This maybe true of some parts of Portugal, or any other country where you can buy booze cheaply, with nice weather, etc. Where British people decide to descend upon in their masses every year and get extremely drunk, fight, and grope local beauties. Whilst I may have been guilty of a few of these crimes in my younger days, I came to Portugal for a different reason: SURFING!!!. I found out as much information as I could about surfing in Portugal from various internet sites including a place to stay. Advertised as: “A surfing hostel run by a young English couple who have travelled the world surfing, and know exactly what is needed to make a good surfing holiday” I just knew this was the place for me. I promptly emailed the address. And within a few hours I'd got a reply from Sian and Allistair who gave us all the information we needed and said they couldn't wait to see us. Yee Ha!!. The cost of our accommodation was just 28 euros a night for myself and my girlfriend Anna. On arrival to ‘Casa Linda' which is situated in the Vale of Telha, near Aljizur we were greeted by a very dusty young man Alistair who had been tiling at the time but proceeded to show us around ‘Casa Linda'.
Casa Linda is a big ‘Casa' or house as we like to call them, but it is uniquely split into 5 self contained chalets which all have excellent facilities like shower, toilet, kitchen with fridge, cooker, etc. The gardens are lovely, with there own balconies where you can have a bbq which we did twice (in February). And two brilliant hosts Alistair and Sian who are so friendly and helpful I really cant stress how much we enjoyed staying here and to recommend it to any surfers is the least I can do for them.
Anyway onto the waves, I had some info from the net that our nearest break was Arrifana. Accordingly this was a point break which only works on big swells but is a regional classic when it goes off (which is rare). I was lucky enough to experience Arrifana at its best and believe me it's a cracking wave, hollow and powerful. Its quite daunting when you pull up because its quite a rocky area but if you use your nogging you can get by. As Arrifana rarely breaks I will move on and talk about the beach where the most of the photos were taken: Mareta (Tonel). Well f*ck me, I've seen some big waves in my time (Freshwest last September 11 th sticks in my mind) but well Mareta is unbelievable. Fortunately I woke up on Feb19 th which was my birthday!!, and Alistair had left a piece of paper outside our chalet which was from the net showing swell sizes and predictions for the next week and on it was a big red blob heading right for Portugal that day. The note said “Good luck its gonna be big!!!”.
That morning we drove to Mareta, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing, sets cleaner than soap driving through into this stunning beach break ranging from 8ft to at least 12ft all day long. I must be honest I didn't go in. Call me a poof, gay whatever but I was on my own as Anna's not that experienced and it was just TOO BIG!!!. You know when you see those surfing films, where waves are dumping on people, squashing them like flies. This was the mighty Mareta. I'm sure by seeing the photos you can see what I mean but in reality it was crazy. Just to experience watching waves this size was inspiring and after being so close to these waves it made me realize that as surfers we must respect the sea and for its glory and its power.
Anyway back in sunny Wales until May, when the lads and I will continue our journey of Wales' best and be heading to Southern France and Spain for some real action. (Hopefully).
Dan.
Plumby greeted them respectfully and even opened the conversation with "Oy Oy, if you want a test drive your more than welcome" referring to Plumby’s car which they had been peering into for the last 5 minutes. "Your going to have to move your tent, we don’t like youngsters on our site" one of the ladies said. Plumby replied with, "Oh I'm sorry, I dint realise. Would it be ok if we slept for one night here, where only from Narberth ( playing the "we're local" card ) and we'll be gone quite early" what she said next surprised and shocked Plumby "Your bloody local are you, well you've definitely got to go now, the local youth are nothing but trouble".
Following this comment she demanded that we move the tent and car off her site. When Plumby politley informed her that he had been drinking and wasn't able to drive because he would be over limit she replied "I'm sure you'll manage". Anyways after some gentle persuasion and a massive pack of lies, Plumby had managed to convince the pair that he was a Venture scout leader and the other members of the team where also scouts. Anyways, they left after a bit, not before demanding £12 off Plumby for the pleaser of being insulted by them.
After this initial drama the team had an ace night. When the barbecued food had been consumed it was over to the Duke of Edinburgh, the only pub in Newgale, for further ales. The Duke of Edinburgh, for those not in the know, is a brilliant pub. The bar staff are very friendly and the ale is top notch. A well-stocked duke-box is at hand, together with a pool table, an old skool space invader machine, and a stack of gamblers, which regularly suck the visiting Valley folk dry of their DSS cash.
So what can we learn from this story? Well for starters don't camp in Newgales camp site, you'll get ripped off and insulted. What’s more, you'll be lining the pockets of an ungrateful pair of ladies who have prejudice against the type of person who stays in their campsite, a bloody campsite, not running the bloody Ritz!. Their attitude to the local youth is a disgrace and is nothing but ignorant prejudice, how would they like it if their local shop told them to f*ck off because they were local!? They may have had trouble with youths on their site in the past, but this is no reason to use blanket punishment to all youth on their campsite, a campsite that is located right in front of one of the best surfing sports in Pembrokeshire. The reason for local trouble could be attributed to lack of worthy activites for the local youth to participate in, by denying the local youth a place to set up camp and enjoy the surfing in Newgale they are merely increasing the problem of youth disorder.
As an alternative I suggest you camp on the beach. Yes, it may be a little rocky, and yes there isn’t a 3rd rate shower available to you in the morning, but when you leave the Duke of Edinburgh your that much closer to the beach for some skinny dipping. Even better, your tent is closer so when you wake up your closer to the Surf! The whole reason why you set up camp in the first place!
Peace x
Plumby
Following the completion of all the surfwithus teams university exams, a weekend of festivities was arranged for the weekend of the 15th of June in Cardiff. It all began on Friday when Plumby arrived, slightly later than planned, at the Taff union bar. The reason for his late arrival could be put down to two main points, a) British rail is totally dog sh*t and b) he met some builder from Pontypridd on the train who offered him a pint in "The Prince of Wales" whilst he waited for his wife to phone. Two hours later they emerged from the pub, his wife still hadn't phoned.
After a quick burst by Plumby to the Taff bar, the surfwithus members made their way to "Incognitos", a late night bar with good looking bar ladies and even better looking customers. After a few sly beers the 6-foot fellas walked confidently onto the dance floor only to run off embarrassed as soon as Cow started dancing. Marv was so embarrassed (or p*ssed) he wandered off into the darkened streets, not to be seen until the following morning. After a tough walk and an even tougher Kebab it was time to hit the sack for the night.
Saturday was the big drinking day; everybody met in "The Scream" pub at around 2 o'clock. The people who attended this initial meeting would prove to be the hardcore drinkers of the day. After a rather oily fry-up it was time to turn our hand to the serious matter in hand, the drinking. Between us we came up with the idea of creating a journal of the day. The journal would prove to be a great success and is still a source of great humor. Photos of this great journal can be seen in the photos section, here in 6footsh*t.co.uk.
We began drinking in "The Social", we decided on this pub as it was showing the Wales vs South Africa game. We put into play an old drinking game, we would drink one finger for every points scored in the game. This would turn out to be a grave mistake as it was a high scoring game. 4 pints where consumed within 1 hour. The downing of the third pint coincided with the first entry in the journal. Aside from Cow's sketchy sketch of us in "The Social" the first written entry was one that would bring a smile to any local employment authority manager. Marv had made his contribution to ensuring that toilet cleaners would not be short of work for the next month or so as he had managed to spread three pints of Guinness over an area that looked similar to that of Loch Lomond. The spewing projection must have been impressive as even the sides of the cubical where caked with a mixture of Guinness and strange white lumps which I can only presume was the remains of 10 hard boiled eggs Marv had secretly consumed earlier that day.
Following this impressive and pacey start to the drinking day, the next port of call was the" Tavistock", a pub full of locals who where watching a re-run of the Welsh game that had been shown live only 30 minutes ago in "The Social", a mere 50 metres away. Now you have to be impressed by the loyalty of the drinkers in this pub but have to question their intelligence, I considered that fact that there may be an ongoing competition in the pub for the most loyal customer and the group of 10 drinkers who where gathered around the small 21 inch TV had been battling it out for the last 15 years. On a short trip to the p*sser I had a brief chat with one such "Tavistock" loyalist, he looked heart broken when my opening comment was "Shame about the Welsh result", when he questioned me on where id seen the game "As it happened", when I told him id seen it in the pub around the corner he seem surprised. I don't think he realized that there where other pubs in Cardiff. Later that day he announced his retirement from the competition and left the pub with a look of excitement on his face, much to the delight of the remaining 9 competitors.
The "Tavistock" had one positive feature, its well hidden Skittles alley. The alley was a simple set-up, a 15-meter strip of slightly dented wood with 9 slightly dented plastic skittles at one end. The aim of the game was to knock as many of these skittles over with 3 slightly dented coconut-sized balls. A few games where played. Speed took preference to accuracy when it came to bowling strategy (which may explain why everything was slightly dented) though there where a few 8's scored by Marv and myself. A small reminder of the pub was added to the Journal (a small piece of roof) and we proceeded to the next pub, "The Tut and Shive"
This pub was quite deceptive, from the outside it looked as if it had about as much room as an airing cupboard in the shanty towns of Sao Paulo, after ordering the Abbot Ale we proceeded further into the depths of the pub and found ourselves a seat in a different county to the bar, the rear end of the pub was bigger than an ice rink, but not so big that the walls wouldn't get a few specks of vom should Marv spew again. Here we remained for some time, the Journal was passed around the pub, collecting some sketches drawn by some drugged hippies on its journey, the best of these being a picture of a bearded man in between some goal posts, with the phrase "Jesus Saves" written underneath. The worst of which was a short phrase, which read, "don't bother me again". We didn't.
Plumby x x
I now feel I have mastered the winter surf and am ready for a new challenge. Plumby unfortunately forgot his camera in the rush to get back to help his dad fondle their sheep so photoes of this momentous occasion will not appear on this site. Believe me it guys it was emotional. My extended thanks to those who were involved in making the trip a successful one. Mike brown.
Faithful surfwithus team member and devoted blue juice lover.
We then tried to find the Blue Lagoon in Aberauddu but to no avail, the chaps from London we're getting a little moist, it was the night of the England vs Germany game, so we went back to St.Davids, badly erected some tents in a caravan park I cant remember the name of and headed into town. Richy who was playing football the next day for Milford decided not to drink pints but instead thought he would get less p*ssed on Whiskey, which he drank several of. After the game, 6-1 bla bla bla, we started chatting to some local folk and they informed us of a little event that was going off in the RAFFA club, some kind of Jazz band where playing.
The 6foot chaps turned up at the door, only to be told that they was no room in the Inn. Not deterred we hatched a plan to get us all in, using alternative entrances. Dale, one of the chaps from London decided to climb through the window, he did so collapsing onto the dance-floor, bringing the curtain rail and curtains with him. The fact that he was unnoticed by the several "bouncers" was a good sign. At the same time Dale had landed on the dance-floor, Ali had managed to break into the emergency exit around the back of the club. With two of the 6-foot team in the place, it was only a matter of time before the rest had sheepishly snuck their way in. The vibe in the club was immense, it was a totally good. Everyone was dancing sweet. The band, who I don't know the name of, and I would dearly like to, where superb. After a few choice sugar induced Alco-pops we where into the groove and ready to dance. We danced on the floor for a good few hours, until Ali and myself noticed some pretty hefty speakers either side of the band, after moving all the drinks off the top of them, we decided to jump on and use them as a podium. If you where in the RAFFA club that night please let me know, you might remember me, I was wearing a navy t-shirt with MWNG written on it. The band kept playing the good-stuff, until the bouncers came along demanding that they stopped as they had to close. The crowd and the band where having none of it, the bouncers we're dragged away by a few heavy but friendly locals. A few songs later it was over. As the 6-foot team we're meeting up outside, a lovely-local-lady invited us to her house for a party. Her uncle was the producer of the Super-furry's apparently. Nice. The party was feisty, after a day on the waves and a night on the floor, we decided it was time to head back to our canvas homes for the night ready for more of the same the next day.
Plumby - surfwithus surf team.
The duo arrived at Newgale with plenty of time to spare before the rugby kicked off, 3 pints worth of time in fact. The local shop, Newsurf, provided a useful snatch-back amenity, much to the disappointment of the respective surfwithus team members bank managers. Following watching Wales' gash performance on the hollowed turf of the Millennium stadium, there was another gash performance of Newgale beach as the surfwithus fellas took to making a fire worthy of cooking the "Premium" sausages stolen only hours earlier from Plumby's mums freezer. After gather driftwood from the beach in a half-cut state, a fire was finally lit. The resulting smoke stench could be smelt in the air for miles, and will indeed be smelt anywhere where Plumby and Richy tread for the foreseeable future. The fire however was a success and a meal of champions was served up a measly 3 hours after the fire lighting procedure had began. There where several snaps taken during this painstaking process and will be in the Photos section as soon as Boots get there fingers out of the Pharmacutical arses and develop them. The next step was to erect the budget "Outbound" tent that had been dragged round with us all day. It was a simple process once a suitable wind free spot had been found, not an easy thing to do half p*ssed and eyes still watering from a few Smokey moments which occurred during the now-legendry fire lighting process. After all that had to be erected was erected it was time to return to the pub. We stayed on the pub for as long as possible to get away from the cold conditions outside, the landlord duly allowed us, together with several others until 2 in the morning, serving only coffees and tea after 11 of course, to comply with the UK's licensing regulations. A superb time was had in the Duke of Edinburgh and our extended thanks to them. Apologies for any surfwithus graffiti that may have appeared on any contraceptive issuing machines.
On returning to the tent it was discovered that Plumby had not packed his sleeping bag. Yells of "Let me in your sleeping bag Richy you twat" followed by "Fuck off you shivering poof" were heard throughout the campsite several times that night. Luckily the copious amounts of Whiskey which had be drunk by Plumby in the pub that evening allowed him to have 2 hours of un-disturbed sleep. From 4 o'clock onwards, it was a different story, the warm shower the next morning was much appreciated by all, especially Plumby. After more surfwithus vandalism, this time in the Sands cafe, the pair where ready for another days walking, leaving Newgale at 11 o'clock. After more amazing views on the way the pair arrived at Solva, in good time, a "nice pint of squash" was the chosen drink this time, not a beer, heads where still thick with haze after the previous nights drinking. Richy was reported to be feeling "spewy", but no actual evidence of vomiting was found.
The pair eventually arrived onto St.Nons beach at around 5 o'clock. A short roadside walk into St.Davids and the trip came to an end. After being picked up by Plumbys girlfriend the pair returned to there respective abodes and slept peacefully and warmly in separate beds for the remainder of the day. After a truly superb time the surfwithus team are planning a walk on a bigger scale in the summer, there is talk of walking the entire length of the coastal path. The wheels of a plan are in motion already to avoid last moment planning errors, for example no sleeping bag.
All is good on the surfwithus ranch.
Plumby - surfwithus team