A Break to Remember

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A Break to Remember - by George

Who knows what drove us to San Juan Del Sur*. Was it the promise of surfing lessons and a potential career on the World Tour? Was it Ed´s description of it as "A cool place to chill out, with amazing beaches and surfing"? Or could it have been part of my master plan to propose to Kate in an idyllic location?

Surf lessons were a mixed bag. Day one was brilliant, as Alfredo (our Peruvian instructor) had us standing up in some particularly gnarly white water. Sadly we´d not realised that "You´ll be out there for an hour or so" when translated from Nicaraguan becomes "You´ll be out in the Sun all day getting pounded by the waves and the UV rays! You´d be fools not to pack sunblock!". Suitably lobsterish we avoided the Sun for the next 24 hours, before getting back on the board with Dave, the owner of the surf shack.

Dave was clearly confused as he said he was from Idaho; I know for a fact that it´s impossible to look like that without being Californian. We spent several hours being chucked around, drinking from the Pacific and learning phrases like "The line up" and "Turning Turtle". He even threw in a bit of philosophy - "Dude, if a wave´s worth surfing... uh... it´s worth waiting for... dude!"

We had some fun evenings with Mike and Jerry (see Monteverde, Costa Rica) and Rach and Rob who we´d surfed with on day one. Ed had been right, it was a cool place to chill out.

Male readers may want to skip to the next entry, because a brief analysis of the congratulations we´ve received show that they have no interest in the proposal part of getting engaged.

I´d been brainstorming for so long that I can´t honestly say when I decided on the photo project. Using our spare Tarjeta de Memoria (or memory stick to you and me) I took a succession of photos of places on our travels, each with a letter in - using sticks, shells, signs and even Lucy Payne. When put together these spelled out "Kate will you marry me?". With a little time I worked out how to create a slideshow and managed to strap on a video.

A few months before, when in Ha Long Bay (Vietnam), Kate had made a flipant remark about only needing a ring-pull to get engaged. That evening I secretly stashed a ringpull and a few spares from the drinks we´d had that night.

After a few false starts I decided San Juan was the place and sunset the time, and where better to watch it than the headland overlooking the Pacific? Well I can tell you, anywhere is better as we found out. I convinced Kate that we chould go for a walk to play cards, drink beer and watch the Sun say goodbye to us once more. Sadly there was no way round to the headland and instead we found ourselves in the middle of a fishing port - not the most romantic of places.

After this rather smelly delay it was time for plan B and a coffee on the beach. Fortunately for me there were no more complications. Kate said yes to the slideshow and sporting the ringpull made me the happiest man on Earth...

*Actually it was a chicken bus full to the brim with locals, an 80´s throwback with "Soul Glow" hair and a Chichero marching band.

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Photos

Surfs Up
George and Dave on their way out to chew the cud.

Sunset
The Sun setting over San Juan Del Sur

The Ring
Kate sporting her new ring

Happy couple
Immediately after the proposal

Celebratory Dinner
Celebrating with steak and a bottle of wine

Comments

[Carla Haslock]

Favourtie Blog
This is my favourite blog of all the ones that I have read! Congratulations again guys! Carla x