The flight over was fantastic, lots of good food and a few good movies. Canadian Airlines is really friendly, even if they don't exactly have to best facilities.

Jac was there to pick me up from the airport and I was led to my new home for a few weeks, the basement of Jac and Jame's house. It's an apartment in itself, totally self contained and fabulous! A short walk from Kitsilano beach.
Meanwhile, Kim had gone to Sydney to be with her folks for a few weeks whilst I set up some accomodation in Vancouver.

Jac made me extremely welcome and it was great to have some sibling time together, hopefully I didn't get in the way too much as George and Poppy mean that her life is pretty hectic!

We had great walks on the beach, the weather really turned out well for the time of year, and George impressed me with his new bike. That boy is fearless and I can't wait to see how good he's going to be in a few years, especially with a mad keen mountain biker for a father.

Anyway, here's a few shots



George, the cyclist



Granville Island

Still smarting from the paintball over the weekend, I'd organised a last drink with the London kitesurfing crew. Cousin Julia also turned up with her new bloke and it was great to see her.
A nice turn out indeed and it was a good opportunity to spread some thanks for making me feel extremely welcome whilst I stayed in London. I'll definitely miss this crew and I'll be looking them up next time I'm back in Blighty.



Julia!



Fred, Josie, Adam, me



Alan, Me, BA



Kim and BA

Andrea was kind enough to share a few Paintball vouchers she'd picked up through work, so Kim and I were happy to go along with Holly, Joe and lots of Andrea's friends for some paint mayhem.

Kim and Holly turned out to be slightly psychopathic, putting Rambo to shame, whilst the rest of us shot some, got shot some and generally had fun.

All in all, a good laugh.



Kim and Holly, "the calm before the storm"



Adam and I, "running scared"



be afraid



Joe, wondering what he's got himself into.

Gemma had a leaving do before she left on her 'round the world' trip and Kim and I were invited. When we heard it was a Karaoke night, we thought it would be a bit of fun with some friends, laughing at some bad singing.
Then we found out that she had hired a room exclusively for her friends.
Then we found out that only about a dozen people were going.
Then I found out that there were only 2 guys.

So Kim and I got drunk. :)

Over the summer I met up with a group of guys who are into slalom skateboarding, well, they're into going to Hyde Park a couple of times a week and having a drink under the pretense of slalom skating ;)

It's a lot of fun and far harder than it looks, well that's my excuse, but a nicer bunch of guys you couldn't hope to meet. Everyone's really friendly and helpful, and it helps that we're in one of the nicest parts of London!

Anyway, here's a video to give you an idea. Mike and Paul are pro slalom skaters, Sam and Louis are top ten amateur contenders. Rob is an ex longtime skateboarder.
Then there's me......





Me, Scott, Sam, Ed, Random Brazil Bloke, Bruno, Mike, Louis

I was inspired to try some long distance longboarding, brought about by hearing stories of crossing New Zealand, Australia and even China by longboarding.
Luckily a London Rollerblade club was putting on a Skate Marathon and had invited Longboarders to come along, so in the knowledge that it was months away I signed up.
Of course, the date came quickly and, before you know it, I was driving to Goodwood Race Track to take part in a big charity event. I'd signed up for a killer 26 miles, or a grueling 11 laps of the course. Some nutters had signed up for the Mega, a 22 lap double marathon of pain.

Well, luckily Kim drove me there and back as I would never have been able to drive back otherwise. The 26 miles was a killer and we had a 20 knot headwind on the first long straight. (Which also reminded me that most of my friends would be on the beaches have a great time)

Anyway, after weaving past some bodies on my last lap, I finally made it and collapsed on rubbery legs, a big smile on my face and a wish for some chocolate and ice cream. The ice cream came my way pretty quickly, curtesy of Kim, and then I headed home for a welcome bath and sit down.

Race Result : 2hours, 24 minutes. 108th out of 220 racers in the marathon (60 people didn't finish the course!)

Click here to see a hilarious video of the finish
Goodwood Roller Marathon Finish





And they're off!



Down the home straight, just another 10 laps to go

My Birthday weekend! Yay!

I decided that I wanted to go to a Roller Disco for my 33rd and we found a perfect place in Vauxhall. Beer, skates and wooden floors, what could go wrong?

Well, we had a great time. :)



Warming up



Party on!











Whoops!

I'd been Slalom Skateboarding for about a month when the first local competition came up, knowing full well that I wouldn't stand a chance of making the course, never mind qualifying, I was convinced to take part regardless.
It was in the East of London, set at Hog Hill, a brand new cycling center with amazingly smooth tarmac and a pretty steep hill. Compared to the flat land I'd been practicing on in Hyde Park, this was a bit of a challenge for me. Then Mike brought out the starting ramps. Jesus.

Thanking the gods for my helmet and pads, I had a few practices runs which never ended up in a pretty way, generally the surrounding hills were filled with my girlish screams whilst I raced down the hill wishing that I knew how to stop.
When it finally came down to race time, I forwent the ramp and still managed to miss 50% of the cones. Despite this, I was pretty pleased with myself!

The racing was fast and frantic, truly amazing to watch really. Everyone wanted to see Martin, the local pro, against the up and coming Louis who is thought by everyone to be the next "big thing".
Sadly Martin beat Louis in the second round, so the final was between Martin and Sam, an old, fast hand at slalom.

In the driving rain, Martin picked up a win and became the first champion of Hog Hill



Ramps. Great. (That's Louis on the near side)



Yes! I made a cone!



Sam in full flight





Kim in "Top Gun" moment

James, Holly, Kim and I decided to go to Portland for a weekend. The wind forecast looked good and we had a local kiter, Lucie, as a good point of contact to show us the local scene.

We stayed at a nice little caravan park and promptly set about trying to burn down our caravan with an out of control BBQ (in the rain of course). The next day was quite windless, but Sunday was just awesome. We met up with Lucie who introduced us to the locals, then set about teaching them about how good London kiters really are. Sadly, the locals were much better of course but it was all good.

Kim and Holly meanwhile took a drive to Hugh Fernley Whittingstall's (of River Cottage fame) Canteen in Axminister to sample some yummy organic food and produce. They came back with some Nettle beer which was, um, interesting.

Portland Harbour, meanwhile, is one of the best kite sports I've ever been to for flat water. The wind is dead offshore, blowing over a narrow strip of land, leading to the flattest water I've ever known. Perfect for learning new tricks.

Ed, Kim, Hannah and myself booked ourselves on the boat at Princes club again, it was Hannah's first attempt at wakeboarding although she's a ski instructor which we assumed would help in some form or another.
True to form, she was a natural and had no issues with getting up on the board with a little instruction. Ed, as always, is just progressing really well every time we go out which I have to admit to being a little bit jealous of!

Good times