Frank the Wanderlust

Soph Shoots Surf Shots - Ep. 2 - Morrocco

2009-10-15T19:04:00.005+01:00

Scored........ Solid 6ft swell on the famed Morroccan right points, soph shot the left wedge in front of the apartment while killers pictured above was reeling in the background - don't worry I scored that also. More shots of Morrocco to follow

BY PORTUGAL HELLO MORROCCO

2009-10-03T16:09:00.006+01:00

PORTUGAL

2009-09-29T20:02:00.007+01:00

Debbs and Kara

Liam & Soph

Soph and Tram

PORTO - PORTUGAL CONT..

2009-09-29T19:37:00.004+01:00

CASA DA MUSICA, PORTUGAL, PORTO

2009-09-27T19:43:00.004+01:00

FARO - PORTUGAL

2009-09-25T19:35:00.004+01:00

FARO - PORTUGAL
Spent a day, chilling in Faro, nice enough little joint, heres a couple shots, plenty more of portugal to follow in the next day or two

Sophie Shoots Surf Shots in San Sebastian

2009-09-04T09:54:00.004+01:00

With a little encouragment Soph has taken up the fine art of surf photography, after 2 surfs and some constructive dialogue we have we have chosen the first selection of what will surely be a growing portfolio of work to be published on this fine site. Shots are taken from main beach in San Sebastian.

245 steps to San Juan Hermitage at Dawn

2009-09-03T09:48:00.009+01:00

245 steps

Bakio

Liam and I made the 1hr treck from Bakio to St Juan Hermitage, a spritual retreat for sailors built in the 17th century with 245 steps linking the island to the mainland. At the top there is a chapel and hut like shelter with open fire for the sailors to stay during the Basque storms. It was a surreal experience at dawn as there was no one around and with the warm sun rising made for an unforgettable stroll....

A taste of the Basque Country

2009-09-01T15:10:00.020+01:00

Been traveling the spanish Basque coast for the last week, a highlight was a 6 night stay in Bakio which was our first real stop of the trip, nice to get to know the locals and town rather than blowing through on a mission to a newer and better place. Its also allows you time to suss out all of the campervan scams (nackers) that one must know on the road - (local sports hall for hot showers, taps for access to drinking water, wifi cafes etc..)

From Bakio we backtracked to San Sebastion, spending a couple nights along the way around the town of Bilbao and the beaches on the coast there. San Seb was great second time round with the town beach offering a few pretty sweet waves. We are now in Zaruatz waiting for the comp to start, Soph was well off the prospect of backtracking for a 'bloody surf comp', but is happy now she has a VIP wrist band..... Groupy I say.

Zarautz

Soph and foamy bonding - post shred sesh

Sopolana nudist beach to liams delight

Ibon got his mama to cook us this local basque dish of cod - delic

Bilbao again

Ibon and Kim from La Parra, Bakio at its best.....

Liam's "3" Fans

Liam signing autographs, Ibon told the locals Liam was a pro...

San Sebastian

Mundaka at dawn

Bakio

Zarautz, Spain WQS 5* Pro tomorrow. Liam is surfing in heat 13......

2009-08-31T18:34:00.005+01:00

2009-08-22T14:36:00.013+01:00

Pixos

San Seb

Sophs new relaxo-max doing its thing....

Frank at his best in Hossegor

Riding through the vines

St Emilon, Bourdeaux

The last week has been a little bit of a cultural education / experience, basically we have been eating and drinking a shit load, waves have been flat for 10 days so its been vinyards, churches / buildings and pixos (basque tapas) and some red wine as well.

We have moved on now and are happily residing in Bakio (which is just over the hill from Mundaka for the surfers reading), Mundaka was breaking today apparently, 2-3 ft but the onshore came up so i stayed in Bakio where the waves were pretty sweet, reminded me of Piha actually; rippy as hell. Getting to know Bakio now, have got the tides sussed out, good bars and cafes worked out which is a nicer way of traveling rather than staying at a place just for the night where you don't really get the feel of the place and locals.

We will stay around the western basque region for the next week untill we head back to St Sebastion and Zarutz on the 1st Sept for the QS there.

Frank arrives in France with the ladies

2009-08-22T09:50:00.013+01:00

Frank arrived safely via the Oscar Wilde ferry from Ireland to Roscoff,France, the girls however got a tad sea sick from the 3m swell but grabbed a bottle of Rum from Frank and once scoring some ice on the top deck felt better...
Frank and the girls covered about 1000 miles along Brittany's coast, driving into the Loire Valley,known as the garden of France enveloped by fields of sunflowers, crossing over to La Rochelle an enchanting fishing port for bbq squid and Gambas, across to Biscarrosse for some well needed ocean breeze and back to Bordeaux for a few nights of sampling the famous rouge. A few high-lights were Richalau an amazing medieval walled village with large gardens and no tourists, waking up to snorting pigs after spending a night on a pig farm and a few magnifique chateaus along the way.

Captain Morgan comes to Costa Rica

2009-08-22T09:28:00.012+01:00

One of the many benefits of being sponsored by Captain Morgain Rum is the occasional opportunity to head out on the town with the Pirate himself and the Morganets. One such opportunity presented itself the day our final surfer in the Irish team was knocked out of the comp so we hit downtown Jaco with the team that had driven 3hrs from St Jose to party with the team. Thanks to the Captain for the free flowing Captain Morgan.

Sights of Costa

2009-08-11T20:53:00.006+01:00

Brassos

Dinner Time

The Loft - Central American Prosy Hangout

Playa Hermosa - Comp time...

Liams first blog post

2009-08-04T21:19:00.004+01:00

Hi all, first post, just a quicky as I sweating like a rapist and my battery on the lappy is about to run out. Out of the comp today, waves didn't come my way and the other guys were better so was not worth trying to compete with them on the shitty in between set waves. Ended up doing not too bad considering the pros that I've been up against and some of the big guns that have been knocked out already.

Insanely lame post I know, I promise to post something a bit juicier in the next day or so now that I'm out of the comp I can do some real reporting, south america style.

Liam makes it into the local paper

2009-08-04T14:17:00.002+01:00

Liam arrives.....................

2009-07-31T14:45:00.000+01:00