Dads, sons and a dog: Norway at it´s best

Well we got it as good as it can get in Norway this summer.....
I was invited to run the surf school for Torkild and Anne, the people who own the house on the beach in Hoddevik.
The surf in Norway had been small for ages before the week I was going to go with my 7 year old son Sam..I asked johan if he'd like to tag along with his 5 year old son Jakob and he naturally jumped on the opportunity to get a week of free accomodation and food ...and of course..SURF...
We took off at 8pm on the saturday night with the kids in the back, the dvd on play, and after 11hrs of driving in pleasant 'light all night' driving conditions we arrived the next day to double overhead offshore pumping barrells!!!
We scored big time because it had been flat for ages there... and it went flat after we left.

It was pumping for basically the whole week and on the last 2 days it got over 30 degs on the beach and the gulf stream pushed a nice warm current along the coast which meant that, even though it was smaller, we could surf in boardies without any problems..quite bizarre really, the thought that you can actually surf in boardies in Norway..hahaha
Both Jakob and Sam were powering on the surfboards all week..Sam was paddling onto whitewater and standing up all by himself after 2 days...!!! Jakob is a couple of years younger than Sam so he was a little more hesitant but that will come as he gets a bit older..
There were skateboards there and perfect roads to learn on so the kids went off on them, there was child-minding so the kids had heaps of really fun activities to do so we parents got a break now and then and there was, of course the surf.
Johan and I had a couple of really EPIC evening sessions and the pictures taken by professional photographer Thomas Bickhardt show some of the size we got..his name is on the photo's he took..hope you don't mind I put them in Thomas!!??!!

We met an Aussie called Seamus from Wollongong who had scored the sales rights 'Ocean and Earth' for Norway and went on a midnight's surf session with him..It was really really good surf that we pulled up to in the 4-5ft solid rang..no evidence though cause there wasn't any photo's taken..when we saw the surf we just threw our wetties on and ran to the surf laughing our guts out..hahaha
We drank beers with the crew every night in the boathouse and a few nights got pretty rowdy..hahaha..
I had surf lessons every day between 1 and 4pm and taught about 30 people how to surf ! 25 of them stood up and surfed in on the whitewater in the first lesson..I thought that was pretty good so it was a real rush to watch them learn so quickly.
All in all it was a fantastic trip and I can't wait to go back again..Thanks to Torkild and Anne for all their hospitality...RAT

Johan bottom turning on a solid one a little floater by me Torkild (owner of the house)on his WaimeaBay gun got piles and piles of waves
Kittil (a Hoddevik local)bottom turns on a clean one


Above is an ozzie called Seamus doing a really nice reo. He is the Ocean and Earth rep in norway.We had a classic surf with him at midnight one night,(it was light all night!!)
Under, is me doing a roundhouse cutty and a couple of shots of me lining one up.
Johan and Anne in the infamous boathouse on a 35 deg sunny afternoon in beautiful hoddevik, must be one of the most spectacularly beautiful places I have ever been to.
Under this photo is the white 'surf house' in the background.

Sam stoked with his new board and wetty!Torkild attacking the food in the kitchen
Johan refuelling for the night surf sessions and extra curricular activities..hahahaJakob showing off his skateboarding scars
Sam hangin loose
2 surf school students scoffing out
The master and the apprentice

An afternoons ale in the boathouse on a stinkin' hot day and under that is Johan doing paddle and balance training with Jakob
What did we do last night???!!! hahaha
Will do it all again real soon..until the next time..stay cool..RATMAN

The Crew

NORWAY OR BUST

(Rat) Jay is in the States and so Johan, I and my 7 year old son Sam are going to Norway for a week to get some surf...It looks good for the first few days then dropping off and then picking up again for the last couple of days..I am doing some surf coaching for Torkild and Anne from the surf school there in Hoddevik so I get free accom and food and Sam gets a chance to get wet and I will pick him up a wetty, boots and gloves

We leave on Sat night..will get heaps of picks for ya's cause it's been a bit thin on the action this season..Be good and wish us luck..DA RAT..

Greetings from California!!

Just droppin in to say hello to my boys. I haven't really had a chance to go to the beach more than once so far. Been busy doing some hardcore shopping sprees, Disneyland, spending time with family and friends and now we're taking a road trip to hell but better known in California as Modesto. We're having a sort of family reunion up there which is a perfect place being there's nothing to do other than chill with the family in the heat of the summer sun... I hope we'll stay indoors.

I wouldn't just drop in without leaving my boys some pics, so here they are. I was surfing at a beach called Bolsa Chica (North of Huntington Beach). It's a state beach with shifting sand bars and lots of sting rays. The waves are usually crap here but the good thing is that there is no "Black Ball" (which for you who don't know is a yellow flag with a black spot in the middle that the life guards will put up when there are too many kooks swimming in the water and the risk that someone could get run over by a board becomes great enough for the life guards to be concerned that they might actually have to hop off their tower and get paid for doing their job. So to prevent this, they "Black Ball").

We're expecting a swell this week which is great because I think this upcoming Friday the US Open will begin. Hopefully this will draw all the people to Huntington Beach and leave me with uncrowded waves. I might make some flyers with our blog's address and post it up on the Huntington Pier and maybe pull in a few interested eyes in our direction.

My daughter's first time at a California beach. She'll be a rider for Roxy in a few years.

My brother got a longboard and a short gun for free at a yard sale. Here's me learning how to ride a longboard.

Cruisin

Me giving my brother a few tips

Practicing my "Tank" skills in targeting the speed bumps in the road.

Bottle nose Dolphin heading north. This was a nursery of dolphins. There were a few "kids" with this group that were jumping about 5 feet out of the water which inspired a few of the uncles and aunts to show off their skills with huge twisting aerials and fluke slaps.

Proud father and daughter

"Daddy, look at the dolphins!!!!!!!!!"

More pictures to come. I hope you guys are having a great time. I'll be in touch when I get more surf pics.

Jay

Time to update

Well, it's now time to move on with what's happening..Sorry about the layoff but it was a necessity!
It's Friday night 4th July..big day for the yanks...
Jay's off home to the States on Sunday for a few weeks and will probably get sick surf! Good luck mate.
As of right now, we are looking at at least 2 days of constant surf..it's gunna be good..yeeeeessss!
Johan is bombarding me with 'chicken' sms's cause i can't go tonight..hahahaha..Andrew's on the way and should arrive at the surf around 3am..remember that over here it's light all the time so you can surf n full daylight at 3am..perfect..
I'm a little bit jealous but i know there'll be waves all weekend so i have to sacrifice tonight and get surf tomorrow and sunday instead..Johan must be spewing cause all is boards are locked up at my work and he can't get em..hahahahahaha...we'll put some picks in to let you know what it was like..
GO FOR IT..Da Rat..