Here, There, Everywhere -

Since the English champs i have been to portugal for a photo shoot for rip curl. Then straight to newcastle for a competition, that was canceled due to small surf. After that i spent a few days at home spear fishing and barbecuing,

the weather was amazingly sunny for several days. I am now returning from another photo shoot for rip curl’s online shop, in Paris.

its been a busy month to say the least. I went to Paris with an open eye to explore the beautiful city that it is and an eye opener it was. to get to work i walked passed many of homeless people on the streets, i traveled on the metro. the constant rush of people blurred my vision, the tall building left be gazing into the sky. some afternoons i had free time. I bought a day pass on the underground and checked out as many tourist attraction as i could, the eiffel tower, Chans a lise, the arc de triomphe. It was nice to spend some time alone to just think about things, but it did get lonely, i just wanted to speak to anyone, but the language barrier was difficult. i had one friend in paris. her name Annabelle, we met for drinks after work and soaked the last of the sunshine in a park located in monceau. towards the end i really needed to go home. 5 days away from the sea is long enough for me, i felt claustrophobic, but an experience it was and another place to tick of the list. 

Seychelles -

is paradise really what its made out to be   ?

white sand,palm trees, warm, transparent sea, exotic fruits,coconut, papaya. its a dream, that everyone wishes to live. 

in my eyes the grass is always greener on the other side.   

when your sitting in the air conditioned airplane looking out the window upon lush green forest surrounded by a few miles of golden sand, you think WOW, my dream is about to become true. But  reality hits as soon as you take the first step of the plane. you first feel the moist humidity that hits you, like opening the door of a sauna, you start to sweat within minutes. don’t get me wrong after coming from mid winter in england there’s nothing better than feeling that heat, but after a few days it becomes uncomfortably hot, you realize you cant sleep, unless you have air-con. after a week of surfing the rash on you belly becomes unbearable the sand gets between you and your board, paddling becomes a chore. you get your fist cut from the razor sharp coral, within 3 days you cant walk, infection kicks in. or you carry on surfing and it turns into a gaping hole. you try to rest on the beach and watch your mates surf, within 2 minutes your covered in sand fly’s, horse fly’s or mosquitos.  I’m going to stop there cause i don’t want to sound like a spoilt, pessimistic, dream destroyer, but i’m sure every surfer knows what i’m talking about. 

luckily enough for me i didn’t get an infection or a gaping wound on this trip to the seychelles and the previous cut on my foot, that left me stranded on land for 2 weeks, healed up just in time. 

I would say the seychelles was by far the most beautiful place i’ve visited so far. the surf is there, finding it with the right swell,wind, tide on the right island is a different matter, but there is defiantly big potential. we found some fun waves, that looked like on there day could be unbelievable. I came to the conclusion that the best way to visit the Seychelles is bye boat, staying on land is expensive, especially the privately owned islands. buy yourself a boat and sail around the 115 islands that make up the seychelles and i promise you will find some amazing waves that have never been ridden.