Seasessions is over

It was a great weekend here in Bundoran for the Seasessions festival. The sun shone all weekend and there was a great crowd in town for the festival. Good music all weekend with the likes of Kila, Mick Flannery, and Fred giving it socks. Altough the surf was small for the wekeend it was still enough for beginners going out on the surf lessons. There was not enough surf to run the contest so it will be rescheduled for the Autumn. A few small waves here this week and looks ok for this weekend also.

Neil Young and the street performers

Great day and night out in Dublin on Sunday. Was up at the Street Performance World Championships in Merrion Square during the day. Some great performers to see and all free. Saw Alakazam, Mike Wood and Magic Brian. Then it was off to the Point (cant get used to calling it the O2) for the Neil Young gig. He played a great set for 2 hours non stop with minimal talking. A great gig by a living legend.

Seasessions

Seasessions festival hits Bundoran this week with agreat lineup of acts and activities (photos from last year above). Details available at the link http://www.seasessions.com/lineup.html . Kellys Slaters new movie will get is premier at the festival as well.

Great news isthat it looks Sunny for the week. Bring on the summer please. The photo comp is still open and details and the top photos can be viewed at http://www.seasessions.com/photos.html

The waves are back

Nothing big here today (Sat 13th) but there are definitely waves. Quiet this morning at Tullan but busy by the afternoon with all the surf schools and plenty of other surfers. Still plenty of waves for everyone and really good conditions for beginners and improvers. Waves mostly in the waist high range with light offshore winds. Waves breaking nealry the whole way down the beach. Photo was taken just before the start of the heavy rain around 4pm so it was good here all day. Tomorrow looks similar and maybe even a little bigger. Decent size swell for next week but looks like being onshore.

Macchu Picchu and the way home.

Spent the last days of my trip around Cuzco and Macchu Picchu. Cuzco is the traditional Inca capital but the colonists built many buildings on top of Inca ruins so today it is an eclectic mixture of beautiful colonial buildings, narrow cobbled streets and Inca ruins. The traditional Inca trail (4 day hike) to MP books out months in advance so I joined the Inca Jungle trail to get there. It is a one day downhill cycle and 2 days walking to get to Aguas Calientes, which is the access point for MP. Even though I had seen many photos of MP it is still an amazing experience to first walk into the complex and to take it all in. It really is a special place and the highlight of my trip, along with the long waves of Chicama. I started walking at 4am to get to the entrance for 5.30. The complex opens at 6am and I was among the first few in that morning. Went on a tour of the citadel with a guide for 2 hours and then had the rest of the day to explore. I climbed Macchu Picchu mountain for great views. I had intended to climb Wayna Picchu mountain but there were a lot of people going that way. Got the train back and then a flight to Lima. Flight back home later today. This has been a great trip and I would recommend Peru as a destination to everyone. Great waves for all standards of surfers and good flat day activities. Food is good, living is cheap and the people are very friendly. Adios.

Sick Tullan,empty early

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine. Surf and Sun on a Bank Holiday. Rory Gallagher festival on here so alot of sun burnt sore heads about. Stuck a few pics in the gallery of Tullan this morning. Only 2 guys out forthe early. They defo got the worms this morning. Should still be waves about tomorrow.

Enjoy

Chicama, the longest left point in the world

Got some good waves during the week at Chicama on the north coast of Peru. The wave is well known as the longest left point in the world, and it lived up to its name. From the take off to the pier is about 2 miles but in reality you catch a good wave and ride it for about 500m or more. Some of the really good ones were breaking for more than that. The wave was quite differnet to what I expected. The paddle out is quite tricky with a nasty shore dump to get through and very strong currents. Once you get in the line up you have to constantly paddle to keep position, but its a losing battle if the swell is head high or bigger. There are a few barrels to be had from the deep take off spot but the wave is breaking very fast so not really very makeable. The more normal take off spot is just left of the rocks and from there you can get some really good long waves. If you mess up your wave then you are probably caught in the current so hope for a smaller one on the inside. The wave is really fun and you can do really nice snaps and cutbacks into cover ups. After a few waves down the point you just paddle for the shore and start walking again, with hopefully a big smile on your face. There are a few boats ferrying people from the fancy resort back to the take off spot, much to the annoyance of those of us walking and paddling. Even with the boats and 50 people surfing there are loads of good waves for everybody. We had head high waves for 2 days and overhead for one day. The photo here does not do the spot justice, as I was too busy surfing. After that surfed Puemape for a few days, about 3 to 4 foot. Swell has gone small here now but more waves on the way. After that its off to Cusco and Macchu Picchu.