Around The World In 80 Waves

I was rather amused the other day to stumble across Top Gear on Mexican TV.

Despite their commentary to the contrary it is actually a popular show here

I am wishing my mother a very Happy 70th Birthday. One of the big regrets of this trip is that I cannot be there to celebrate this with you.

I hope you get to have some fun today and enjoy the bookbinding course I have treated you to later in the year.

You are always looking out for me Mum and I love you loads for it. We can have a belated birthday meal when I get back.

I also found this online which I hope you like – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIkqwWKkQUM

Wishing my brother John a very Happy Birthday.

Hope you have great day.

I will be raising a tequila in your direction later today.

It is a good job I am not totally dependant on my email address for the next year. Oh hang on, in fact I am.

BT have stopped my email address from working properly because 90 days have now passed since I stopped paying for a broadband line at my flat in London. It turns out that free webmail such as Gmail or Hotmail is not a service they provide. However such a drastic step apparently merits no communication or warning of such impending doom.

Having spent at least an hour every day for the last week trying to figure out why I have had to keep reconfiguring my email on both the laptop and mobile phone I eventually discover the root of the problem. I think I can fix it by spending half a million pounds on international phone calls at 3am US time because it is the only hope I will have of ever getting connected to an office hours number in the UK (most of which will be spent being placed on hold by people in India who do not understand me, let alone the nature of the problem) or by changing my email address with just about everyone and everything that I have ever interacted with since the start of the internet. All of which will be done using a shared dial up speed internet link I hasten to add.

I will leave it as I am not very happy with them right now. Anything closer to my current feelings are not broadcastable.

Much love going out to Paul and Paula who are getting married today. I really wish I could join you on your big day guys, so hope you have a wonderful time. I’m thinking of you and wishing you all the happiness in the world.

Paul and I have had more surfs together than I can remember. However the trip to La Torche always sticks in my mind mostly because at the end of it after a long and arduous drive from Brittany in the height of summer I nearly killed us both on the A55. We were both wearing just shorts and flip flops enjoying the heat when I felt that I had been pinched by the seat belt so looked down pulling on the waist of my shorts to see what had happened only to imediately see a wasp crawl into my pants. Quite understandably I started freaking out at this point and was getting more and more frantic about removing it from its current location, (‘wailing like a stuck pig’ was Paul’s own later description) but eventually fished it but in the process out batting it towards Paul who was driving and had been enjoying the last few miles of the home straight of the journey. There are now two people freaking out in the car, the wasp is doing laps and Paul’s golden Ford Escort estate is swerving violently down the road doing about 80mph until Paul has the presence of mind to stamp on the brakes and we skid into the grass at the side of the road. Very funny now but a bit manic at the time!

Special shout going out to my good buddy Pete Griff who has surfed his way to 40 today. Pete and I had epic sessions back in the day when we were first allowed on the roads and had access to boards.

Nobody else will understand the night it was too windy to get the tents up in the corner at Hell’s Mouth, so we fashioned a shelter of sorts from driftwood we found on the beach and slept in our board bags which were wrapped in the fly sheets to keep the torrential rain off. We were hoping that the swell would clean up the next day and alternated stoking the hobo stove we made from an oil drum as well as piling in another arm full of wet logs through the night. Even the farmer whose field we were supposed to be crashing in came looking for us because he thought we were dead! I seem to remember it being in the middle of winter too but I could be confusing it with many dawn raids which were more than a tad frosty.

Hardcore Pete. You know the score. Sorry the message is a little late dude. Aparently it is going to be triple overhead near San Francisco tomorrow. I’m going to check out Mavericks and some other breaks dude and will bag a beaut’ for you.

It is Christmas Day and despite feeling more than a tad woolly after last night’s Cocktail marathon I am up early to give a surfing lesson to the rather amply chested Ricarda from Austria. I am a little wary after my last instruction efforts many years ago resulted in a hurried trip to casualty to have the young lady’s thumb manipulated back into its socket after it was dislocated by a knock from a loose board in the water.

In the end no medical assistance is needed throughout the session, but better swimwear might have been helpful for my new friend. In between instruction I catch a few rides on the very mediocre waves in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel using the 11 foot board that we have hired. It is really quite naff and completely overcrowded, but one bikini spilling filled session later I am thinking all my Christmases have come at once. Hang on it is actually Christmas Day of a year long surf session, and indeed they have! Wave 10. Wooo-Hooo!

😀

On my travels I spot this back pack and say hello to the bloke carrying it. It turns out his dad is the Welshman and he comes from Welshpool where my Grandfather’s brother was the town solicitor. Wales being what it is he knew my Great Uncle Elwyn Roberts. Small world

Big shout out to my sister on her birthday:

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Sarah

Happy birthday to you!

Woke up on Dom’s sofa in Honor Oak Mansions thankfully not too hung over from last night’s drinks. Cab to the airport whilst trying not to allow the latest episode with Vodafone to give  me a seizure! “Yes Mr Pearson I can assure you that there will not be any issues” – Hmmmmm!!!

Check in but not counting my chickens yet. It wouldn’t be the first time I have missed a flight despite arriving three hours before the flight took off. I can laugh now but it wasnt at all funny at the time.

Get on to plane and settle in for a feast of movies. The Bourne Legacy, Avengers Assemble and finally The Sweeney, which seemed like a lovely bit of synergy upon departing the Mansions for the last time given the Pilot episode of the original 70s series started in my flat. John Thaw’s first words were bursting through the door of my flat to collar some villain with the immortal line of “Put your trousers on. You’re Nicked!”