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Published: March 13th 2007
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The wine festival in Santa Cruz
At the Vendimia with everyone from the language school in Pichilemu. Is that Kelly Slater in the front row? So, you've quit your job. You have a bit of money in the bank. A trusty shooter and a mate equally as daft as yourself. What are you waiting for?? Hit the road!!
Last weekend was 5 months since we left Heathrow for South America. In five days we leave for New Zealand. I am not sure if leaving for a country where we can speak the language will help us or whether it will just get us into more trouble. Only time will tell. Five months in South America has been incredible. Definately happy times. As i started to think about the adventures we will have on a different continent on the other side of the world, i came across an article in a surfing magazine outlining the rules of any good surf trip. Lets see how we have scored so far.
1) Your trip should be badly planned and poorly equipped. Maps are cheating and sleeping bags are for girls.
I had almost nothing to do with planning the trip. I left Manchester for Croyde in June 06 and when i returned in September Pete had an itinery of all my flights waiting for me. He
had also put together a map for friends and family to look at.
"Oh, so that's where we are going? Looks good bro. Good work!"
The only flight we have stuck to is the first one. Every one since then we have had to change. Any plan we have tried to make has failed, so we have now just given up on forward thinking. I didn't pack anything that i would come to need. Shoes, insect repellant, or any form of travel guide. I did however bring a sleeping bag which has come in really useful of providing extra padding for my surfboard on flights.
Verdict 1 point.
2) A Surf Trip is only as good as the mates you take. You need a leader. Someone to lead the way in knarley surf. Spearhead a knarly assault and deal with the cops. More importantly you need a younger, weaker underling who can cop the grommet abuse and be sent on distastful errands. You want to be the normal one, comfortably in the middle avoiding responsibility and abuse.
I aint going to give Pete the credit for being the first to charge knarley surf, but he
Pete Enjoys Animal Sex
Pandas need lovin too. has dragged my gringo arse out of a couple of funny situations. We also managed to recruit Simon to be the receiver of all abuse. ( I knew aussies were useful for something). I definitely fall under the category of normal and avoiding responsibility;-)
Verdict 1 Point
3) Something will go wrong, so get it out of the way early.
Where do i start. Only two weeks in and we had been robbed by a couple of crack whores. Since then we have had both our wetsuits stolen. We have missed a flight and been delayed of 6 weeks. I still have a hole in the side of my foot and Pete has become a ginger.
Verdict 1 point
4) Be financially irresponsible.
Tough one. You would struggle to spend the money from a paper round in south america.
Shall we go out tonight? Ok
Shall we cook or eat out? Lets go out
Which of these should we buy? Both
Bus or taxi? taxi
Cocktail or beer? cocktail
Dorm or room with en suite? Private room
Banana sandwich or pork surprise? both
I have lived well but am still on budget.
You Lot Really Dont Know How To Dance
I show Tatty & Carolina how to really dance. Verdict 0 points
5) Throw away your mobile phone
Absolutely. And how liberating it is.
Verdict 1 point
6) Perform and act of public nudity. No road trip is complete without it.
Pete and Simon scored good at machu pichu. I only have a late night drunken streak and swim in San Bartolo to claim. I feel a naked bungee jump or skydive coming in NZ.
Verdict 0.5 points
7) Purchase a nude magazine.
Absolutely.
"¿Tienes un smutt senor?"
"Si"
"¿Puedo tener por favor? Parra mi amigo"
Verdict 1 point
8) Someone should go through a profound personal crisis towards the end of your trip.
As if Pete having to deal with being ginger wasn't enough, he finally admitted he thinks he might be gay the other night at the disco. I even saw him dance to the scissor sisters. He didnt call an end to all gay banter on e mail for nothing boys?
Verdict 1 point
Total 6.5 / 8 Not Bad!!!
I cant really be arsed to write a proper blog entry about the rest of my time in Chile. Sine my
Feliz Cumpleanos
Birthday for one of the students at the school. Happy Birthday Danni. last entry i decided not to leave Pichilemu. I have stayed here for 6 weeks in total and attended the spanish school every day. It has been an amazing place and i have made alot of good friends here. It has been nice to stay in a place for so long and not worry about moving on. The waves have been class and it almost feels like i could make it my home.
You can look through the pictures on this page with captions to see what i have been up to. Basically surfing every day, going to school and partying at the weekend. Laurence from surf southwest came through the town for a few days surfing and partying which was cool. Other than that we have partied at a wine festival in a nearby town called santa cruz and me and pete cooked everyone at the school a bbq. There was also a birthday celebration as well.
When we get to New Zealand we plan on hiring a car and going on a huge surf/camping trip over the north island. A recipe for plenty of disaster i am sure you will agree. Watch this space.
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Andy Edson
non-member comment
NZ - there's no surf there
Now then John boy, surf dude extraordinaire! You're a long way from Leigh. What are you doing going to NZ when you could be sampling the surf on the Gold Coast - where its at man!!! Come and see us in Bris vegas and I can teach you how to ride the waves on the Coast. (I've no idea what I'm talking about). Enjoy NZ - its a great place. Looking forward to the nude bungy jump photos - not!!!! Cheers Andy, Gill and Amelia.