest of my life.
I finish work & head to Putsborough. Its One & a half overhead at least, with double overhead sets coming in.
I get a nervous feeling in my stomach cos I know I'm gonna give it a go.
I look at where its smallest...through the rocks.
Theres a rip there so figure what the heck!

I go in & am paddling for 10 minutes. The rips not quite picked me up, & I'm getting close to the the south rock wall.
I look behind me & things are getting worse - theres a jutting out rock there & to make matters worse theres a 2ft wave coming towards me. SHIT! This is not happening.
A flukily well timed & executed duck dive & I'm out of danger & in the rip heading out the back. I'm very close to the south wall now & pretty scared.
I paddle away from the wall. I rest for a bit - shaken up.

I see a set coming - I'm in position. To late to paddle past it! Gotta go for.
I paddle, knowing I'm gonna get trashed - I do after nearly getting up on the wave.
When I submerge a surfer gets off a wave next to me & says "shit man don't you know to look over your shoulder!" smiles & paddles out the back.
Time to go in me thinks! I catch awave & don't even think about getting up - I'm clutching my board for dear life!
I get in. The news reports hurricane gordon's waves are hitting devon & cornwalls coast.
PJ's surf report warns surfers to take care!

I forgot my camera that day so the above pic's don't do the day justice. The next day was similar but slightly bigger - heres some pic's with the digital the next day.
I've made a movie too!

"OUTSIDE!"

Out through the rocks - DON'T try this at home kids!

BOSH!

Nice double overhead set...

And another..

Ok - here's the clip I've edited - amateur I know but what did you expect?!
click here

Will & Vals wedding!

2006-10-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? Another wedding! After a hard weeks work where I hand in my resignation at Superdrug, Ilfracombe (long story - not worth reflecting back on!) I head back to "Landan" Friday night. Upon awaking Saturday morning I realise I have nowt to wear having left my work clothes in Devon.
Nothing for it but to go shopping at Canary Wharf - just 20 mins from my place by DLR. I love Greenwich!
Fortunately I said I was not gonna be at the ceremony - I get there at half 2 in a taxi just as lunch is being dished out!
We Enjoy the fantastic wine & food...

"Mmh - I don't normaly like tomatoes Fais but this is delicious!"

Will gets his own speech out of the way in typical wit & style.

Tough one to follow for Martin the best man, but handled like a true proffesional...

After lunch the cake is cut...

The wine does the job..

As does the lager...

The helium balloons were destined for our lungs from the outset...
"Think your a tuff guy, huh?"
(click on this text for the video clip)

Come on guys, bring us back to sanity. Ah yes the first dance...

They were almost outshone by this young groover - check out this bad boy!!
(click here for video clip)

The wedding celebration was awesome as are the couple who did the deed, don't they look gorgeous together...

Paula Paul's Wedding celebration.

2006-10-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

We've driven 8 hours from Stranraer. Its 4am. Me & Davy are cream crackered!
After a good sleep we get up to a lovely day & head off to Paula & Pauls wedding celebration at Narrow st pub Limehouse. An excellent choice I might add ;-)
Cal & Tej approved...

Here we are before the carnage started...

The happy couple was there to greet us...

With champagne & balloons...

A great time was had by all.
Here's the calm, witty, mild mannered Steve...

But give him a few pints & a viking hat...
He turns into STEVIL!!!

As usual Paul gets blotto - but then again why not be happy when your married to a lovely welsh lass.
Congratulations again guys!!!

August 26th - Bank holiday, Ireland surf holiday - "Too small to go in"!

2006-09-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

So the bank holiday finally arrives. Friday I drive back to London to meet Stu & Mel, Paula & Paul, Mel, Kate & others for a drink. Saturday I catch the train to Cardiff for the Snow Patrol gig in Coopers field with Davey, Liz, Andy & Tom.
Think Snow Patrol are "OK", the gig was good.

The next day we started the dreaded journey to Belfast - the 8 hour drive to Stranraer ferry port. Ugh!
We get to Daveys parents (who are very sweet) at about half 10.
Daveys dad cooked us an awesome Ulster fry before we headed off to Donegal coast, Rossanowlagh.
Town hall - Belfast...

I took some Photo's along the way.

A mountain near streedagh strand...

We managed to pitch up in a caravan site just as everyone was leaving as a weather front was due in!
We still managed to get the Barbie going before it chucked it down!

Ireland is well known for HUGE surf, we visited all the main spots on the coast & it was too small to go in! ;-)

Yup it was flat...

(Narin beach)
flat...

flat!

(East strand, Portrush, Causeway coast)

Meanwhile it was "going off" on the Devon & Welsh beaches! Quite funny looking back but gutted at the time!
To be fair, the first night there was a messy 1ft wave at Rossanowlagh.
Spot the lone surfer out - it was VERY windy & a long paddle out - He was a better man than me!!!

Also we did go in for a surf the next day at Streedagh strand but it was "totally closing out dude" & still only 1ft (its the first time I've seen a 1ft close out! Very funny!) with the odd 2ft set.

So this is where the boards stayed most of the holiday - in the bags or on the roof.
(Picture at streedagh after our surf)

Again to be fair we did Surf Port Ballintrae later in the hols on the causeway coast.
It was 3ft-5ft! However locals hogged the break & it was impossible to get on the wave - Davey managed to catch one on his fish & do a "bottom turn". I nearly caught one on the shortboard but pulled out for fear of running a body boarder over!

Port Ballintrae on a flatter day as I was too excited to take a picture on the day surf arrived for just that day!...

So we headed for Portrush - with no surf at least we could get pissed!
We stayed in a dive at Portrush. It was £8 a night!
We got a shit surf in (.5-1ft) at west strand, but this was cool as an airshow rehearsal was going on & we got pulled over by the "Surf Police"!! This made our day!
Wish I took my waterproof camera in with me for evidence!

We went to the local pub on the Friday & made friends with the locals & Kelly's night club on Saturday.

Sunday we watched the airshow at Port rush from the balcony at the hostel we were staying at.

Heres some clips of the red arrows..

clip1

clip2

Here they are in perfect formation

So, with no surf it was time to do some site seeing. We checked out Port Ballintrae just in case on the monday as troggs surf report said there maybe something - Lying bastards!!!
To be fair even the flags wee confused about the wind direction at Port Ballintrae....

Ofshore or onshore?

OK, OK!! No, surf - get over it!!
We headed to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge.
The view on the way...

This pic of a very nervous tourist crossing the bridge...

Next it was off to the Giants Causeway...

Start of the walk...

Past the Giant's Organ (Ooer!!)

Here's the causeway side on..

The rocks on the causeway up close are pretty cool, super cooled infact! Its molten rock which was solidified by the ocean thus its amazing shape.

One more..

Davey had to illegaly park in the middle of the road so I could take this pic of Dunluce castle...

I took this pic so you could read about the history of the sights we saw..

It was a great holiday in the end davy did most of the driving while I took all the pic's...

All good things come to an end as we drive onto the ferry home...

Overdue update! July 29th - August 19th

2006-09-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

So at last time to do an update - or start one at least.
The weekend after Pauls stag do was spent chilling in Ilfracombe. Davy visited, bought a longboard himself & we got a couple of 3ft classic sessions in - nice one bruv!

The following weekend was spent at fruit stock festival - here's a wee pick of the stage.

My sis & husband Andy were down that weekend so we went into London town to piss about first, before I left them to head on to regents park...

Ok - I'm ready when you are sis..

On the train - No mum I'm not lending you a tenner!..

"Mate - I'm not a tourist I live here!!!"

The next weekend (12th August) I spent in Gorseinon, Wales. We had stuff to sort for the up & coming holiday to Ireland.

The weekend (19th) after was spent chilling in Ilfracombe - unexpectedly, an old friend, Beth got in touch & we went down to St Ives for the day as she was working in Cornwall that week.

A 2ft wave pushed through on Sunday so I went for a surf at Croyde.

Pauls stag weekend!!!!! - July 22nd.

2006-08-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

After work on the Friday I pick up Barry "enroute" & head to Worth Matravers in Dorset for Pauls stag do.
That night after pitching up tents we head into the small town of Corfe for a booze up.
After a few pints we decided it would be a good idea to storm Corfe Castle by night!!!!
It was ;-)

The next day we started our walk (heres the gang at the start-from left to right: Me, Barry, Karl(sat down), Neil, JB, Mark,Steve,James,Stu(satdown), Neil,Paul)

past the steam train track...

It then started to rain & thunder so we hid under some trees... for half an hour!

We were soaked but we all decided to carry on after the storm had passed but for one splitter - you know who you are!!!!!

When the rain had stopped we headed into a pub - can someone please explain this reverse logic to me?

After one more pub stop we headed on past this beautiful meadow...

to dancing ledge...

Some of us went in for a dip - living by the sea in north devon I was'nt tempted myself & in any case I did'nt have my board with me & there were "no waves dude!"
Mark & Stu thought it would be a good idea to jump off this cliff - Nutters!!!

We headed on...

& on (reservoir dogs in dorset)...

"ofcoarse this is the right way - the seas on our left...Hey, is'nt this map upside down?"

we stop for a break...

to enjoy the view...

onwards to the famous square & compass pub...

back to the campsite for a bbq..

Paul gets excited about an old birthday present, he WAS the happiest boy in Dorset!

This site seems to have the ongoing theme of being chased / cornered by cows!!
This time on the way to the pub that evening - little did they know we'd get the last laugh..

We went into the greyhound inn...

..Muppets..

On the way home we decided that we could'nt let cows get the better of us. It was time to launch "operation cow terrorism". Thats right it was time to release "The Swarm" in the cow field!!!
George Bush would have been proud - & yes looking back I agree - we too like GW were TWATS!
Check out this little vid clip of "The Swarm!"

The cows after this did chase us off the field a 2nd time!

We headed back to the campsite to consume more booze by a campfire.
Boys being boys - we decided it would be a good idea to light a balloon full of Butane .
Being a responsible adult myself I decided to film the experiment whilst hiding behind a deckchair ;-)
Enjoy...
Click on this

The next day it was all out war - PAINTBALL STYLE!!
Heres the crack cow terrorism squad...

Some things that go on the stag will remain on the stag though ;-)
Well done to Paul & Stu for organisizing, in my humble opinion, the best stag do ever!

Me & sis walking in the Cotswolds. July15th

2006-07-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

I Had'nt spent a weekend with just my sister for as long as I could remember so we arranged to meet halfway. With me in Devon & her up North near Manchester Cheltenham was a good midpoint with plenty of walks to do.

We spent Friday wondering town. My sister insisted on taking this picture of a obscure clothes chain shop. Surely its not called the "C" word......!

Next we headed to the park. There was this huge flowering tree which smelt gorgeous! Anyone know what its called?...

I was more interested in the swings...

The next day we walked around Guiting Power. Fitting as my sister is a "Power" walker ;-)

Past a wee stream...

After we visted some Roman ruins.

The next & last day we walked around Winchcombe...

and Sudeley Castle...

to the top of a hill..

ending the perfect weekend where else..but a pub garden!

Diving in UK, Dorset, Portland. July 8th.

2006-07-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

Karen was looking for someone to fill a space diving in Portland. After exhausting all other options, she asked me to come along ;-)
We needed 7mm wetsuits with hoods!!!!

BRING OUT THE GIMP!!!

YOU KILLED MY MASTER - AAAARGH!!!

It was soon time to stop pissing about & kit up...

Durdle door, & the countess wreck were 2 of the sites we dived at. We saw a couple of ship wrecks, crabs, fish. The visibilty was not great at 5m tops and 1-3meters for the most part. I'm told it gets up to 20m though!
It was great diving experience & totally different to what I'm used. Not sure I'll dive in the UK again though after hearing lots of nightmare stories of strong currents...:-s.

July 1st: Canoe trip!!

2006-07-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

So it was that our annual canoe trip at Ross-on-Wye came about. I arrived at the campsite on the friday. Heres Ruth posing in front of the site...

Here's Steve, Ruth, JB & Owen chilling at the site..

The next day we covered 11 miles before the disapointing England game. I'm pretty sure I saw Cal (pictured here in Celtic top) supporting England at one point-but he denies all!

We passed some swans..

& some cows!!!

Then stopped for food on a bank...

Soon it was time for Cal, Julie & Mark to power on down the river again...

Enjoying gorgeous views on the way...

Stu organized the event & found it difficult to stay aboard at one point mistaking some rocks for rapids - ;-). Nice one Stu - well done for a great weekend! Also pictured is Simon & Mel (In the boat!).
"Hold on - Two of you, one of me, on the river, in a canoe?!! Its PIMMS O'clock"..

At the end it was all too much for my arse as the seats were "tres" uncomfortable!

All good things come to an end, in this case at Simmonds Yat. Well done Stu for organizing it all!!

MOTHER!!!!

2006-07-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yup, so it was that mum came up to visit. Owning a house with Mum in Greenwich means I am the constant butt of jokes - being called Norman Bates (of film Psycho fame) etc.
Here is a pic of me & "MOTHER!!!" at Watermouth castle..

I took "Mother" on a scenic drive to combe martin taking pics along the way..

I confess we ended up at the beach on the last day so I could get a cheeky surf in! Mum tried to get some pics of me but is a technophobe so was not able to use the zoom :-s.

Mum had a great time embarrassing me at work, (I had to give her a kiss when she came to visit, when staff pressured me!) visiting Lynton, doing a boat trip from Ilfracombe harbour. Well done Mumsie!

June 24th - New Girlfriend...

2006-07-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

Most of you fortunately took no offense, :-s, to my tongue in cheek male chauvanistist text message about my new 9ft2" longboard (girlfriend - quite sad really!)
Here she is in all her glory - was quite small at Saunton that weekend so it works for what it was bought for.

June 17th - Weekend at Davy's - Safari in Wales!

2006-07-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

After another hard weeks work without surf for but a day, I went to Gorseinon to see Davy & Pav. Pav is an old university mate too & ANOTHER optometrist! We camped at Llangenith beach. The first day was spent chilling & skim boarding....

I was busting some moves...

Whilst Davy & Pav nearly busted their ankles ;-)...

Here's how you do it guys ;-)...

Davy & Pav decided it was easier to balance the board on their head rather than balance on the board it self...

I'm so sorry Davy, but I could not resist adding this camp one of yerself - tee hee!

That night (&lunch for that matter!) Davy & Pav cooked up a storming BBQ which I contributed nothing to - Ooopsie! Thanks guys!

The next day we met up with Andy & Liz to take the dogs for a walk...

We saw some horses race down the sand dune in front of us!!!

We were then cornered by a herd of cows!!!! I think they wanted their Dairylea back ;-). Marley decided to have a stand off with them it was indeed a true UK safari experience!

We headed on for a game of frisby - "Z" would'nt give the frisby back when he finally got it...

Ah go on - give it back "Z"...

Ah well time for a beer!

This babies mine...

The end of another fine weekend in Wales

June 10th - Waxing off the cooked board - DOH!

2006-07-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend England played Paraguay & won unconvincingly. I stripped the wax off my board at home in London to find that it had bubbled up on the side - I'd left it in the hot car during the flat spell - how could I have been so stupid!!?? :-(

Dirty board...

Clean, cooked surfboard - "Dya want fries with that?" - You can see its bubbled on the righthand side of the board.

Cream tea profanity! Clubbing with spidey! Surfing & walking in Devon.

2006-06-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend just gone (2nd-4th June 2006) Esther came to visit for a surf lesson or two. Esther is a friend I've made through internet dating.
On the Saturday morning we went on a "goose chase" - which in surfing terms is a hunt for decent waves. First we looked at Woolacombe. It was 0.5-1ft (triple overhead...for mice...as Gary would say)
We then drove past Croyde which was slightly bigger at 1ft. We ended up at Saunton (0.5ft -1ft) because its a good place to learn & the rides are longer. It was packed!!!

We hired two 8.4ft softboards & headed out. Esther did really well considering - she caught a wave paddling by herself (difficult when its just a 1ft wave!) & got up on her knees on the first day. I caught some seriously long rides & was really surprised as the waves were tiny!

We surfed til 3pm then went for a cream tea, then on a walk from Woolacombe to Morte point. No pics - sorry!!

That night we met up with Barry & his mates in Woolacombe, after a wicked Italian meal at "Alfredo's" in Ilfracombe. We drank at "West beach", "The Jube" & ended up in "Club Marisco" where some of Barry's mates were DJing. Not my scene normally but was fun - especially when you see Spidey clubbing! LOOK!

Spidey is my favourite superhero so was well chuffed to be throwing shapes with the master!

The next day I was feeling a bit rough after just 6 hours alcohol induced sleep. I was hoping for at least a rideable day as I wanted to get in the water to rid the hangover - best cure believe me! I was'nt impressed at the eyeballsurf.com camera but was relieved to see the swell holding when we got to Saunton again. Yesterday we were in the water for 4 hours & we did the same Sunday!
Esther managed to stand up on the board today so mission accomplished!

We then decided to Chill. Another cream tea was in order! We went to the Marwood tea rooms.

For those of you who've not heard the fabled story - this is the Church hall where I exclaimed the profanity "JESUS CHRIST!!!!" as the cream was served when me Barry, Paula & Paul went there 2 weekends ago much to the amusement of said friends...

And heres why!!!

Was a cool weekend & think Esther will now be starting a training regime to strenghten her upper body to enable her to tackle triple overhead surf (for Homo Sapiens!) as I believe she has now caught surf fever herself!

I may start charging for "Faisels surf school" as I may have a another student in the near future...

Aussie beach wear & Uk surf don't mix!

2006-06-04T12:59:00.000-07:00

Heres a quick photo of me after a surf at Croyde Thursday 1st June 2006.
The weather was gorgeous, the waves were pooh (1ft tops!) so I thought I'd go in with just a rashy & boardies for half hour only so I'd not have to rinse the wetsuit.
I was in for 40 minutes (caught 3 waves!) & shivering for 60 minutes on exit....

Bank Holiday weekend back in London

2006-06-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

Bank holiday weekend I decided to go back to London. Saturday night was spent getting "mashed up" with Cahil , Gavin (his brother) & someone else called Jenny I think?!
They are all Celtic so were very difficult to understand after several pints. A good night was had by all.
Sunday was spent initially on the south bank. I met a nice lady for a drinking lunch date which was cool - another friend made. The search continues...
There was a sort of festival going on outside the Royal festival hall where I met my date. Heres a snipet of the African act on at the time. Theres a rubbish clip I've put on youtube if your interested, but if I was you I'd not bother! Click on this

After the date I went met up with Karen. We killed time wondering into a health food shop - If you ever need some "Nagata Kukicha organic roasted ranch twig tea" you can get it from Brewer st, Picadilly circus! Weird! Karen (old training buddy) was considering a purchase though...
They also had some of this if you run out & can't find any in Sainsbury's...
Green tea with brown rice? Whats that about?
We met up with Michael (another training buddy) after to drink some more & play pool - sorry Mike I'll make sure I get a pic of you on the blog next time.

The weekend went too quickly and it was back to work before I knew it...

Point break & Random tellytubby picture

2006-05-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

First heres a random picture I forgot to add on the Easter weekend update (Davy's Birthday).
A stranded tellytubby on a signpost on the way to 3 cliffs from Andy & Liz's house. Yesterday I went to Lynmouth to surf as it was triple overhead at Woolacombe & a SW wind making the surf messy (not that I'd have gone in even if it was clean!)
I calculated that Lynmouth would be "going off" with an offshore wind. It was a clean 2-3ft!
A surfer I talked to out the back said "Get up on the wave.. don't wipe out on the rocks.. head for the poles!" - I was scared...
It Rained...Heavily!
I caught two nice waves & pulled out of most as I was crapping myself! I will be more confident with the break next time.

So there you go - UK surfers really are hardcore (no NOT mental Amy! ;-))

Cream tea's & walks in Devon

2006-05-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend just gone Barry, Paul, & Paula came to visit Woolacombe. On Saturday we decided to head to Hillsborough bridge to start a walk. We get in the car & head off after checking the map ;-)

We start the walk past some Wild Garlic....
...& a Waterfall...
Paula convinces us to eat some shamrocks (they taste very tangy surprisingly enough!).
We find a place which does cream teas...

I get stuck in...(Yes I realise I need a haircut & am looking like an Asian Tree Troll! Thats why I'm not in anymore of these pic's! Haircut booked for this Thursday)
We head off planning to climb some hills for the views of Lynton - it ends up being one or two more hills than we planned!

We enjoy the views along the way...
The bottom left corner (opposite side of where the country house is in the picture) is where we started & where we had cream tea's.
We finally get to the view of Lynton.
Lynton is an example of a "point break"...

On the way back from Lynton we find a pub with Morris dancers! Theres a festival this weekend..
We go in & watch...

...whilst having a pint...
Morris dancing signifys fertility, the sticks & banging wards off evil spirits. The blue & green costumes signify the moors - the higher the dancers jump the bigger the crop yields that year.

We decide to start the journey home via a different route. We find a stream which we cross...

View from the bridge of the stream it crosses...

Here we are heading up the last hill. Or so Paul said ;-)...

The next day we went to combe martin wildlife & dinosaur park which was surprisingly excellent - unfortunately I did'nt take any pic's of the Meercats, Lima'a, Wolf's, Monkey's, & Sea lions we saw.

Big Surf at Woolacombe!

2006-05-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

So here I am in Ilfracombe again working at Superdrug. Ilfracombe is a 10 minute drive from Devons most beautiful beach, Woolacombe. I've scored a long term locum position here - Woo Hoo!!

The first week I got here the surf was real big, by the time the weekend came it had died down slightly but still massive - Look!

Believe it or not this head high set was one of the smaller waves that day...

Someone was airlifted from the beach that day. Goes to show you that surfing "out the back" really is safer than surfing whitewash.

Anyway, I was finding the "fast takeoff" a wee bit difficult to handle so I headed to Saunton which is a learners & long boarders beach where it was a tiny bit smaller but more importantly was a slower take off...

Easter weekend & Davy's birthday / house warming

2006-05-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

So its Davy's birthday. He's bought a gorgeous 2 bedroom house in Gorseinon close to the beach!
Sorry Davy there's no pic's of you & the actual party!

Me, Marcus, Andy, Liz went for a walk on Saturday while Davy was at work.

I know Marcus (far left) Andy & Liz through Davy obviously.

Z is one of Liz & Andy's dogs. He's great at fetching & carrying rocks in his mouth!

Three cliffs...

Marley is Andy & Liz's dog too - Here he is in front of 3 Cliffs bay.
& again looking more grumpy - don't think he likes camera's! He likes to sneak off on his own & lose the rest of us...
Marley's gone walkabout on the beach! Who can blame him, its gorgeous.

Well Davy's Birthday was ace - I was so wasted the rest of the weekend I forgot to take any more pics! Sorry!!

London-Torquay-Oxford! April update

2006-04-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

I've been working in Torquay for 2.5 weeks now. The harbours nice, the rest of town is not the nicest place I've seen in Devon.

I dish out hardcore drugs to a total of 38 addicts. I then celebrate with a nice cup of tea...

I've been to canonteign falls - Britains largest apparently at 72meters. The buggers charged me £3.90 to see the natural wonder(!?)

During the week on my day off I went to see Joy & Bini & the kids Conor & Sammy in Oxford.
I also went on a date in Oxford which was cool. I have another this weekend, but thats already too much information ;-)

Anyway, Conor & Sammy are really cute.

Conor is the best fisherman in Oxford...
No, we can't put that on the Barbie Conor!

Conors favourite word is "Donkers!!!"
I reckon its the first word Sammy will spout!

Ahhh!!

Soon it was time to do what I was really sent here to do...Surf. First weekend at Saunton & Putsborough (no photos). Second weekend at Newquay bay. The weather was gorgeous & it was going off...

Heres me after a successful surf.

Time to chill (literally) on the beach.

Next I head for Harlyn bay...

I grab my board & head in. Its low tide & there could be tears before bedtime...

Some surfers were "rippin' it out the back"...

I'm knackered from the morning surf so leave after an hour. Its been a tough but good day for surf.

March 15th Back home with holiday summary & photos

2006-03-15T04:47:00.000-08:00

Yup back home.
Sorry to hear that Gazza has dislocated his shoulder :-O!!!
Go check out the story at g2007.com - you know it makes sense!
Like a true surfing hero he's keen to get back on his board.
Accidents always happen in all dangerous sports when we let our guards down & conditions are less dangerous than what we are used to. (Triple overhead normally is'nt it gazza? ;-) )

Heres a few photos telling tales from the last month...

Most of it was spent driving to surf (although I don't know if what Gary does can be called driving??!!)...

... then surfing (you can see the repaired nose where someone ran over me!)...

...waiting for surf...

...keeping an eye out for danger....

...getting stung by bluebottles...

...at Tropfest (A Sydney film festival) - me, Mike & Rachel left before the storm! Mark is the chap with his usual cheesy smile...

...playing pool & drinking (no intro's required for Gazza & Rachel)...

...carrying on the session at the ice bar...

...Rachel mingled with some of the cooler customers...

...soon it was time for another drink...

... I needed to sit down for a bit...

...then it was time to party on the rooftops of sydney by the pool!! (Mike - AKA Spoona - & Matt)...

...all the gang was there (Michelle, Suzi, Reidy,Rach,Mike,)...

...naturally Spoona makes an appearance on the drums...

Back home its cold. Can't wait for the next installment of adventure...

12th March 2006 : Dive another day...

2006-03-12T02:00:00.000-08:00

Another great day of diving I'm pleased to say, with one last surprise in store...
We head for the Muron Islands an hour boat trip from Exmouth. The group is quiet & subdued, but I'm happy because with the divemasters I like :-).

I dive with just Boardies & no wetsuit (cos I'm crazy like that ;-)!!) & use too much weight. No drama's though as I've learnt to breathe deeper to cope with this - wasteful on air though.

1st dive starts with some more white tip reef sharks - we spotted 4 in total today. 1 on its own I named billy "no mates". Swimming along I see a crowd of 4 divers. I'm naughty & leave our group to find a huge BULL RAY buried under the sand!!! Its pre-historic & is 2m in diameter I reckon!
My Dive master finds me, rolls his eyes & we are off again.

Wondering along for a bit we see Lionfish, schools of fish, another White tip (getting bored of them!) I am treated by the sight of a Wobbegong shark ascending to my left, of of no where. Its following the dive master. I'm slapping my hand to attreact his attention to no avail. He finally sees it as it settles on some rocks & coral. Never seen one swimming before - really cool! Its about 1.5m.

Just before we come out on the safety stop an inquisitive little Tail fin Batfish wonders around us coming within inches to say hello. Very cute. Ahhh!

2nd dive was just chilled with just a group of 3 white tips together - took off more weights so control was better. All in all another ace day. Into the Pot shots hotel for beer to end a perfect chilled day.
Off to Perth tomorrow for 1 day then back to London. Hopefully the next adventure will be documented here soon, but watch out for the photos which will be added.

It's Alive!!!

2006-03-05T04:52:00.000-08:00

The Faiser Chief, is coming...

Word.

Friday 10th March 2006

I'm having an average time here in WA. I guess I expected the diving to be> much better & also I've just returned from a day trip to Coral Bay to Snorkel with Manta Rays & Dive. Did'nt see any Manta Rays & nothing amazing during the dive either!! $300 (130 squid approx.) for sweet FA!! Guess nature is like that - no timetable, no guarantees! Also the WA trip started badly. On my first 2 dive Island trip, the boat broke down & we did'nt do the dive I wanted for the 1st dive. The 2nd dive was cancelled. They only do this trip on Wednesdays & Sundays so was well pissed off as it ruined my itinary completely. Doing it this Sunday now with a different company. Fingers crossed. Tomorrow I'm doing a normal reef dive - nothing special expected. I'm hoping to be surprised!! Don't get me wrong I've still seen some groovy stuff (white tip reef sharks, lionfish, stingwrays) but I expected a lot more from one of the top dive sites around the world. Also on the Manta ray swim EVERYONE but me saw a white tip reef shark - so was a bit annoyed but what can you do? Also some of the Dive masters pissed me off - & thats quite difficult cos> I'm very easy going as you know(??!!). Basically we started the dive & one of the dive masters warned us that on entry coral is only 4m below so attain you neutral buoyancy quickly & don't stand on the coral!!! I did this sweetly - No problem.

A chinese lady f**ked it up completely & broke a huge chunk of plate coral. Dive masters said absolutely nothing. Rightly so really as its not as if she did it on purpose & she obvoiusly just needs more experience. 10 minutes later I am examining coral closely (visibility was shit - 6meters maybe). I see a bit ahead directly, go up, & just lightly clip a bit of coral by accident with my fin - limited damage - but I admit careless & I felt bad enough. Felt really shitty when the dive master quickly swims up with "DON'T KICK THE CORAL" written on his board!!!! As if I'd done it on purpose!!!! It was obvoiusly an accident & by the fact that I turned & paused he could see I knew my error already! Maybe I should'nt have been so close to the coral in the first place but the previous day another dive master ticked me off for not watching my Buoyancy & air in my BCD with regard to depth & should get closer to the coral???!!! With too much weight I did'nt risk getting closer. Again not my fault either as if they'd listened to me & let me go in with just 3 & not 4 weights I would not have had to keep adjusting my BCD! Also I was looking after her advanced PADI student (I have my advanced) & he would not follow my lead. It was his first day & I felt she used me to get a point accross to him as she did not want to create an atmosphere with her new student. Really pissed me off. Nevermind. Sorry about that rant - had to get it off my chest. In any case even if all these things were my fault Dive masters forget its THEIR proffesion not ours & we only do it as a hobby! There's nicer ways to put your point across. I've had plenty of other awesome dives, with great dive masters so NO, its not me!! I hope the next 2 days are better. Well gotta go sort my dinner out.

Peace out ;-)

Photos to follow when I get back!

Saturday 11th March 2006

"Its going off at the Ningaloo Reef!!"

The 3 S's : Safety stop, SHARK, SELECTA!!!!!!

Keep hope alive is the moto of the day. Why? Cos my next day of diving WAS unexpectedly AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all the Dive masters today were different but one & I had a chat with him & he forgave me & admitted he was in a bad mood after the chinese lady messed up her descent & broke some coral yesterday. The atmosphere was relieved & more easy going today. I was allowed to use 3 weights today & this ofcoarse sorted my "Buoyancy problem" (Smug mode!!)

Also we saw a plethora of marine life......first, enter stage left, The Wobby gong shark!!!

Please note that this is not the picture I took-just an example. I will add my picture later.

The Wobbegong I saw was lodged & hiding beteen some rocks & coral & was about 1.5 - 2 meters.
Next we passed upon some Lionfish hiding amongst some more coral, then it started going off with schools of fish everywhere creating a cloud of marine life!That was the first dive with the best to come on the 2nd dive....

2nd dive & things kick off. First a 1m White tip reef shark chilling on the bottom of the ocean bed 14m down.

Again I will add my own photo later.
This is only an example!

Quick photo shoot for the Paparatzii & onward to see an Octopus hiding in a crack on ocean bed - it changes colour when I get closer to get a picture. Cool!
Next the Pink Anenome fish. Chilling out I swim 20cm above a 1m Sting Ray hiding in the sand! My dive master warns me. I thinks shes fooling around. Pass cautiously. Turn. Sure enough there its outline is in the sand!!!!!!

Also see some Flounder fish hiding in the sand - A difficult spot!! They hide in the sand & their eyes stick out of sand. They are flat & eyes are on 1 side only -Freaky!

Schools of fish later (too many to mention) time to go home. 3 minute safety stop at 5m for "Captain Danger" ;-)
Twiddle fingers. 3rd minute. Out of no where comes the biggest man eating shark I've ever seen.... :-O !!!!!!!!
WOW thats big, I think as I just see the side & then tail of a HAMMERHEAD SHARK!!!!!!!!!!
I kid you not! It is unbelievable because Hammerheads normaly "hang" deeper & you rarely see anything on the safety stop! It must have been attracted by the hub of electrical activity. So, one of the most agressive sharks comes by to check us out before we get back on board. What a way to end one of the best days of diving I've had. Thankyou God!!!

I Don't have my own picture of this shark. It all happened too quick!

Laters!!