so today is my last day in jeffrey's bay. it was flat so dan and i went to the addo elephant park. it was really cool just to see elephants roaming around in their natural habitat. we saw some monkeys, kudu, a bunch of warthogs, some timones, water buffalo, duiks, and heertebeests. weve also gotten a bit more surfing in. yesterday was pretty cool, we surfed the beach break at cape st. francis for three hours and then surfed jbay in the afternoon for another two hours before dark. jbay wasnt as clean as we got it last week but it was super fun. my board is at the end of the rope. its got delams under the tailpad, holes that drain water for hours after i surf and im starting to cave in the deck. im thinking of donating it to this underpriveleged surf group that grants friend mark maritz runs. i figure i can just surf my other board or if i find a cheap board i can pick up another. right now i just feel like itll do some kid more good than it will for me. tomorrow entails an 11 hour drive back to durban but ill have a few days to recuperate before i head to indo.

ive returned to jeffreys bay yesterday. dan and i spent the weekend roaming up the coast to cape town. the wind was super hard onshore so we didnt even surf, just checked out table mountain and the cape of good hope. we drove around the national park there as well. it would have been cool to surf in cape town but there wasnt anything to surf. because there wasnt much we decided to leave early and spent a night in mossel bay, halfway inbetween jeffrey's bay and cape town. mossel bay didnt have much surf so we surfed victoria bay. that place is really beautiful. its located in this tiny bay in the middle of nowhere. its really green and beautiful. the wave is pretty good too. its a nice little right hand point, its quite a bit softer than jeffrey's though. we drove straight to jeffrey's after that. we surfed it that evening, got it fun, shoulder to head high and quick. im glad we surfed because it went flat this morning. not sure what we are going to do. we have thought about checking out the elephant park, the lion reserve, surfing up at seal point, checking the area at cape st. francis and maybe shark cage diving. im not sure what ill do after dan leaves on saturday, probably just surf around durban with grants friend mark. should be a bit of fun, then off to indo next thursday. maybe when im there there will be some last minute boat trips i could get on and check out the mentawais. that would be ideal. i just think it might be a bit too expensive...

in jeffreys bay right now, this place is unreal. yesterday we surfed and it was super fun, 2-3+ foot, a little windy in the afternoon but we were more than happy with it. then we woke up this morning at 6 to find that the surf had gotten bigger, the wind switched offshore and we ended up surfing for five hours straight. i think that the only thing that is keeping us alive is el ninos 2 for 1 pizzas. we have eaten four of them and have always had the barbeque chicken and pineapple pizza. the wind is still a bit offshore right now so it looks like we are going back for another surf before it gets dark. south africa is unreal, it is a lot safer than i had imagined but it is still a bit dodgy, you just have to be a little bit more careful. just dont wander about late at night by yourself, etc. ... im sure it wont be the last time im in south africa, this place is too cool to just visit once.

today is my last day in europe. its a really strange feeling because i have been here for so long that it seems like the end of my trip. the reality is im not even halfway through. this is by far the most exciting part for me because i get surf the rest of my trip. south africa should be super cool because dan is going to show up and we are going to wander about, surf jbay and cape st. francis. im not sure what to expect of it because ive heard so many dangerous stories of africa but im pretty sure that i will be able to handle it. i think the biggest question mark lies in transportation, but i think i will just rent a car once i am in durban and drive the coast with dan. stay in port elizabeth and cape town for a few days each and then return back to durban. the other thing is im going to have to find out how to get to the house im staying at in durban because the people arent going to be there ( they are on a road trip to the famous delta in botswana). once again i have another long flight, madrid to frankfurt, frankfurt to jburg, jburg to durban. i have almost 24 hours worth of travel but i think ill get over it as soon as i get to durban. thats how long travel always is. still cant believe im going to africa

i fulfilled one of my dreams yesterday. i surfed mundaka in the basque region in spain. i recognize that it wasnt breaking the way that it is shown on posters because of a recent harbor dredging that screwed up the bank. the famous super hollow section was just a fifty yard closeout. that said i surfed a little ways down and got some great waves. it was offshore and overhead and when you got a wave that lined up it you could just fly down the line for about two hundred yards. it is also one of the most picturesque places i have ever seen. there are really verdant, green mountains that come right up to the beach, but while in the water you can see through the vally because mundaka is a rivermouth sand point and the river snakes a ways back into the hills. the other cool thing was every now and again a squall would come through and it would rain so hard that there would be a silver outline to the undulations in the ocean. after i got out of the water i jumped back in the car and i went to san sebastian. it was the last night with my parents, reynnie and scottie until christmas so we went out to a nice dinner. now im staying with steve and tom in san sebastian for a few days before i fly out of madrid. there place is perfect for them. its a two minute walk from the ocean, a two minute walk to the bars and an hour walk to school. they seem to like san sebastian a lot, which is no surprise, cheap rent, good surf, good food and a fun town to party in. should be fun for the next few days.

ive now left hossegor france, and i am in bilbao spain. this place has been completely reinvented with the creation of the guggenheim museum. the museum is abolutely incredible. i personally really like it but i would have to think that no matter if you like the design or not it is an amazing spectacle. the inside is really well done as well. it does not house much are but the art that it does house is very well displayed. we are staying in a hotel tonight...a far cry from the hostels that i have been staying in during the months prior. i am making up for it by staying in a room with two beds and four people...should be interesting, especially considering the size of the beds.
i was thinking about it today and during this trip i will surf four, possibly five, waves that are included in the wct circuit (pro surf tour). going to surf mundaka tomorrow, no matter what and then in a week or so ill be headed to jeffreys bay

so the other day after jason threw my shoe in the tree my dad came to the rescue and threw a rock at it and knocked it down. ive been spending all of my time in the water. the last few days have been really good. today was the first day that its been crappy. two days ago it was pretty good size and windswelly so it was hard for me to even paddle out. i got two waves but im out of paddling shape so when i tried to paddle back out i got hammered. yesterday the surf got a little smaller and the conditions were perfect. overhead, warm glassy barrels for four hours. there werent many surfers in the water so that was nice as well. im still feeling really rusty surfing but that will be rid of in due time. it looks like steve and tom are going to get into hossegor sometime today, ill pick them up, surf and drink for a few days with the whole crew and then ill follow them back to san sebastian for a few days. the surf is supposed to be really good on saturday sunday and monday so im looking forward to being in the water. i keep having a ridiculously good time in france, despite what most americans think the french are some of the coolest people on the planet and will go out of their way to help you. i really love this place.
my mom has gotten scottie, reynnie, jason and me hooked on these number puzzles called sudoku. it has become a small obsession amoungst us, scottie even looked up sudoku tips on the internet today. yes we're nerds...i dont care though

jason threw my shoe in a tree at four in the morning yesterday. we were walking back from the bars. hossegor is amazing. i could really live here. the surf is really fun, hollow little beach breaks that span for miles. im really surprised i havent broken my board yet because you can actually ride the wave all the way to the sand and run it out. there are girls everywhere here, most with boyfriends though. the just wander into the water topless and kinda float around. i had my first encounter when i pulled into a little barrel and almost speared a girl with my board. she caught me off gaurd, im still not used to the whole topless thing. hangin around with friends and family has been sweet. its been a nice way for me to relax. traveling on trains every day or every other day for two months was cool but it makes you appreciate spending a little bit of time in your own room relaxing, sleeping on the couch in the day instead of a train, having your mom cook you a great meal. its really strange because it feels like the end of my trip but i dont get home for three and a half months. i hope my board lasts the whole time, i already have a huge ding in it that i have to fix. well anyway france kicks a substantial amount of ass.

so jason, reyn and i picked up scottie yesterday. we have a kinda shitty hostel but it was cool because we ended up spending most the night in the latin quarter with all the students. we had, by far, the best dinner of the trip. scottie has been speaking french for us and he ordered some bottles of wine and we had an awesome three hour dinner. afterwards we went to some other places and then wandered back to th hostel around three or four.

today is my last day without surf. i pick up my parents from the airport and we head straight to hossegor. i would love for there to be swell, but if not, then i will just have to have a bit of wine and hang out in town.