Cooler Magazine Trip to Sri Lanka

A few more shots have now been released of our trip to Sri Lanka with Lucia Griggi and Cooler Magazine.

And yes a tea party under water pretty cool huh?!

(c) Lucia Griggi

(c) Lucia Griggi

(c) Lucia Griggi

(c) Lucia Griggi

Relentless Energy Drink Boardmasters Festival Janner Style!

Relentless Boardmasters...THE biggest event that comes to Cornwall's North Coast all year, with a 6* WQS surfing competition at Newquay's Fistral Beach and a huge music festival set on the cliff top overlooking the beautiful Watergate Bay what more can I say...

As I have been living in Cornwall for the summer months I thought it would be time for my two best friends to come and see what exactly it is that I do when not going school and give them a taste of the surfing lifestyle and festival fun.

This week was all about giving Emma and Jess an experience that we were never going to forget and with what I had planned for them I think this was definielty going to be a week that will last forever.

Day 1

A private surf lesson at constantine from me and then some serious hair braiding...

So the girls first day was giving them the taste of surfing my local break Constantine, this was such a good way to start the week, we had so many laughs and both Emma and Jess by the end of the session were riding along the waves. In the evening we visited Hannah Harding at her caravan and she gave us a bit of festival flavour to our hair by putting in a braid which Jess was very excited about as it was her first one in many years!

Day 2

Another day of surfing and biting lips...

On wednesday I took the girls down to O'neill Surf Academy where I work for another surf lesson, this is where they met Luke and Dan, who they fell head over heals for. Jess was even biting her lip whilst being taught with out even realising it. The evening it was bike ride time and not forgetting of course the most important thing an ice cream!

Days 3 + 4

Surfers Village and Nalu Beads...

The first taste of the surf competiton atmosphere was had today, both the girls were so intrigued by everything that was going on around them, the first stop in the surfers village was the Nalu Beads stall where I was able to introduce Emma and Jess to the team riders and also the co owner, they were also treated to a free work shop to learn how to braid their new beads into a bracelet. Smiles were once again spread from one side of faces to the other.

Day 5

Wellies at the ready...

So Friday the first day of the music festival and it was going to be a wet one with thick drizzle coming down from all directions, but being girls we came very prepared with our wellies and bin bag ponchos. It has to be said the atmosphere from start to end never failed to be more than amazing especially when the Klaxons played. We danced, we sang and had many laughs along the way what a night!

Day 6

THE best of the best...

Saturday had to be the best day out of the whole week, back to the music festival the weather was dry and warm, the UV paint was on and tonight was the night Zane Lowe blew us all away! What a performance, I have never seen so many people do the running man when Party Rock Anthem came on, he got the crowd going in so many different ways it was amazing! One part of the night which was also great was when Jess won 3 dance offs with just one move...The worm! 

This day will be remembered forever and we are already BUZZING for next years.

Jess Sums up her week...

" Surfing in the "knarley waves", chinese takeaways, rocking out in bin bags and flowery head bands at festivals, bicycle rides, hair braids, Nalu Bead work shops, shuffling, trying to be as cool as Jess Henry, meeting beautiful pro surfers! But most of all lots and lots of snuggles with my very best friends...it was THE best and funniest week ever and cant wait for next year!"

Emma also sums up her week...
" Amazing week in Cornwall with the most amazing people. Learning how to surf was a definite highlight...helps having a pro surfer as a friend sometimes! Constantine is beautiful and I can't wait to go down again soon missing it already!"

These pictures also sum up how much fun we had!

At Long Last and A lot of Wipeouts!

Yesterday was a day filled with joy, happiness and a lot of laughter. It was a day where everything that I have been waiting for happened and boy how it was a good one.

It all started when I checked the daily updates on Facebook and saw that finally some pictures from our trip to Sri Lanka had been released, looking through them it brought back the memories of the warm weather, fun waves and the amazing company that I was in. The pictures show our yoga photo shoot, walking across the sharp reef, the surf break which was our favourite through out the trip and the whole group together at the resort.

Also there is a short video filmed by Corrine Evans of our underwater tea party.

As the day went on my excitment grew and grew, this was because after finishing work at O'Neill Surf Academy all the staff were heading to the Flow Rider at Retallack for a team evening (Ashliegh, Dan, Jesse, Loric, Luke and myself). I wasn't to sure what to expect when getting onto the flow as I had never been on one in my life so it was a completly new experience for me. 

To start with Luke (an instructor both at the surf school and at the flow rider) set us off on the body boards. From the moment I jumped on to the moment that I wiped out the smile on my face never left, it was brilliant! Although this was the easy part, the hard bit was yet to come when I attempted to stand up, it was the weirdest sensastion ever, to ride the flow it requires you to move your body in ways which does not feel natural. This is the part where I won the best facial expressions and the best wipeouts! Even though I found it very hard I managed to stand on my own for roughly two seconds so I was pleased with that.

Over all it was such a great experience which will never be forgotten, the laughs we all shared and the skills we learnt makes me want to get up there again and give it another go.