That night we ate out and had our first local dance off with an inebriated Spanish guy at the bar. Catman began well and dazzled the locals with a blistering combo. First the 'Lawnmower' followed swiftly by the 'Air Hostess' dance. By this stage the Spanish contingent were reeling and the could only muster a few misplaced hand claps and hip jiggling - It was time to finish them off. We sent in Sven with his infamous 'Ass Dance' and it was all over. The place erupted in laughter and the locals admitted defeat!
Friday morning and the sun was shining but the waves were disapointingly small. We feared it was the end but we'd had a good run. 'Catman' went in and surfed the small, super hollow shore break, alone. The water was crystal clear and you could get a fish eye view inside the tube before being drilled into the sand about a foot below. Richie and Sven eventually took the plunge and Sven claimed his first barrel! Sadly on his second wave, his fin snapped and he was forced to leave the water on a technicality.
Most of our heads were foggy that day so we just sat and watched as the swell gradually built. By 7pm that night, solid 3ft sets were pushing through as we paddled through the inside shore break.
Within the hour some fairly meaty 5 - 6 footers were keeping us on our toes as we paddled like mad to avoid the clean up sets. Everyone had a good surf. Wilky had a lovely late takeoff into the barrel on his forehand. We could see him inside through the lip but he was a little too late and was unceremoniously slapped by the lip as he tried to straighten out.
It was nearing the end of the trip and we were up early for the long drive back to Bilbao. Our local spot was working but we decided to gamble and hope that somewhere in Asturias was working. We'd been told to head back to 'Llanes' for a local Fiesta (a party not the car!) so decided to call in at 'Xago' on the way and check the surf. Yet again this spot delivered! The beach was packed as it was the weekend but the surf was looking good at around 3 - 5ft and clean.
We suited up and surfed our socks off. Hollow waves were plenty and everyone scored some great rides. 'Wilky' practically took off on every single left going. 'Catman' dropped into a couple of lovely hollow bombs, 'The Dentist' had the wave of his life and 'Sven' scored a couple of peachy rights. 'Richie' the apprentice on this trip earnt his stripes with a couple of monumental drops which impressed us all and 'Sun' continued paddling around picking off waves like a watery sniper.
After snapping his leash, Catman had a nice swim in to make some emergency amendments to his leash using a shoe lace! It was nearing lunchtime so we headed in, re-fuelled and went back out for another couple of hours. After a good five hours of surfing we were done and headed towards our 'Fiesta'.
As we neared our final destination around 9pm we got our first puncture. After a tyre change that Ferrari would've been proud of, we discovered that the local campsite was full. The Gods were definitely against us!
After a bit of debate and persuading 'The Dentist' that is was occasionally okay to 'rough it' we agreed that we'd sleep wherever we fell. The local town was buzzing and we indulged in some horrific cider drinking!
They free pour the local cider from over head into a small glass or onto the pavement depending on whether the Waiter or Sven poured it. The idea is to get the cider bubbling and the drink is necked whilst still fizzing in the glass. At just £1.30 a bottle you could see why it was so popular. Not being a cider drinker myself, this part of the evening was torture.
We hit a multitude of bars and even bumped into a local who'd attended Swansea Uni and proceeded to buy us all whiskey. Despite our fatigue we had a great night and wandered back to the local fields at dawn. The cider and soft grass led to the best night's sleep all week!
Bilbao beckoned and the cars were loaded up one last time. The surf was looking poor so Wilky decided we should par take in some local culture and we wandered around the Guggenheim Museum for a few hours.
The week long trip was at an end although it felt like we'd been away for two! We'd travelled approx 1300 km across Northern Spain, scored some great waves and met some lovely people. We arrived back in Wales to find U.S Hurricane season was in full swing and the swell of the summer was hitting Porthcawl at a solid 6ft!
A perfect end to a perfect trip.
