Surf’s Up

Hello all, long time no speak (well, 6 days…) The weeks are flying in, can’t believe it’s May already. Thanks for your well wishes on the last post about my current contract, it’s been keeping me busy and I’ve also been out in the sunshine every day which is nice. My freckles are out and and arms are a nice shade of pink! 🙂 My natural hair colour is pretty auburn, and I don’t tan so well so hoping the pinkness will amount to some sort of brown, rather than just fading to white (which is normally the case)

So last sunday morning, me and my boyfriend left our house at 5am to embark on a little surfing trip. We ended up at Westport, which was a good 3.5 hour drive away… Talk about breaking the new car in nicely! I haven’t driven in six months, so I think that gave me all the practise I’ve been needing. I drove there, and David drove us home (I tried to be a good co-pilot and not fall asleep, but it was tough – we were shattered!) Anyways, on to the pictures.

The eerie Scottish countryside at 6am.

Arrived at our beach.

Surf’s up!

David outside the Clan van (Clan is a surf/skate/snow shop in Glasgow) The owner Jamie taught me to surf when I was 15. He also took me and some classmates on a trip to Cornwall a couple of years in a row while we were still at school. Thus the surfing bug began! Jamie provided us with our equipment and gave David his first ever surf lesson. He did well, I’m proud 🙂 ♥

The waves were a little bit messy, and not breaking the way we’d hoped which made it a tough first time for David (and tough for me because I am SO unfit, need to work majorly on my stamina paddling out past those breaking waves) But, we still had a brilliant time. It was a tad cloudy – I know my pictures look rather grey. That’s good old Scotland for ya! I never realised how far we’d driven until Jamie told us the coast of Ireland was only 14 miles away from the beach. You could actually see it across the water before the clouds set in.

Got out of our wetsuits for lunch and a little rest. Thank you David for this oh so glam picture of me 😉

Wahhh! I befriended a little lhasa apso pup in the car park. He was so fluffy (I really wanted to steal him)

Going out to brave those waves and that lovely warm water (NOT!) The winter wetsuits did help, along with boots and gloves… and even a hood.

Hahah oh my, yes you are allowed to cringe here at my expense! David managed to snap me as I rolled into shore, as there was nothing left of the wave. Bloody knackered. I really can’t say wetsuits are a good look either by the way, but it did keep us hella’ warm.

This is what I wish the waves did look like. A slightly more noteworthy shot of me in Newquay a couple of years ago. You can read my old surfing story from that trip here. But basically, the Cornwall trip became a yearly tradition which I really did love. My Irie tattoo reminds me of the awesome times I’ve had there. I love surfing, but I never get to go enough to really progress. Hence, me STILL using the Swell foam surf boards (which are best for beginners, extremely buoyant and allow you to catch waves better and stand easier)

I feel because I don’t get to surf regularly, I spend most of each trip re-learning the stuff I got a hang of the last time. It is really frustrating. I am desperate to progress, and move onto a proper glassed custom board (I had brief success with this Neville board a few years ago) But this isn’t really going to happen unless I can start going surfing regularly. Now I’m closer to the East Coast, and that David has been bitten by the surfing bug I hope I can persuade him to make regular weekend trips with me and hopefully get this hobby back on track. I need to improve my fitness and practise my swimming a few times a week, but hopefully I can stick at it and actually get somewhere. Wish me luck? 🙂

 You all know now that I’m a fan of extreme sports, and have dabbled my hand in surfing, snowboarding and motocross – but do you have any sports that you partake in regularly? Or have you experienced anything more ‘extreme’, like bungee jumping or a skydive? If you have, tell me! I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie and would love to hear your stories ♥

Ayden x