Summer surfin'

For me, the summer began at the surf competition Boardmasters. This was the first time I had ever entered this event, it was amazing, really well organised and it felt like a proper surf competition. The competitors had their own area where there were a group of people making bacon rolls and coffees, it was lovely. We were quite lucky with the surf on the first day, it was easily surfable and everyone was surfing so good.  It was great to see people from all around the world surfing a wave that I surf quite a lot. Unfortunately, I only made it to the quarter-finals, it was a very tough competition and the waves weren't that great when my heats were on - that's always the case when the girls are in!  The boys always get the best waves. However, I'm quite proud of myself because I didn't even think I would get that far with the standard of surfing there is today.  Well done to all the girls who made it to the final it was great to see them all ripping it up! I stayed and watched for the last couple of days as my boyfriend was competing and I love watching him surf in competitions because that's really when he comes alive! 

Not long after Boardmasters, Harry and I flew out to France to meet my family in my luxurious home on wheels, I couldn't wait to see them all and share with them what had happened at Boardmasters. It was amazing showing up at the airport in France and seeing my motorhome parked in the car park with a huge picture of me on the side… that doesn't happen everyday! 

Once we arrived we drove to a beautiful spot on the South coast of France called Montilavet.  It's virtually empty there with only the odd nudist on the beach. It was great because the first night we got there, to our surprise, there were perfect little waves for us to get straight into. We couldn't wait to get in the sea after all that travelling!   That night we surfed until sunset - it was perfect.  Then we came out to a lovely meal cooked by my wonderful mum. I can't tell you how much it meant to have all of my family with me at this beautiful beach in our glorious motorhome...  It was the best just to be able to get out of the sea straight into a cosy warm motorhome with a nice cup of tea, card games, chess and just general family time. 

We spent a week there at Montilavet soaking up the sun, surfing and spending time as a family.  There was a town just a five minute walk from where we were staying and it had a quirky little market that sold all sorts.   So every now and then we would venture into town and have a look around at all the clothes, the wonderful smelling food and the random little things people were trying to sell - we even found a little dream-catcher to hang in the van. 

Another convenient thing was that there was some woods close to where we were staying which had one electric hook-up.  We would use this occasionally to re-charge our batteries and fill up with water.   We even stayed there a couple of nights because it was great for all of the family: there was an Aldi store close by;  a mini crazy golf set up; a boules court and also a lovely little park for my little sister to play in.

After re-charging our batteries we set off to Lacanau because Harry had a surf competition and we wanted to go to support him and watch him surf. We knew that Lacanau gets very busy in the summer so we left a day before so we could find an Aire de Camping to stay at close to the beach. We were lucky and found a nice little spot close to Lacanau.   Early in the morning, Dad drove us up to the beach so each day we had a perfect little spot right in the midst of everything. The van had so, so much attention in Lacanau it was great!  People were asking for photos and they were also taking selfies with the motorhome!  It was so cool, I've never felt so famous!

Being in Lacanau was such a good experience for me, watching all those amazing surfers and surfing a world-class wave.   There was a skate-park right next to where we were parked so my sister could skate; she was in her element, it was sick! Especially having the van with me, it was such a confidence booster. I even had people coming up to me saying:  "Wow, I've been following you on Instagram for ages, I can't believe I've met you in person!"  That made me feel so good.

It was sad leaving Lacanau.  Harry did very well in the competition and the waves were good but it was just too busy for us. We travelled back to Montilavet and spent some more time there chilling out and surfing and getting our tan on.  I definitely want to go back there for sure.   It's perfect for all of the family especially with the motorhome.

I can't thank my mum enough for cooking each day, she made the most delicious meals in the motorhome using pastas, delicious bread, sauces, meats and cheeses. French food is the best!  Each day we would go to the supermarket and choose some yummy foods for mum to cook that night, she would always make something incredible even with the simplest of ingredients.  Some days when we couldn't get to the shops because of them being shut she would always make something with whatever we had in the cupboards.  We would never go hungry - thanks Mum!

It was coming to the end of our brilliant holiday and we were all getting a bit sad to leave, so Mum decided that as a treat before we left we would go to a really nice campsite in Roscoff that had swimming pools with slides and a lovely park and washing facilities, it was so good!  Dad and Harry were like little kids on the slides - they loved them.  After that lovely little end to the holiday we sadly made our way to the ferry and travelled back home to reality.

I also forgot to mention that we got the van stuck a couple of times in the sand, but what's a surf trip without getting your vehicle stuck, hey!