South Africa
At the start of Easter the good people at HMS Customs let me leave the UK to go and witness my older brother getting married.
Obviously the only suit I was looking to pack was my wetty, but I had to take a smart one as well.
After a good 12 hour kip (due to my friendly neighbouring passengers giving me sleeping pills), an awful airline meal and some banter, my younger brother (Ash bash) and I made it to South Africa.
Getting off a plane to 35 degree heat is always a good start to a surf trip and as you can imagine I was beaming from ear to ear to be off my flying metal prison.
My initial reaction to South Africa was one of wonderment. The first thing that struck you as you left the airport was the fact that this certainly is a land of extremes, both in terms of culture and geography.
The view that greeted us as we drove towards our first destination - Cape Town was a beautiful mountain range, with nice properties and seemingly good living.
However, a few miles closer to the airport you are confronted with the harsh reality of the poverty that some have to suffer and the simple dwellings they inhabit.
It was something that I had never experienced first hand, and left me speechless, for a change.
Anyway back to the surf. We got to Cape Town and checked into the backpackers at Greenpoint and ran straight for the waterfront.
Arriving there, we found a reef break 'Rocklands' which was a reeling 4-6ft and pumping.
This wave was a serious looking one compared to other waves in the local vicinity. It broke on a bed of kelp and rock and would go from what looked like a 3ft peak into a head high screamer.
The wave had a nice hollow takeoff but was only a short ride before the end section shut down onto rock.
Upon closer inspection we noticed a pack of forty people and only three waves per set.
Disappointed, we cut our losses and headed for much needed food and beer.
The nightlife in Cape Town is awesome, with nice places to unwind, new beers and ciders to try and also the local specialty of Biltong.
For those not in the know, Biltong is a dried cured meat, which is super tasty with a nice cold beverage.
The next day after getting some tips off our local bodyboarder scout, Bru (complete legend), we headed for Llandudno, as Camps Bay wedge was not properly working.
Llandudno is a proper sponger/ shortboarder wave and breaks like a really fast shore break.
On this occasion it was only a mellow 2-3ft (due to a high pressure moving over), but still had scope for a few cover ups and nice sectiony ones.
Although not as big as I would have liked, it still pumped and offered some nice wally sections where you could fit in a spin or turn, before it turned into shorebreak and left you high and dry on the sand.
This beach was great, so me and my bro spent a lot of time cruising and surfing here, in between helping out with wedding errands and drinking beer and eating some lovely seafood.
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