We have partied with the surfers and had our first every try of Buckfast ! It’s some sort of crazy wine/spirit that comes from Cornwall but is big in Scotland. At 5pm the next day I was still suffering with the world biggest hangover so maybe it’s not something you’ll want to rush out and buy, but mixed with Gin, Vodka and fruit (Scotlands very own Sangria) it tasted good at the time !! The surf guys rent a house and have the best way of deciding who cooks or does the chores – a game of cards is final. Even at the party, the loser had to buy all the food and cook for the 14 of us, gutted but glad it was not me or Danny doing the cooking ! Danny was in the last 3 so I was getting worried that we were all going to end up eating Wotsit and Dairylea butties! Lol, he just managed to get away with that one.

There is such a good vibe on the island. There are about 750 odd people that live here but in the summer there is about 2500, mostly windsurfers, surfers and kiters but also lots of families just here for a summer break. The sunsets are wicked and although we can easily find a beach to ourselves to camp over night you are never far from the sheep. They love rubbing up against the van, it’s only when the cows do the same that you have real problems !

Over the last couple of weeks, Helen Thompson (British Kitesurfing Champion) who lives in Tiree has been here with Sam Moore, another kiter from the British Tour so it’s been great riding with them on the water and taking photos.

Our return ferry is finally booked for the 27^th August but we both know that Tiree is one place that we will come to time and time again. If there was anything that we would have changed in the last year, it would have been to come here earlier. Tiree is so safe and relaxed. It’s going to be strange going home and not waving at everyone you pass in the road – we’ll probably get some strange looks doing that around Chester.

In 3 weeks I’ll be all suited up and ready to start my training at Pannone and Danny is going to be back to Jon Jones and Son, pounding the turf with the mower. I absolutely can’t wait to start my training although I know it’s going to be hard, especially after the last year we have had but I am so ready, I certainly need to have a huge shopping spree when I get home, I don’t think that boardies and flip flops will really be appropriate.

Thank you to everyone who has been following the blog, I hope it’s not been too depressing reading about all the hot and sunny beaches when you are back in the UK and maybe you even fancy visiting the places we have been to.

Lots of Tiree love

Dan and Lottie

Walking back up the beach at Gott

Callums tent minus the poles and pegs - initiative camping !

You don't want this fella rubbing up against the van !

Helen T

We so wanted to take this dog with us

Destructor Dan is back and he managed to do a big kiteloop, land and then discover that not only had the bar snapped (my bar !!) but three of the lines had also snapped. The kite somehow managed to get saved and Danny is perfectly ok but I have no idea how he does it !! lol.

We don’t have any kiting pictures yet, just a few funnies and pics of the snapped bar.

 It might rain today so we are going to rest and watch a few films as the wind is looking pretty sweet for the rest of the week.

Lots of love

Dan and Lottie

The snapped bar !

Gott Bay

Silly reflection, hiyo !!!

Chillin with a beer

The wind disappeared again so we decided to make the 12 or so hour drive to Leucate just across the border into France. On our way we decided to stop at Rosas as we had seen a kite video that was filmed there and the wind was absolutely hoofing !!! Armed with his newly repaired (Danny stitched it up using my Mum’s sewing machine) 7m, Danny hit the water and had a session but the gusts were crazy so we showered off and watched people try to hang onto their kites. Still in search of flat water, we drove the last 2 hours to Leucate. As soon as we arrived we were so happy that we made the trip (we maybe should have come earlier!). Leucate is full of salt water lakes that are flat and yet again it was 7m weather. When we arrived it was just getting dark so we parked up next to the lake, with the mountains in the background and got some much needed sleep. Earlier the next morning, the wind was still blowing so after a quick breakfast (which was probably nearer lunchtime) we both hit the water on 7m’s and kited for most of the day, it was brilliant ! One thing which we also hadn’t noticed was a cable park on the far right hand side of the lake with a huge fun box (like at the Sheffield cable water ski). If the wind drops we have a back up plan to hit the cable for a few hours. It’s going to be hard to leave this place and I think we’ll definitely be making a return at some point, probably next year if we can.

We will try to actually take some pictures of us kiting, maybe tomorrow, I just have a few pictures that I took of the lake from where we are parked.

Bye for now xxxx

The lake at Leucate (Port Barcares)

Getting the van stuck in Rosas ! Oops

The wind decided to completely switch direction and Isla de Ciervo went from being full of kiters to being full of pensioners who all covered themselves in the black sand / mud every morning. Apparently it is great for your skin and joints but is definitely funny looking, it’s like having a free health spa treatment!

Trying out the natural treatment

I made Danny do it too - haha !

We then drove to Playa Honda which is further around the Mar Menor main land. Whilst stopping at the petrol station to top up the water we spotted a few kites on the water and made our way to their direction in a place called Los Nietos. It wasn’t really much of a beach and you’d never find it without spotting the kites in the air but it is a favourite location for the kite schools as the water is flat and there are no sunbathers/boats in the area. Danny managed a few hours on the 16m (although the 12 would have been enough) and he even came close to landing a back mobe for the first time. Some of the landings looked painful! After waking up to a million flies and even more bites, we decided to move on quickly and found ourselves at out current spot, Los Najaros (by Los Alcazaes). It seems to be a popular British holiday spot and so far the wind has been consistent making it our favourite place so far. The beach is 5km long with a large area for kiters next to the airport, with toilets and with no bother from the Guardia Civil (so far) about wild camping, we will stick around for a bit longer. I’m surprised with how we have managed 3 weeks without paying for a single camp-site but it’ll help pay for a weekend at Fitzers Bar (another Irish one) watching the rugby and eating a few well deserved meals, steak and chips on Saturday and then Sunday lunch, yum yum !!! We are heading off to the beach soon, my arms and back are aching from kiting, but it’s a satisfying feeling after a week of sunbathing and drinking !!

 Adiós

 Love Dan and Lottie xx

Cheese !

Chillin' in the living room

The bedroom

The view from Isla del Ciervo

We spent a fews days here, and I managed a very quick and probably pointless session on the 16m kite before we decided to head further South. The lakes near Bordeaux are huge and in the right conditions they would be perfect to kite on although the wind just wasn’t there, we even saw a desperate French bloke who had his wind meter out, it would take much to guess that it wasn’t worth bothering with a kite. With a total lack of free places to camp and a quick update on the weather from Jamsey we set off again to La Manga (SW Spain – not far from Benidorm!) as our destination. The drive was long but it was a cool day and we made it just before sunset. Camping in the van is perfect for La Manga, you seem to be able to park anywhere, whereas in France, a lot of places would not allow overnight camping from 10pm – 7am, we even had a warning from the local Police – oops ! There is no such problem in La Manga. It is a lot bigger and far more touristy that i’d pictured in my head but the wind has been blowing hard every day so far (and we are on day 4). We have managed to find the main shopping centre, complete with McDonalds, Supermarket and free wifi which is about 20 mins away so we can actually update the blog every now and again.

We think that we’ll be here for a few weeks, then maybe stop at Leucate (France) for a week or so on the way back. We seem to have a nice routine down here, wake up, check the wind, eat, kite, drink, sleep. It’s a hard life !!

The kit

Parked up in France

When we arrived in La Manga

Wind!!!!!

We are so happy that this finally isn’t a million miles away. At the end of the month we are going to disappear off down south, catch a ferry into northern France and making our way down the western coast. We have a book called ‘The Kite and Windsurf Guide to Europe’ which has been absolutely fantastic when planning a route – it has lots of pictures and descriptions of all the beaches across Europe with tips and guides about the conditions to expect. Once down the French cost we will travel down the eastern coast of Spain, trying to avoid the major cities with stops planned for La Manga and obviously Tarifa which is termed the kitesurf capital of Europe by many. In the summer, Tarifa is packed with kiters from all over the world with literally hundreds of people on the water at any one time. Hopefully we’ll just miss the crush of the summer holidays but we are looking forward to finding out what all the hype is really about!

We will have 6 weeks in total before we will be heading straight back to the lake in north Wales for an epic week of wakeboarding in July so fingers crossed we will see everywhere we wanted to although I fully expect that we’ll find a perfect beach and end up staying there….for ever….!!

As for our plans from July until September, nothing is booked but there are plenty of options. Initially we wanted to return to Brazil and although this is still a possibility, Tiree (outer Hebrides in Scotland) is a consideration as it looks beautiful and of course Ireland is another option, especially as this summer is billed to be a hot one (or so we all hope!)!

Either way we have 3 months with no work and no concerns apart from kiting, filling the tank with petrol, eating, sleeping (without being told to move) and getting that tan back! 

We will try to keep the blog updated whilst we are on the road but it will obviously be dependant upon finding a decent wifi connection, fingers crossed this won’t be too much of a problem – McDonalds has free wifi so it’s if we fancy a cheeseburger & chips this can always be the backup plan!

Adios / Au revoir!!

I had totally forgotten about sending them, but I have just received an email to say that I had won! I have not laughed so hard for ages, I didn’t even realise that the pictures were up on the website – there are two on there, the Pinnacles and also one of me kiting with a big cheesy grin on my face !

Here is the link:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/travel_images/article742325.ece

The full gallery: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/template/2.0-0/element/pictureGalleryPopup.jsp?id=6004165&&offset=0&&sectionName=TravelTravelImages

I finally found time to put this vid together. It was all filmed in Brazil, Cumbuco,  in Nov/Dec 08. Thanks for all the time spent filming lottie.    Enjoy everybody. Any comments would be wicked. Adios

I have improved the quality so hit the HQ button and watch again! Latas x

Thanks to Steve we managed to get the video editing software that we wanted so we have started to trawl through all of the videos that we have taken along the way. Although we don’t have an actual video camera the digital camera can take a few clips and the quality is ok so hopefully we’ll get some videos on here soon.

Once we have finalised our plans for Europe I’ll post the details although all we really need to do is a few finishing touches on the van, book a ferry and leave !

Hope to see you all over the next few weeks, I can already feel my tan fading !

Love Dan and Lottie x

The Pinnacles

After the not so quick detour to the rocks we headed a few more hours north to Geraldton which is the next big city and roughly halfway up the coast towards Monkey Mia. We arrived just as it was going dark so after a dirty McDonalds stop, we drove around to try and find other campers that had pulled over for the night, as at most places it is forbidden to camp although we were not too sure how strict the different places would be. After maybe 30 minutes we found the perfect location right on the waters edge with a grass picnic / playing area and more importantly, showers and toilets ! Perfect !

Attack of the Seagulls at Geraldton

The only downside was the total lack of wind – there was a light breeze which was fine for the pole pansies (aka windsurfers) but not quite enough for our kites.  As the forecast was saying that the weather was likely to stay the same we decided to hit the road knowing that at least we knew where to get a shower on the way back !

Kalbarri

Phew ! Petrol stop bingo in the outback is not fun!

The Billabong roadhouse - Our saviour !

 After the relief of the fuel stop, we were soon faced with the reality that outside of Perth, WA can be very different to what you would expect. Just as the road split between the route to Monkey Mia we found that the freeway was shut. No warnings or signs before the closure, just a big barrier with no explanation. So our destination was decided for us and we headed to Monkey Mia, conscious that the sun was quickly setting. We arrived at Denhan which is 40km short of Monkey Mia but decided to make final leg in the dark at a slow pace ready (because animals keep running into the road at night!) to stay the night at Monkey Mia. What we found was such a disappointment – there are so many brochures and so much hype about Monkey Mia but when we arrived we found a car park (which you had to pay just to enter), a campsite / hotel and the whole area is one big fat tourist trap. You can’t get on the beach unless you pay and stay on site and once on the beach there is no swimming, no fishing and no boating. Hmmm, this wasn’t exactly what we were expecting and after driving for 4 hours I was gutted and felt so bad that I had dragged us both all this way !! Signs across Denham and Monkey Mia said there was strictly no camping with on the spot fines issued and although Danny wasn’t fazed by this I just knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep so we checked ourselves into a campsite in Denham where we were able to have showers and a cup of tea – mmm, it was heaven ! After such a long day driving we were both so tired and it felt great to just stop and take it all in. Breakfast was funny when I opened the van to find four Emu’s sat in the sun – after a quick breakfast they soon disappeared into the bush and we prepared ourselves for the drive back !

Breakfast with the Emu's

On the way across Shark Bay, there were lots of places to pull over and take photos and we found one bay that was deserted and stunning ! We managed to drive the van down the tracks and found ourselves at a our own little paradise. A lot of the surrounding areas were called something bluff so we renamed this place Lottie’s bluff as obviously I knew it was there all a long and had planned everything !!

Chilling out with the Sharks

Lottie's bluff

One of the baby sharks

My favourite shot

Dan at Safety Bay

Board grab

Smile at the camera !

People thought we were either brave or crazy jumping over each like this !

Big air

Kiteloop

Assessing the conditions - hot, wet and windy !

Peel Estuary, Madurah

I am normally so glad that I tend to be lucky person but it seems to be balancing out with Danny getting all the bad luck. Just as the wind was starting to blow on the second day, Danny’s kite buckled in a strange way after thowing a big kiteloop, the stitching burst on the leading edge of his kite and it came tumbling down to the water, gutted ! We only had the hire car for another day so fixing the kite was a priority. We packed up (although I was secretly disappointed not to have kited) and headed to the kite school to ask about repairs – where there is a kite school, there are always ripped kites so it was a pretty safe bet and thanks to Brack and the others at WA surf we had a final night at the caravan (drowning our sorrows) and were soon on our way back up the Perth. Neil at Hold the Line kiteshop is an absolute gem – located on Cambridge St, West Perth, he had one quick look at the kite and said that he could easily repair it – perfect. He even fixed a patch on my kite which was in need of repair – legend ! So hulky (that’s Danny’s kite – they all have names…I know, its sad !! ) lives on and hopefully he will be ready on Tues in time to pick up the camper and head North.

A map of southern Western Australia

Our plans for the weekend are to relax and pray that Danny’s kite is ready for Tues ! Today we are having a BBQ here with all the family as Steve’s parents leave on Friday (after, I think, 2 months here) so we’ll be sad to see them go and then tomorrow is Australia Day (and a Bank Holiday) so we are at another BBQ at John and Irene’s – and they have a pool, wahoo!!

I think it’s safe to say that we are being well and truly spoilt out here but it just seems to be the Aussie way. They don’t really have pubs out here and they are not needed because BBQ’s are a way of life. I have just read a funny article called “Australia’s thrill for the grill” that sums it up nicely – have a read, here is the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7846628.stm

On a finalnote I just wanted to again thank everyone here for making our Aussie travels so easy and enjoyable, if you ever get the chance to come over here, don’t be put off by the 20+ hours travelling, it’s worth every minute !

Love Dan and Lottie xxx

Instructor Dan and Steve

Go Steve go !!

Kayaking at the Estuary

Crabby: "On guard"

Anyway, a few days ago (possibly Friday?) we all took the ferry ride down Swan river to Fremantle for a day trip. The scenery was perfect and Danny was eyeing up all the boats and flat water – it would be amazing to wakeboard here, whilst Lyndsey and I were eyeing up all the huge riverside mansions. They are stunning. Once at Freo was sampled some of the fabulous fish and chips, some more of the local beer and generally wondered around taking it all in. There is just so much to see !

Steve and Lyndsey were back into work yesterday after having a nice long break so we headed into the city with them to pick up our hire car. After a weekend on the water, we fancied a drive down the coast to pick out our next kiting spots for the week and we were soon wishing that we packed the kites ! Woodmans point is a quiet beach which is away from the main tourist areas. We have seen quite a few kite videos that have been filmed there and it didn’t disappoint . Next we headed further south to Rockingham to a beach called Safety Bay, it would be a perfect location for beginners but as it is nice and quiet in the week we are going to make the trip down again today and spend the afternoon there. One small thing that I love about the beaches out here is that there are always water fountains and showers (including little one’s for your feet).  So although the car will still get covered in sand, you can shower off and have a quick drink. They also like their drive through’s out here – not just take-out food but also coffee and beer !

Before I add the recent pictures I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Steve and Lyndsey and all of their family for making us feel so welcome out here. We still have 5 weeks to go but after a week we can’t imagine leaving this place. 

Lots of love

Dan and Lottie x

Perth city from the ferry - beautiful !

Steve and Lyndsey on the ferry to Freo

Cousin IT impressions

The WA possey

Steve's kite lesson

Charlie at the beach

The BBQ King in action

Danny and Charlie on their garden adventure

It’s now day 4 in WA and this place is like a dream, there are so many Brits out here and it’s easy to see why. We are hitting the summer heat wave and the temperature is a scorching 38 degrees on average – apparently it’s going to get hotter ! Thank god we have air conditioning at Steve and Lyndsey’s !

Bunny and the Prince have made us feel so welcome and we already feel like part of the family. New Year was celebrated with 4 generations of family and the boys were on form – roll on the beer festival next week !

The wind here is awesome, it generally picks up late on in the afternoon and after a quick session at the local spot on Tuesday, we can’t wait to explore the coastline once we have picked up the hire car next week. With the shocking £ value at the moment, things are not as cheap as they used to be in Oz but it works out about the same as at home and there is plenty of Cadbury’s top deck which I haven’t had since I was a kid !! :)

Yesterday we headed into Perth and did the usual tourist walk aroun Kings park which is absolutely stunning, the views across the city were beautiful. It certainly makes the morning commute for Steve and Lynds seem easy compared the cold, rainy UK way of life !

Here are a few pictures that we have taken so far. The plan is to hit the beach all weekend so there will be plenty more to follow, especially as Steve is already booked in for a few kite lessons !

Me and Danny at Kings Park

The Lucky Shag !

Perth City

The view from Steve and Lyndsey's house !

Drunken Danny

Happy New Year !!!!!

Steve and Lyndsey

For our last week we have a perfect low tide in the morning which is the best time to kite. The wind is picking back up after a very poor week so we are going to try and get as much time in on the water as possible (although we are now sharing a kiteboard).

Before we came out to Brazil I had set quite high expectations for my kiting which I haven’t exactly lived up to (yet) but having said that I feel so comfortable on the water and I’m at the stage where I just want to try as many things as possible. So far my attempts at a back roll have been laughable so I am determined that over the next 6 days I will land a backroll, better jumps and will even try a hooked in railey so by the time we hit the water in Oz I can practice some more ! Danny is trying more unhooked tricks, down loop S-bends, lots of kite loops and  he gives me great pep talk after I’ve crashed, and crashed and urm, crashed some more !

Here are a few recent kiting pics (just in case you haven”t already seen enough!)

Lottie's first pop transition

Oli!!

S-bend

Cauipe lagoon

Riding toeside

As yet more of the Brits have headed back to the UK this week, we ventured out for a few cheeky drinks and discovered that Tom’s bar had a new cocktail on the menu – a Caipimalibu ! A Caipirinha is the Brazilian cocktail made using sugar cane liquor so this is basically is similar version but made with Malibu and wow it is good – we were all drinking them until they ran out of Malibu !! So it’s Caipimalibu’s all round at Christmas and they are so simple to make – lime, sugar, ice and lots of Malibu – that’s right, there is no mixer !

The pool tables in Brazil are pretty shocking but it’s addictive so after playing a few games all that was left was for me and Danny to play each other ! Now after a misspent youth studying for my A levels, I used to be OK at pool and Danny and I used to always play in our local and to be honest, he got used to getting his ass kicked (lol) but times are changing and I got my ass whooped – which I don’t think I’ll ever live down, Danny’s celebration dance was priceless ! On our way home Danny was talked into buying cotton rasta bracelets for us both and in true Jamie Gregory style, Danny didn’t barter and over paid – at least he didn’t pay 10 Euros for a flag ! (you’ll have to ask Jamie about that one !) It’s just one of those things that you have to do - buy random bracelets and jewellery from the street sellers, it’s a nice reminder of where you have been but once at home they never see the light of day !

In case we don’t see you when we are back in the UK, Happy Christmas everyone – it feels so strange saying that, I guess it will feel more Christmassy when we are back home and freezing cold !!

Love Dan and Lottie xxx

And more pictures…………………

Backroll sequence 1

Backroll sequence 2

Backroll sequence 3

The local spotCrash !!! (but I'm still smiling !)

This was neither a railey nor a backoll, I just need more height !

Another backroll attempt

Farewell krunky !

Say cheese !

 

Circus antics - this was so hard !

This turned out to be a very strange afternoon, our newcomer Max brought out a tightroop and hooked it up between the coconut trees, JP’s brought out the Poi and then Graeme started juggling ! We ended the afternoon with quite a few cold beers and then I made cottage pie for everyone – yum yum !Circus antics – this was so hard !

JP showing us his moves with the Poi

Posing at the beach

More posing at the beach !

Danny p'd off at being cut up - people just don't understand the rules on the water !

Me jumping off a kicker ! Boom !

At the water park there must be 10 other biggish slides and a 300m artificial river which has a surprisingly strong current, you can also leave the park and chill out on the beach area. By 5.30 we were all water parked out and ready to hit the town and visit a sushi restaurant which was said to be top nosh ! The taxi drivers were no too impressed that 11 soaking wet brits were piling into their cars but we headed off just at it was turning dark – when by the way, the roads become even more treacherous at night ! Driving through Fortaleza felt like being in an army convoy, the three taxi’s stayed nose to bumper and the drivers where constantly on the phones to each – we got the impression that they didn’t exactly know where they were going but we arrived at the sushi bar with only a few u turns needing to be made. Once at the sushi bar I was ready to tuck in, especially as it was eat each as much as you can. I have never eaten sushi before but it’s something that I am definitely having again – wow, it was delicious !

Our time out here seems to be disappearing fast and as I type there is just over 2 weeks to go until we can begin our next adventure ! So far we have been completely immune to the Chrismas build up which is welcomed by us both – apart from a few mannequin’s dressed with xmas hats and a brightly lit tree in Fortaleza, Cumbuco seemed to ignoring the commercial side of the festive season.

I forgot to put on my last write up that my skype name is lottie.dodd

Love to you all

Dan and Lottie

Danny S bend sequence

(it is a new trick for Danny which looks cool) until he said the fatal last words…..”I’ll end it on a high” ! So at this point I thought that maybe I should have a go and try to land a back roll – you basically edge the board and then turn your neck and flick your body round in the air – easy ! So it looks quite simple but me being me makes a hash of it which provided Danny with a lot of entertainment. Once I had been dragged too far downwind frommy board, Danny came over in to the water to give me a pep talk and then looked like he had been snipered down ! At first I laughed (as you do!) and then realised that something was wrong. We still don’t know exactly what happened, Dan said it felt like he had stood on the end of a broken bottle but straight away he was in agony and his foot was bleeding and starting to swell. We quickly landed my kite and as Danny hobbled home I packed all of our kit away and headed after him. Back at the guesthouse we started to think that Danny had been stung by something so with JP’s wisdom Danny put his foot straight into hot water which was followed by some hayfever tablets, ibuprofen and some good old rum (it even has a picture of a pirate on the front of the bottle!!). It’s quite rare for Danny to show pain – he’s normally hard as nails but after the rum kicked in, things improved. We have tried to find out what could have stung / bitten Danny but nobody seems to know what it was - it must be quite rare for this to happen so it’s back into the water for more kiting !!

The trip to Taiba was easy to sort – £30 a day for 3 days for a buggy and then it’s only a 1 hour drive up the coast to Taiba. The buggy’s themselves are a necessity out here but driving on the beach all day in salty water means that they are not the most reliable things in the world ! Danny was the chauffeur for the trip and we headed off. The drive was beautiful as the coastline is made up of coconut trees and the local kids always give you a smile and a thumbs up ! The only thing that spoils the view is a giant road that extends over the water towards some sort of rig / dock but I guess that industry was never designed to look pretty !

A little further up the beach and we could see that something ahead was attracting attention – a giant sea turtle (and I mean giant !!) had washed up onto the beach. The poor thing was already dead and being cut up – we presume that it can be valuable but it’s still sad to see things like this.

When we arrived in Taiba the North boys let us stay at the beach house with them and you realise that no matter where you are in the world, it’s who you know not what you know !! The beach house was pimped !!!! Before we came out to Brazil I had been surfing the net looking at accommodation and had come across revolution kiteboarding and dreamed of having the money to stay there, little did I realise that we would end up staying in their beach house for free ! Waking up and strolling straight out onto the decking overlooking the sea was magical !

 Taiba itself is a lovely place – it’s bigger than I thought and you can already see that huge stylish complexes are being built – I guess that it will look totally different in a few years time but right now, it is chilled out, relaxed and very friendly.

The owners of the beach house have recently opened a pousada called The Latin Quarter (have a look at the Revolution Kiteboarding link that I have added to the blog). If and when we come back to Brazil this is a place that I will be visiting again. The main area is a cosy courtyard with coconut and banana trees, glass mosaics, hammocks and Brazilazy’s (which are like massive bean bags). They have a huge pizza oven and a giant screen which plays kite and surf videos in the evening. The owners Mark and Katy will do everything possible to make you welcome and to get the most out of your stay.

The morning view from the beach house

As I mentioned before, the buggy’s are not exactly reliable and by this point, our battery had completely given up. Sick of trying to bump start the thing, all 8 of us (7 guys and little old me !!!) piled onto one buggy and drove around Taiba with the Foo Fighters on full blast ! As soon as we saw the red flash of a police car approaching we all crapped ourselves and tried to run off – little did we know that the police weren’t really bothered and carried on their merry way !

By the end of the trip we had managed to get through 3 buggy’s (a big thank you to Katy for making the calls to loco buggy to sort out the replacements!) but ended the trip in style with a curry at the latin quarter and a English breakfast in the morning ready for the drive home. 

With 3 weeks left in Brazil, I hope that we can manage another trip to Taiba or even somewhere else further north but here in Cumbuco you are spoilt with the conditions so we will have to wait and see. Tomorrow we are hopefully going to the water park which has the worlds biggest slide ! it’s sick !!

Dave farted just as we took this picture, nice!

Keep well

Love Dan and Lottie

ps. we are now on skype so let us know if you are also online !

The one great thing about Cumbuco is that it’s full of kiters and repair shops so there is no problem that can’t be fixed. My kite was sorted and only cost £6 for the repair, Danny’s board is repaired and should be back today and Chris who was staying at the Guesthouse left his old harness which Danny can use. Even though it feels like we are in the middle of nowhere, everything has easily been fixed.

Dave Ibby

Dan perfecting his railey !

Me – doing nothing special, give me a few days and I have some pics of me jumping !!

Back at the Guesthouse, it was BBQ time. The North guys headed off to the fish market and came back with 4 huge red snappers, an unbelievable amount of fresh salad, potato’s and pasta. A bit of teamwork and it was ready in no time – the guys even managed to buy breaded chicken burgers for Danny – result !!

The BBQ was amazing, the fish was the best I have ever tasted - there was an unreal amount of food but the 14 of us soon gobbled it down ! After a few beers we were so chilled and relaxed.  Even though is is really cheap to eat in town (about £5 for half a roasted chicken, fresh salad, rice, chips and half a liter of ice cold beer !!!!) some days it is lovely just to have your own BBQ with the music blaring !

Melene, Murray, Dave and JP preparing the salad !

The North boys have headed off to Taiba today where there is a quiet lagoon so we will follow them down in a few days so that we can try to make the most of our time here. It’s so easy just to fall into the same daily routine, the morning commute to the lagoon, a few cheeky beers and then the odd day recovering in a hammock ! There are plenty of places to visit so we’ll see what happens !

We’ll keep you updated, lots of love

Lottie and Dan xx

Here are a few random pics for you !!!

Mobe sleeping on my shoe !

The coolest Donkey in town !

Murray loading up the buggy

Dave loving the pimped wheels

The Snapper chefs !

Cheese !

 
Bar number one, five minutes in an we were already getting told to quieten down and to take it easy on the fuseball table. The shirts came off, lots more noise, lots more beer, loads of high fives and manly chest bumps !! It moved on to pool - there were a couple of sharks in the group. Ibby was on the table and hadn’t realised Scott had gone missing. Through the crowd Scott blasts in with a bottle of olive oil in hand, freshly stolen from the pizza place, Ibby gets covered head to toe, the bottle gets chucked towards the beach and Scott does a runner! Very quickly, the pizza place owner and two cops wander into the bar. Ibby, greased up looking as if he should be on stage flexing, has to now explain that he didn’t cover himself in olive oil - all of this was happening while Scott was sat at the bar pissing himself, the cops none the wiser ! Time to move on to the next bar!

 
 
The next bar is dutch owned and called Laranja (Orange) - it was very orange with lots of bench swings (random I know!). Trying to keep a low profile we all made friends with the very generous barman who made us some wicked rum cocktails. Orange bar was a bit weird. It’s full of kiters, but equally full of “Brazilian ladies” an slimey old men who we had great fun winding up.

A few hours drinking done and it was definitely time to head home, only one of the guys had drunk way to much and was barely walking. Murray and I had to shoo away the hooker that was following him away, a loud hockey style NOOOO and hand gesture and she moved onto the next drunken mess. The hardest part of the night was just about to start. Graeme (G’man)is a big guy and attracted quite a bit of attention in the bar by asking random women if the were hookers, as apparently he didn’t have a clue. Once outside, he stumbled in to a bush, a standard move I hear you say but not if the drunk weighs 18 stone!! As two smallest guys, Murray and I took it upon ourselves to pick him up an get drag his ass home. All of this was happening whilst we were being followed by, I assume, a pimp G’man had pissed off. The girls (including Lottie) were not best pleased to say the least !!! Once inside the guesthouse fortress, G’man hit the deck, still trying to get him to bed, it turned in to a big argument, insults were pass back an forth until the sun came up, an eventually everyone got to bed, except me!

The funny thing about the night was that we never actually met up with Jo, I think she would of been proud about all the drink we had in her honour though.

Anyone who knows me, understands that I don’t do mornings! So being up at 5.30am was new to me I decided to head down the to beach. The sunrise was pretty amazing and the wind was howling – being stood in the sand with my hoody on in already 25 degree heat was also a new experience. I drunkenly ran back to the posada and checked every room to get a kiting buddy up, needlessly to say, people were not happy with me at first but did admire my commitment. I headed back the beach alone, rigged up the rasta and hit the water. The tide was high and set me up with loads of wicked 2 foot kickers, many tantrum attempts were made, I even landed a few. I then moved on to doing some powered kiteloops, amazingly I landed them as well! It was the best session I have ever had. After an hour, I decided it was time for food and sleep.

Looking back at it after I had sobered up properly, it could of gone so wrong but i was smiling hard and laughing out loud at how good the morning was starting. The sun was up, i was on the water and i was so happy. 
 
It sounds stupid but its a date i will never forget, 6 am session 13/11/08, Brazil.

Adieus amigos !

Love Dan

Jo – yes she’s a pro !! I wish I was this good !

The lagoon – it’s heaven, just wish it wasn’t so crowded !

The buggy on the way home – there was all of this kit plus 6 people including the driver !

The gang hiding from the sun

Danny at the local spot

Close up !

Backroll transition

Bobby and Sky our resident labradors – they are so cute !

Me coming back in to the beach

Cheese !!

10k downwind of Cumbuco is the Caipe lagoon which has perfect flat water although we had been told that it can get quite crowded, to make sure that we got up nice and early, we arranged to have an early breakfast and Danny managed to convince me that kiting 10k isn’t far and that I would be fine. Although I started kiting last summer, it has only been the last few months when I have really got the hang of things so a 10k trip out at sea is a little daunting to say the least ! The wind was quite light so we opted for the 10.5m and 12.5m kites, Danny strapped a rucksack to his back with a few essentials and off we went ! I went ahead with Danny close behind to keep an eye on me which was a good thing as I managed to crash and loose my board 7 times !! Ooops, I definitely need more practice but I managed to keep the kite in the air despite being spun around and bouncing across the waves lol ! Once at the lagoon aside from being shattered it was easy to see why it gets so crowded – it is beautiful, flat water and perfect wind! I took shelter from the heat (which is a good job because I am starting to looks a little bit on the pink side!) and Danny was in his element, practicing trick after trick and learning some moves from the locals. 

Next time we will take the camera so I can put some videos together for you to watch. Getting home from the lagoon is much easier than getting there, there are lots of buggy drivers who will take you and all your kit zooming back up the beach to your hotel – perfect !

Our first two days have been spent on the local beach, the temperature is a constant 30 degrees and the wind is 7 – 10m weather all day long. At first Danny was not too sure about the water or the wind condition but after 2 mintues on the water Danny came back in with a smile from ear to ear just to tell me that sea is warmer than our hotel shower ! We have never been to a kiting location where the weather has been so perfect for kiting !

The whole village has been built up around kitesurfing, every hotel (pousada) caters for kiters and it makes for a really relaxed atmosphere, no stress, no problems, just kiting and cheap beer !!!

We moved into the Guesthouse today where we have the wifi connection so we will be able to update the blog and let you all know how we are getting on.

The connection at Lisbon was easy, a short 3 hours passed quickly and the airport is really nice as far as airports go ! Once onto the TAP Portugal jumbo we were like kids at Xmas – plenty of films and games to watch / play on which kept us entertained for hours, my only complaint was that the main meal was squid !! Who eats squid ?? Very random !

On arrival at Fortaleza we were amazed at how big the city was, it’s seemed to go on forever. Passport control was a nightmare but the bags all came through with no problems, so smiles all round. Once onto the taxi, after 30mins driving, we were handed a mobile phone with Mario, the guesthouse owner, on the other line who told us that unfortunately he had a problem with the booking on his computer, so didnt have a room ready for 4 days BUT that another pousada had a room available. Ok so after 20 hours of travel that wasn’t exactly what we wanted to hear but at Pousada Brasita we were greeted by the owner and his family with beer and a cheeseburger, big smiles from Danny – not so bad after all !