Its a couple of days after xmas and i think I'm still digesting the feast that we had on xmas eve,8 courses with a different wine for every course.Sensational stuff prepared by Monique with some help by others,but she took control of the proceedings.I spoke with Kaye and mum near the end of the night and they had the pleasure of listening to Co's uncles singing some traditional Basque songs,quite typical ,more wine ,more songs.Santa was kind to Lola as usual

I had more great waves the 2 days before chrissy ,sitting,heaving barrels that were world class with only 3 of us out.There were quite a few watching but the french are a little soft when its cold in the morning and waited till the sun came out,pity coz it was over by the time they plucked up the courage to get into their wetsuits.Soooo Soft!!It was pretty cold at about 2-3 degrees,but the water was 14 deg so it was actually colder on the beach watching.Icant understand how they can walk away from waves of that quality,perfect barrels and not too big.

I'm laying blocks at the moment,so the walls are finally going up.You can see by the photos that i've stood posts up in the corners an next to openings to keep with the local Landaise style.

The weather is cold but at least its stopped raining

OOhhh, the quality of the waves here still amazes me,I surfed with phil(another aussie) on sunday and monday.We sufed the rights on sunday about 4 ft with perfect ruler edge lines and thes epic lefts on monday at a solid 6 ft

Had some amazing waves last week.It was the best session i've had since being here.5-6 ft stand up barrels,I was on my own and had 2hrs of waves that were amazing.I watched so many unridden waves go barrelling past i couldnt beleive i was out ther and had it to myself.That was the 3rd session in 5 days on my own but that was the standout session

Its been raining off and on for 5-6 weeks now and i've had enough!!!!!

I went up to the mountains with rob to his grange and helped him out with installing some shutters that i made and the frame for them and to fix up his front doors.Magnificent spot about 2 hours from here,a classic old stone barn .

Just got back online after 2more weeks of problems.Icant believe how many problems we have with the internet,and then for technical suppoort you have to pay 34 euro cents a min for,most calls are 20-30 mins and we have even had them hang up on us when they cant solve the problem.So frustrating

Heres some shots of the beams,moving them also a before and after i've restored one .I've nearly finished the ones that i'm going to use first.Its amazing how well they come up,with the ones that look the worst actually looking the best after restoration.Its not that mch work with only about an hour per beam,and they look sensational.And Lola's halloween fun

Heres some shots of the kind of waves that weve had in the last couple of weeks.Look, no tourists,I surfed these waves with only a couple of other guys and had one session with just one other guy.Pretty hard to take!!!

Finally poured the slab yesterday.The second dry day in two weeks meant a waiting game and some planning.I did it myself with the help of Karl(another aussie) and it is again raining so the timing was good.I havent surfed for a week so i'm getting itchy feet.Maybe tomorrow

FFFFFFFiiiiiffffftttty,its kinda hard to say,but i'll have to get used to it!!!!
I turned FFFFFFiiiiffffttty last friday.The day started out well with some clean offshore waves 4-5ft at le penon ,on my own and beautiful blue skies.Lunch with Corinne and so many calls from home.Thanks and good to hear from all of my family and harry,skip and weiry twice.It was kinda strange to be here for such a milestone without family and friends from oz.That night i celebrated with rob and tina,and jez,sandra and their two boys and of course corinne and lola.Plenty to eat and plenty of good wine around a blazing fire ,agood night was had and sure enough was followed on saturday with a deserved hangover.
School holidays here again,so tourists are arriving again also.I really think the tourists could be a big factor in how long we stay here,coz there are just too many people .In the end they could drive me away!!!!!!

Just returned home after my trip to Pau(about 2 hrs in car) for my french test.So easy it was crazy.I passed without any problems;So now i havecompleted my hours and test i will have a lot more time.My french still needs a lot of work but theres a lot available on the net and i will improve just watching tv and reading the papers,and of course speaking with the french.

Well were finally back online.We moved house and have had some cyber problems but were on track again.

Finally moved out of the shoe box and now were in a fridge.Nice old farmhouse with lots of character but no sunlight,dark and cold!!!!The big trees around it blockout the light and it has small windows and faces the wrong way.Lots of fires expected for winter.Were on a couple of acres and back onto a forest.We saw a deer in our garden yesterday morningwhich was really exiting.I hope the hunters dont see it coz its hunting season and theyare everywhere.Kinda stange to wake up to gunshots form the feilds next door and the forest.Last week i opened the shutters on sunday morning to see 6 hunters within 20 metres of our fence.Not really the time of the year to explore the forest.

Lola had her 8th birthday 2 weeks ago .We wetn back to Biarritz and had a little party at Moniques house

Work has been slow with the house as i'm waiting for the electrician.Its good to be living nearby as i just jump on my bike and ride the 250 metres to get to work.Very handy,also coz our internet conection is at our plce and not the rental,which is a bit of a hassle but we couldnt do it any other way.

Watto has been and gone back to Oz.Saw lots of him and his family.Good to catch up have a couple of meals together .

Lachy has also passed through again,we had a few surfs together and we gave him and James a home cooked lamb roast before they headed off to Octberfest in Munich.

I've been surfing lots and now summer has left us so have the crowds.The wavs are expected to be excellent this week,6 ft all week with Thursday /Fri looking extra good.Beautiful autmn weather,mild and light winds.

I had my last day of school last week,and I have to go to Pau on tuesday for my examination.I started school ain october 2007 so i feel that after a year of lessons its given me a good understanding of the language and its rules.From here its up to me,and i'm pretty happy with my level .

I'll try to be more regular with updates now.

Craig Watto arrived a couple of weeks ago with his wife Belinda,son Will and Belindas parents,Don and Helen.Stayed not far from here and weve seen them a few times including a dinner wt their place which was quite a big nite along with wattos mate Howey who was in fine form.Watto and i had some perfect waves at La Piste,4-5 ft offshore barrelling peaks.Very crowded,watto had a couple of crackers,but unfortunately i didnt get any of the good ones,too bloody crowded!!!!Theyve headed off to spain for a week in a campervan.

We took Lola to an activity park where she enjoyed some high wire activity.She had sooooo much fun and wanted to tackle the adults course,but after using the kids one realised that it was challenging enough.She did really well and wants to go back for more

I finally pored the concrete for the footings and had Vincent(Co's cousin) to help me in case i needed any translations with the driver,but didnt really need him in that aspect,however he was handy on the shovel.Here the trucks can (if need be) come with a 'tapis',an extension on their shute which can reach 13 metres(amazing),using a conveyor belt;Sooooooo easy!!!

Lola starts school this week at St Vincent de Tyrosse and I start to lay bricks for the base of the slab,a very different way of forming up the slab but very good way to do it.

Last weekend was 15 august,a public holiday here with fireworks at Biarritz,great view overlooking the sea with a pretty amazing fireworks display.See photos.A very popular event and impossible to park within 2 ks of the centre

Beenspending plenty of time in front of the tv watching the olympics.Trouble is i havent seen very much of the aussies unless they are in the same event as the French

Still madness here with the tourists but it should calm down over the next 2 weeks as the kids go back to school on sept 2nd.

Surfs been ok,had some good punchy waves yesterday,4-5 ft at hossegor,onshore but someclean open faces,very sucky fast sections that improved as the tide dropped.Only 5-6 of us out there and what was going to be a quick lunchtime 40 min surf easily turned into 2 hours as it improved.Swell is too big today but should be ok by thursday when it settles down a bit

Craig Watto arrived in Biarritz Sunday,he's here with his wife and her parents for about 6 weeks;Had a coupla beers with them last night and i'm sure there will be more of that coz the big fella always has a big thirst.They are staying only a short distance from here. Howey arrives in a coupla days to stay with them so watch out Biarritz!!!!!

Pauline was here last wekend,she arrived friday afternoon and left sunday night.We enjoyed some foie gras, confit de canard,some local wine and cheese and finished off with some gateau basque for dinner on friday;All of my favorites!!!!

Saturday we went into Biarritz for a coffee and then in our red and white attire cruised into Bayonne for 'la fetes de Bayonne',a weeklong fiesta held every year at the start of august.Lots of red wine,roaming animations and loud local music everywhere.Really a sight to see and to be a part of .We had Lola with us so we didnt indulge too much but had fun.

we went to Spain to Hondarrabie for dinner.Lovely little town in the old part of town near the port.A 'Force Basque' event was on there ,where the local basque get together for a strongman competition,To see who can break the 250kg concret block first(see photos)?Teams of four take turns in 30second stints each to drive a crowbar into the block.The first ones to break the block(about 25-30 mins)Win a bottle of wine???????!!!!!!!!!!Crazy!!!!!

We had a sensational dinner,all local foods,I want to go back yhis week it was so good.

Sunday we went to saubion to show pauline the house and had a picnic lunch next to the lake in Hossegor,Very nice

It was great to see some family and we look forward to her next passing visit

Tony and Fiona Reid were here at the same time and seemed to enjoy the area with 2 nites at the fete de Bayonne,San Sebastion,Trip into the pyrenees and tony surfed every day ,they had good weather and then left for 9 days in Spain.

Received a postcard from Lachy and James,sounds like theyre driving the whole of Europe.

Dug the footings by hand this week.Its sand so was quite easy ,i couldnt justify spending 330euros($550aus)to hire a mini digger for the day!!!!!!!!!!sooo expensive to hire stuff here

Been surfing heaps,mostly early before i start work or at Lunchtime;Solid swell expected this week ,with favorable winds so looks promising

Might cook up some moule frites(mussels and chips)tonite

The fete de Bayonne starts tomorrow so that means lots more people for the next week of madness.The party is a very old and traditional one in the same vein as Pamplona.Everyone wears red and white and then their white shirts are stained all over from all the red wine they spill on themselves.They party for a week.I'm not sure whether we will partake but there is a chance as Corinnes uncles have arrived in town and they love the fiesta traditional.
Pauline(my sister) arrives for the weekend and we are looking forward to seeing her.Some confit de canard,or some moule frites and maybe some foie gras with some fine wine will definitely be on offer.I'm looking forward to preparing some local delicacy for her to enjoy.
Our windows arrived yesterday,and surprisinly on time.The guy(who kept us waiting for 2 months last time)is coming tomorrrow to scrape the grass away from where i'm going to build.I hope it doesnt rain coz we might not see him for another coupla weeks if it does.
One more french lesson and i have 4 weeks holiday for summer.I have an assessment 8 sept to see whether i'm ready to take the real test to gain my certificate.Strange really,because they gave me the same test 5-6 months ago and passed easily.I've progressed a lot but in real terms still have so far to go before i can really say that i speak well.My french is passable but in some areas i really need to expand my vocabulary?which is hard when you have never needed to know the word.My new word is Taupe,which is a mole.We've got the little buggers in our garden and they are a huge problem here.They are haemophiliacs(so an old fella tells me) so i'm trying to fill up their holes with blackberry branches so they can bleed to death.sounds lovely doesnt it.
I'll keep you updated

summer in Biarrritz

Well summer has hit and so have the tourists.Numbers are down but its still crazy here,check out the beach shots on a 23° day last sunday

Just loaded some more photos from Bretagne,some of the amazing Mégalithes,some huge rocks which have a history that very little is known.they are in pattern and order but it is not knwn how or why they are here.Obviously a human touch but when you see how big these pieces of granite are ,you wonder how and why they were transported here.

I went into the pyrenees on friday to pick up some old timber that i have found on the net.Some very old,very heavy oak beams and posts that are very much in demand here.An english guy that was happy to see them go to a good home almost gave them away at a ridiculously low price.Thousands of Euros worthof beautiful oak that will be ideal for our place,and plenty more.Rob came with me and when we saw it ,we wondered how the hell we were going to fit three truck loads of heavy beams into one load.After struggling to lift one length onto the truck,amazingly(and luckily) a guy turned up to slash the block next door,and just happened to have some blades on his front bucket.I flashed him a 50euro note and he happily obliged to load our rented truck.I came back the next morning an met him at 9am and he loade me again.Very lucky!!!!!Two very slow trips to Saubion and i'll go back another time to get the small stuff,doors ,shutters ,posts etc in my van.So much to mention,Great little aquisition.

Pauline arrives in two weeks so I called her to give her a list of essentials,Vegemite,promite,anticol,bluetac,twisties,jelly snakes among the list.