My son jack the Irish artist

Really pleased to have Jack and Orla visiting for the week,like many of their age they spend too much time unconscious in the bed. But when they do get out of the sack we have had good times visiting places. Today it was the hanging bridge in the gorge nearby which lots of scrambling up and down rocky slopes and paths. The hanging bridge is not that high but is mildly spectacular when you are walking across it. The dog came with us and seemed to think she is a mountain goat,I was amazed at some of the things that she climbed up.

Jack sat down by the hanging bridge to do some drawing of the rocks and the bridge. I shot a bit of video of the time we spent there. I also shot video of the human castles that we saw in Castel d’Aro at the weekend and aside from the video I will make of it to post here and on YouTube I am giving the footage uncut to Orla to play with,seeing as she is into television and video.

Yesterday was a beach day with a visit to beaches on the other side of Platja d’Aro. To get to the beach we wanted we had to go through a small tunnel and walk around the small cliff walk which is called the Cami de Ronda. It is what the authorities use to use to watch out for smugglers on this Mediterranean coast.

bringing in the video from the camera right now –will grab a still from it and some video to post tomorrow.

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Snowed in –Costa Brava

On Monday the weather was blizzard conditions and since then we have had no electric,no phones and no internet. There is a possibility that the electric might come back today but I will not be holding my breath waiting.

It is amazing how much we depend on the electric. My neighbour was lucky enough to have a generator available but for the rest of us mere mortals we have to survive on batteries. I do have an inverter but it just gives me light to be able to see where I am going in the evening and to be able to read without messing up my eyes.

The news said there were about 30 or 40 pylons blown down with the wind on Monday. I think it will take ages to get back to the way things were before. If I had internet through the phone line then I could have internet before that but mine comes in through Wimax and that needs the electric power to work.


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Drummers at the Carnaval

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In the previous years here in Spain I have got dressed up and gone to see the Carnaval procession and then gone out for a meal followed by a visit to a disco. Never enjoyed the disco because people were smoking in there and it is always difficult to breathe and it is so smelly. More fun while outside on the street seeing everyone walking around looking ridiculous and loving it. Some very good costumes there.
This year for the night of the dancing I ended up babysitting nephews and we survived! Two boys roaming the house dressed as pirates,so we were constantly being stabbed with plastic swords.
The best of this years’Carnaval was the Talent competition on Thursday evening. Magicians,singers,performers and the most excellent group of drummers. Here is the video of the drummers doing there show.


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Backlooping on wavesBacklooping on waves

My son has been in Australia for nearly two years now and here is a picture that shows what he went there for.

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George the Wave surfer

Oz Windsurf E-Zine Issue #9 - Windsurfing Wheels - _Herbert_ a home away from home-1

Oz Windsurf E-Zine Issue #9 - Windsurfing Wheels - _Herbert_ a home away from home

It was day one of the “Currumbin Classic”when,as a handful of us were struggling to set up the sponsors’tent in the wind and rain,an old campervan complete with an even older One Design on the roof first rolled into the carpark.

While the driver seemed a bit shy there was no doubt he was here to join in the fun and as we did battle with the elements seemed to be enjoying a cuppa in the relative comfort of his chariot. And I have to admit that I for one was more than a little envious of his setup.

Though,like several of the others,I was also a little apprehensive about his apparent choice of kit –the One Design –as it was really starting to crank in (see “Classic Stuff”feature). Indeed,one of the boys apparently suggested that our new chum (George) might be better served heading around into the lagoon instead.

Anyway seems we needn’t have worried as it turns out the longboard actually belongs to his girlfriend (Iris) and the Irishman is in fact a pretty accomplished and well-travelled wavesailor.

Been around WA,the south-west corner,Margaret River,got some good sailing there. Travelled all the way up to Exmouth and back down again to Perth where I took some work,then travelled all the way back up the west coast again and over the Top End.

I worked up there a little bit but came down to Queensland and got as far as Gympie then found work in the outback so drove all way to South Australia and worked in the outback in SA for a couple of months.

Then drove round the coast to Melbourne,up to Sydney,and had a holiday in New Zealand and left Herbert sitting at a mate’s place for a month,then went back to South Australia,worked again,then drove it all the way back to Sydney but following the coast the whole way this time.

All up I think I’ve covered over 45,000k’s since I’ve been here.

More Pictures and story at Oz Windsurf

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