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Published: September 24th 2007
Hossegor
Our World Cup; sponsored by HeinekinThis is to be a blog choc-a-hoot full of guest contributers. With such a multi-talented group of would-be journos scribing their 2 cents worth, I’ll leave my contribution centred on 2 topics:
The RUGBY kicked off for us in Lyon which was abuzz with the fever of “the thinking man’s game”. The tournament came out of the blocks with an upset, “Le Cauchmar” (nightmare) read the headlines.
Lyon was a sea of gold in the streets as the Wobblies faithful pranced around town, but the Japanese also had their ration of “hopeful” support. The game itself was very tight with only the bounce of the ball ensuring a Wobblies win. Luckily the ball bounced 91 times in our favour. (nb. Don’t you love how we speak in first person when the Oz boys are winning and invariably third person when the opposite applies)
The Wales match was a much tougher contest (no, we didn’t flash up to Cardiff for the occasion). The win was comfortable but the Welsh showed a (here it comes) “rarebit” of courage in the second half.
So after 2 weeks, everything was roughly on track except for disconcerting injuries to Bernie Larkham and Captain Crusty Mortlock. Disconcerting
Switzerland
Swiss vineyard enroute to Lyon because the talent pool of Australia’s backline has a depth equivalent to the Hossegor shorebreak. Speaking of which brings us to topic no.2.
SURFING. The Coulters and the Wilsons joined us for 2 weeks in a lovely rented house amongst the fairways of Hossegor Golf Course.
When going surfing, 3 vital ingredients were initially lacking:
1. Surfboards - British Airways are running roughly at 1000 lost pieces of luggage per day. (can you see where this is heading). So it was a case of “Oh, shock horror” when Kim and Pierre rolled up at Lyon Airport sans boards.
2. Surf - being without boards isn’t such a drama when the Bay of Biscay resembles the Sea of Tranquility.
3. 9 months of aqua inactivity, 50 years old, stiff as an iron bar, is not a recipe for a pretty surfing comeback.
The happy ending is that:
. the boards arrived after 2 days.
. the ocean did eventually provide some epic fun days.
. the body began to sort of interpret what the mind was willing.
While the waves did turn on for a few days, why did our favourite break have to coincide with Hossegor’s nudies hangout? Just like
Hossegor
Our backyard golf course - only a 100 euro game everywhere else where naturalists like to strut, these euro punters were basically wrinkled up pensioners. The cold water didn’t seem to faze the blokes either, the associated “retreating turtle head” syndrome on their appendages apparently not an issue.
I’ll sign off and hand over to Penny and our other contributers. How have they fared? Very well, although Nick was our early disaster guru. Within 2 days, 1 broken glass, 1 red wine stained tablecloth, 3 hours lost in Biarritz and 1 world championship contender sneeze over the chicken pasta. From there on things could only get better. At least he wasn’t to blame for the picnic location in the LIDL supermarket carpark - so much more atmospheric than down the road in St Etienne at a picnic ground by a babbling brook, in the shadows of an ancient Roman bridge and under the brooding eye of a daunting chateau.
A Bientot.
Yeatesy
The epic 2 weeks.
My blogs are usually full of the sights, the culture, food and day trips. This blog, however, covers the sports, celebrations, mishaps and many, many laughs.
Let me start at Lyon. Besides being a lovely city, Lyon was our introduction to the beginning
Hossegor
Our sunsets of World Cup Rugby fever. On the day fo the game Aus vs Japan, Lyon was ablaze with green and gold sweaters, scarves and caps, Nick Wilson leading the charge. It was fantastic to walk through the town and soak in the atmosphere. The stadium was full of aussie supporters and a very understanding French crowd, and the game itself was a great spectacle. How did so many aussies get time off work to travel to France? With a 91 to 3 win, a night our with the Mackays finished off the evening and had us ready for Stage II - Hossegor.
After collecting the Coulters fresh from their 30+ hours flight, minus the surfboards, we drove 8 hours to Hossegor - that is 8 hours of catching up on 8 months of home gossip with a captive audience, no escaping all my questions. Gary the linguist had already gone ahead with the Wilsons; he was the negotiator with the non english speaking owners.
No complaints about my driving except for the last 150 klms driving on empty. It's tough finding petrol stations on the autoroutes...oops.
Our Hossegor home was bliss, even bigger and better than expected. Set amongst the
Hossegor
The boys few days of surf golf course, surf at the end of the road, pool in the yard and rugby on tv. You would think being away for 8 months I would have rushed to the gourmet kitchen and cook up a storm. No way! Too slack. Instead the housemates and invited guests embraced the kitchen and cooked up cordon bleu dishes each night accompanied by some very scrummy local wines. Thank you to all you budding chefs - my waistline will never be the same.
So the big brother house as it was sometimes called was a great base for the boys to surf, the girls to shop, and the team to head out for day trips and of course watch the Rugby.
The Wilsons thought they would have been voted out of the house the first, but in fact Nick would have probably been the last to exit as he provided the highest entertainment factor. The pasta sneezing, disappearing act in Biarritz, off the beaten track to the gay hideaway in the sand hills with Gary, the red wine on the once white tablecloth, the eyebrow grooming session beside the pool (I still have the photos Nick) and the constant threat of colouring
Hossegor
The boys warming up by the pool ready for the rugby fest us all with his green and gold war paint, which he did manage to use - watch next blog for full story.
As we cleaned the house and locked it up, we sadly bid farewell to Hossegor and head to Montpellier. Aust vs Fiji.
Penny
European Vacation!!
2 weeks of sun, surf finally and a few stressful moments when the surfboards decided to holiday a bit longer at Heathrow Airport. We finally arrived at our destination after travelling for 26 hours and it was great to see a very friendly face waiting to pick us up. Thanks Penny. Another hour of paperwork for missing boards then off on our 7 hour car trip to Hossegor.
House with pool, sunny everyday, great meals prepared by Jeanette (Wilson) and Greg (McKay) it doesn’t get any better. Our time has been spent with beach days followed by day trips to surrounding towns, beaches and the Pyrenees mountain towns.
Lots of great picture opportunities for all budding photographers, note the man in our photo kept re-appearing at every town in every photo!!! Must be a famous paparazzi.
Great time with great friends,
Kim & Greg Coulter
Help me Housemates! (I’m not evil,
Biarritz
The Promenade just unlucky)
Big Brother eat your heart out! (actually, eating disorders not allowed…strictly beer and vegies here please!)
As the first one voted out, I have the opportunity to comment on the ‘others’.
The women were very understanding and considerate of the men’s hygiene needs; naturally, the fellas fell in-line and copped the cave without a murmer.
The cave is a windowless shower and hand basin, where recent discoveries showed that 3 blokes can cohabitate and lead to new levels of grime generation. But the glory was that no female germs were found anywhere within!
The girls were even more understanding when it came to happy hour, where J and K were diligent in emptying the ‘Kritter’ (cheap local bubbly…unlike the girls, who are expensive foreign imports).
The lads maintained a note of sobriety, only attacking the Heiny kegs and red wine after lunch, and never before!
The men’s activity revolved around beach and attending to female requirements. Of course the chicks were always happy. (or else)
I won’t mention the Mike and Mal adventure in any detail; perhaps the compass was off, or, the day’s long surfing safari was only heightened by a religious pilgrimage through the Aquitane wilderness.
Biarritz
Can you see Nick? We couldn't Perhaps Mike will provide the detail.
Other than that, we had a ball! Weather was great,…company fab, and next it’s Montpellier for more footy!
Salute, Mal.
More images at:
www.colvinyeates.zenfolio.com
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