Aquaholics Surf Shop

Special Surfer (Autism and Aspergers') Surf Night

Posted on 05/29/2009 at 08:04 am | Viewed 1,051 times | 1 comment

This years (Austism Aspergers) Special Surfer nights will be the third Tuesdays of June (16th), July (21st) and August (18th). Participation is free and everything is provided by Aquaholics. Call to register. We will take as many as we have volunteers, and it's first come first serve. We need height, weight, age and trigger information. We'll also need a signed waiver fro  parents of guardians. Call Aquaholics, we can fax or email the form and the surfer will need it when he or she comes to surf. We'd love to have volunteers... surfers and helpers.

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NO SURFING?

Posted on 05/24/2009 at 03:40 pm | Viewed 1,490 times | 0 comments

Okay everybody, CALM DOWN. Friday afternoon, Marc Spaulding came in to the surf shop in a bit of an agitated state. He had just been to the beach and saw that the signs posted on the back of the lifeguard stands now listed SURFING as one of the "NO" activities.

Evidently everyone who surfs or has an interest in surfing is up in arms.

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Sydney to Cann River

Posted on 03/31/2009 at 03:21 pm | Viewed 1,505 times | 0 comments

Marc finished work Tuesday, ahead of schedule. Wednesday we packed up the car and headed south on Australian Route 1. The drive was beautiful and followed the coast most of the way. We are in wine country, and the rolling hills are beautiful. Some of the fields are full of grazing kangaroos. We saw a few that had been hit along the side of the road. Kangaroos as road kill seem more common than deer.

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Update from OZ

Posted on 03/22/2009 at 05:41 pm | Viewed 2,727 times | 7 comments

Well, Friday Bex and I bought two all day travel tickets for $14 each, hopped on a train here in Cronulla and took it to Circular Cay (with two transfers). Got off the train and onto the Manly Beach Ferry (included in the all day travel tix). SO fun and touristy! We passed right by the Sydney Opera House. We also passed near the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which apparently is more famous here. Bex says the acoustics in the Opera House aren’t that good. Go figure!

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Bundeena Walkabout

Posted on 03/18/2009 at 01:21 am | Viewed 1,951 times | 7 comments

Well, it’s Wednesday, March 18 here, and this morning I went on the ferry to see Corynne Bean’s mum. Some of you know Corynne from Playa Grande in Costa Rica. She and her husband also came to the shop when we were in the old location to do surf lessons. They now own Frijoles Locos Surf Shop and Spa in Playa Grande.

Cheryl (Corynne’s mum) lives in Bundeena, a short ferry ride from Cronulla. It’s a beautiful small town, with none of the hustle and bustle of Cronulla. Cronulla is a bit like a cross between Kennebunk and Virginia Beach. Nice funky shopping areas and high rise hotels.

While waiting for the ferry to disembark, I looked down to see a large crab doing the sidestroke; ON THE SURFACE! Never saw such a thing. See it on Youtube, under Aquaholics Surf Shop videos or…

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Australia; land of Crocodiles and Sharks...

Posted on 03/17/2009 at 04:22 am | Viewed 2,055 times | 9 comments

Well, the plane ride was way better than expected. We had an exit row, and leg room galore. We flew Quantas and the flight crew was great. Not to say we weren’t tired. 27 hours from start to finish.

Sydney, a view from the plane.

Our hotel is right at the beach and there’s a great little mall with everything you’d need at great prices right around the corner. Our views are amazing.  We’re at the Rydges Cronulla and they charge for everything. Water $4. Mini Bar bottle opener, $4, Beer $6, Chips $4. Movies, internet $.75 per minute!

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Off to the land of Oz.

Posted on 03/11/2009 at 08:50 pm | Viewed 916 times | 0 comments

Hi all, Marc and I are off to Australia tomorrow, March 12th. We'll be in Cronulla (hopefully I'll see Occy!) for 2 weeks while Marc works on a building, then on March 29th we fly over to New Zealand. Whare Heke (our Shop Maori Bone Jewelry Carving supplier) will pick us up at the airport and we will drive directly to RAGLAN to surf and find Kennebunker Erin Gott. He's promised me I'll find him promptly out in the lineup. It'll be Marc's birthday while we're down there, so we'll be having a party. Pete Hansen, our friend from Camp Manitou in Oakland has family down there. His parents are arranging a big BBQ. His dad owns an American Style Burger Joint. Go figure! Dion Haley will be there for some serious drumming, and maybe Mike Wallace and Shannon Veno Wallace will give us a KITE SURFING lesson! Never too old? I'll be in touch...

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Morocco overview, mostly photos.

Posted on 03/02/2009 at 09:58 pm | Viewed 1,392 times | 0 comments

MOROCCO, 12/26/08-1/7/09

A friend of ours Pete “Kiwi” Hansen visited Morocco last winter. (Pete makes it his mission in life to surf everywhere in the world that there are waves to ride, to date his favorite has been the Galapagos Islands.) This winter, Pete is working in Morocco, at the surf camp where he stayed last winter. Pete is an amazing guy, lots of fun and very resourceful. When he invited us to visit Morocco, we knew enough to accept the offer. WORD TO THE WISE- when opportunity knocks- ANSWER THE DOOR. I can’t tell you how many people we’ve invited to join us in Costa Rica in the past, and they’ve waited till this year to accept. When someone invites you, it’s not an infinite invite. GO! NOW!!!

When we arrived at Agadir airport, Pete and his lovely girlfriend Chrystal Rose Thomas were at the airport to pick us up. We rode back to Taghazoute and surfed near the “home base” Surf Berbere. A Berber is (yes I mean IS, as in cultural group, in case the grammar police are checking up on me) the local Nomadic people. Every day we surfed somewhere new. There are two full time surf guides, Azziz and Mohammed to drive two 4WD Sport Utility vehicles to transport whoever wants to go on surf Safari.

The food is all included. Breakfast is eggs, toast, juice, coffee (Instant. Brits run the place, no clue how important good coffee is) and fruit. The fruit is great.  Chrystal is a great cook but there is a full time chef, Yusef, for lunch and dinner and often there is competition for who has the best culinary skills. (Between Yusef and Chrystal) The guests benefit greatly from this friendly competition. Morocco is known for its great cuisine. The food at Surf Berbere is always excellent.

There are several sleeping options, from dorm style to private apartments. Pete has been managing several local apartments. Pete leaves Morocco in early April, so I don’t know if the folks at Surf Berbere will continue this practice.

I have had a bit of trouble with the photo downloading program, so after a bit of hair pulling, I’m beginning to figure it out. Hopefully it will get easier from here on in. For now, the photos for the Morocco blog are all here…If you want the accompanying text and explanations, see the daily blogs. Keep clicking around, it’s great for my page rating. Thanks and…
 Enjoy!
nanci

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Surf Peru; Penascal Surf Camp Road Trip to Chicama

Posted on 03/01/2009 at 06:52 pm | Viewed 5,801 times | 1 comment

November 2008 Peru Surf Trip

Lunar Road

Marc and I went to Peru to meet up with Bill Cannell, a friend from Camden. Bill has been going to Peru for years and has the place wired. He has lots of friends in Lima and the surrounding area. He hooked us up with Surf Penascal Surf Camp in San Bartolo, about an hour south of Lima. There are many good breaks within walking distance of the accommodations, but daily trips are offered.

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New Year Morocco

Posted on 02/06/2009 at 10:21 am | Viewed 1,025 times | 1 comment

January 1, Happy New Year! We got up and decided to go out for breakfast. We walked to out favorite restaurant, Labass, (HOMEMADE Hollandaise on the eggs Bennie) but Mohammad was still getting ready for the day, so we went on to Restaurant Tenerife. We had the "Berber Breakfast" there too. The Amalou is addicting. The eggs were a little over fried, but some people like them CRUNCHY. The cappuccino was excellent. We were serenaded by a Berber playing his Rebab, a unique stringed instrument played with a bow. We gave him a few dirhams and it was a bargain at twice the price.
Full video on YouTube Aquaholics Surf Trip Morocco Berber Rebat

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