Hourtin Plage
When I was asked what I missed most about Australia I answered “the beach” – it’s the one thing I can’t find any replacement for here in Toulouse, I found it by heading East though…
So on the 27th of July I woke up at 3:45am to begin my journey to the beach, first via car and then via two bus trips, one to Bordeaux and the next to Hourtin Plage. It was here that I would pass two weeks on a Surf Camp with the UCPA, a French company that organizes outdoor sporting holidays. Staying in tents, living 200m from the water in a small town that was pinned between a palm forest and the sand, these two weeks where like fairy-tale, truly unbelievable.
At first I approached this whole thing with a bit of doubt – I heard the water was ice cold and I was going to be the first time I was placed in an environment where I wasn’t a French exchange student but a normal student attending a surf school, so my french would need to be up to scratch!
The Local Shops
It took them less than half an hour to work out I was Australian and it was all uphill from there. I was staying in a tent with 3 other great guys for the first week and we quickly became friends. I learnt the way the camp community worked and became close friends with Fabrice, Alex, B-Bear, Seb and the whole crew who ran the camp. We ate well 3 times a day, surfed in either the morning or the afternoon and spent the other times swimming on the beach, bike riding or playing beach volleyball. It was extremely relaxing and a fantastic culture. I met other Australians who have moved there to live and even found a guy who could make me an Australian burger.
After the first week I was given my assessment result, Bronze with 22 points. There are four levels, Moose, Bronze, Silver and Gold. You need 24 points to progress to the next stage and after Gold you can enter competitions. By the end of week two I’d completed Silver with the full 24 points. The friends I made on the beach were all brilliant fun. Everyone tried Vegemite. That went well, ha. Also, on the Wednesday of the last week we had an enormous storm that brought more rain than I’ve seen all year. My tent flooded, suitcase flooded, clothes got soaked and new camera got destroyed. The photo at the beginning of this blog is one of the last it took.
Digging trenches post storm
Drying out our newly cleaned clothes!
It was really sad to leave the beach on the 14th of August. I got back to Toulouse at 8pm that day.
Sunday the 15th of August began when I was awoken at 9 am and told that in 30 minutes we had to leave for the beach (heck, why not?). My host dad drove me back to the Atlantic where I would stay for another two weeks. This time I was further south in Hossegor-Seignosse, one of the best beaches in Europe. I didn’t surf as much here, the swell was up to 4 meters and there was a global surf competition on at the same time. I stayed with two host families over the time who were amazing fun. I met a group of Toulousian students on the beach and spent a lot of time with them. My two host sisters where fun and helped me learn French while my second host father took me surfing when the swell wasn’t suicidal. On the second last day I popped into Spain for shopping and lunch, visiting Saint Sebastion. Amazing town, and hard to believe another country can be so close!
Got back on the 26th, in time to meet the new exchange students who arrived on the 27th!
My Hossegor Baby
Nice pics (except for the last one where you are just BLATANTLY showing off you aussie punk!)