The quest was on again for a place to stay and we invariably left this until the last rays of sun had disappeared, just to add an extra element of difficulty! Sven's six man tent - 'The Colorado 400' was on a par with a small marquee and erecting this in the dark was no mean feat. This was normally around the time people suddenly needed a shower...
'Sun' had decided to come on a camping trip with no sleeping bag or sleeping mat and felt very cheated although we never really worked out why we were to blame! ;)
He spent the second night sleeping in the large 'reception area' of 'The Colaorado 400' and woke up shivering dressed in some sort of white sheet that Wilky had given him.
The ground at this site was like concrete and none of us slept particularly well. I'd say we probably only averaged 4 - 5hrs sleep a night over the next week if we were lucky.
Our travel rep took pity on 'Sun' and he was duly upgraded to The Dentist's luxurious two man tent for extra warmth and comfort. The rest of us lay like sardines in the rear 'boudoir quarter' of 'The Colorado 400'. Once we'd assumed a sleeping position we were unable to move! Richie did a frightening impression of a Mummy (the Egyptian variety) lying in state whilst on his back sleeping and could literally switch off within minutes.
With some decent waves under our belts, we had a feeling of better things to come and headed towards a spot called 'Tapia de Casariego' and found it be fairly small, onshore and not really breaking properly.
About six guys were in trying to surf it but it wasn't very inspiring. The rain was absolutely pouring down and it felt like we were in the middle of a Welsh Winter!
After chatting to a couple touring in a campervan from Bude we'd heard reports of good waves further up the coast in Galicia so headed towards 'Pantin'.
It was as if 'Huey' was following us as we entered Galicia, the sun came out and the seas became bluer - this was what we had come for! A couple of coves nearby revealed white water and signs of swell and we arrived at Pantin carpark to find a clean 2-3ft swell running and a proper beach scene! Up until now we hadn't really encountered any people on the beaches but this place was jammed!
Catman and Sven hit the water first and paddled over to surf an inside left that the local rippers were missing. The main peak here resembled 'Boobies' in Cornwall with waves breaking off a headland and then jacking up into a nice right hander and occasional left taking you towards rocks on the inside. It looked like it was going to be fairly competitive here as most of the guys surfing, were older locals.
As it turned out Catman scored some nice rides, with his 'Fish' making takeoffs nice and early and rides connecting right through the fatter inside sections. The rest of the crew joined us but didn't really get into it. Surprisingly, the locals here always apologised when dropping in accidentally or getting in the way which was a pleasant surprise and this seemed to be the norm wherever we surfed.
We paddled in and re-fuelled and later had a quick bodysurf as the shore dump began to barrel nicely towards high tide. Local boogers and surfers alike were pulling into the shore break barrels narrowly missing swimmers. Then it was back on the road to try and find a camp site for the night.
We followed signs for camping and found a spot about 25mins from Pantin called Lagoa with a lovely set up next to a river/lagoon with a long sandy beach on the other side called 'Playa A Frouxeira'.
The campsite had showers, a cafe/bar etc so we decided we'd stay and relax a while - life on the road was tough!
The beach had a small swell running but we were happy enough to chill for a while. We ate in a local bar - delicious but the portions were a little too small for six of us to share one platter - two us could have eaten the lot quite comfortably! Our pitch was roadside and the site was full to capacity with holidaying Spanish folk.
Unfortunately the pitch next door had one of those Yorky/rat dog creatures with a serious attitude problem. It snarled and barked it's way through the early hours most evenings. I'm sure Sven's early morning 'watering' didn't help matters but I was surprised no-one dispatched it to doggy heaven, early!
Catman convinced Richie that the showers became hot when operated at full pressure. The hot water actually kicked in at the lowest setting but we found it very amusing to listen to the screams as cold water blasted him whilst he patiently waited for the hot to kick in!
More...
