This week there is a change and we are bringing this to you straight from the horse's mouth! Dayne Topkins is our guest blog writer today, hailing from South Africa Dayne is still scoring the best waves of his life so far with Ticket to Ride:
Hi, as most of you are aware the crew have been hanging out in the surfing mecca that is Jeffrey’s Bay. We were all doing great, and ready to continue to make the most of what J-bay provides, good waves. And that’s exactly what this magical little place did provide for us. We were back out at kitchen windows with Etienne brushing up on our technique in 2-3 ft waves. Chris and I continued to work on our turns, while Sam, Josh and Ryan perfected their technique and learned to work the face of the wave. The group just couldn’t seem to get enough of the waves on offer at Kitchen Windows, which saw us all back in the water after a brief lunch at The Mexican. We tried to squeeze in as many waves as possible before the local children heard the school bell and headed straight for the beach. Kitchen Windows is home to a lot of groms in the Jeffrey’s Bay area, most of whom are very competent surfers and often we found ourselves as a group admiring their talent in the water.
Later that afternoon we were challenged by the staff at Island Vibe to a game of beach cricket. With some in the group having never played cricket before, we found ourselves intrigued as to how this match would pan out. Ticket To Ride didn’t disappoint and managed to pull off a convincing victory. That night saw us take on the infamous Island Vibe fishbowl challenge. The aim of this challenge was to see which team of two could down the fishbowl in the quickest Tobias and Ryan set the bar which was quickly beaten by Josh and I, but ultimately the night saw Chris and Klee going home with the win, downing the fishbowl in 21 seconds flat and impressive time considering that the all-time record stood at 13 seconds. A fun filled day and night could only hold promises of an exciting morning, with J-Bay’s track record of good swell and surf we eagerly awaited Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday we were all up early and ready for the day; the crew in particular were really excited as we would be spending the day surfing in Cape St Francis, which is a beautiful little town about 20 minutes just outside of Jeffrey’s Bay. Our surf coach Etienne was eager to have us sample different types of waves, and suggested we spend the day surfing Seals beach break, even though conditions were 1- 2 ft. Everyone was raring to go and we spent a good few hours in the water. Whilst Etienne taught us to look at conditions before heading out, this session in particular we learnt to use the rip current to help get us out to the line-up as well as the best way to get back in conditions like those at hand without obstructing any of the surfers in the water. We managed to use this rip in particular like a conveyer belt, which allowed us to conserve energy and get us out to the line-up a lot quicker than we may have otherwise. With the waves breaking a little faster and slightly shallower than what we were accustomed to at Kitchen Windows, everyone in the group’s ability was challenged. Ryan and Chris were particularly strong on their backhand, whilst Sam and Josh managed to catch a couple good waves.
After a good long session, we drove over to St Francis for lunch and sampled some of the pies on offer at The Viking, which is a popular bakery in the area. With our stomachs full and waves under our belt we headed back to Island Vibe for a relaxing evening. Immediately after dinner we were entertained with traditional dancing by African Celebration. African Celebration is a local dance group made up of children from the townships in the area, it’s a good initiative as it gives the children and what they’re doing exposure as well as keeping them busy. After a long and busy day, we were all ready to hit the sack and recharge for what Jeffrey’s Bay does best, provide waves.
Thursday saw us awake to some really good swell in perfect conditions, which we have found regularly whilst in J-Bay, it was our final lesson with Etienne before we moved onto our next destination. Etienne rather quirkily referred to it as our “graduation”. In J-Bay we had become accustomed to doing our lessons in two separate groups, the reason for this was not to overcrowd the line-up and so to say overwhelm the locals. However, on our final lesson we were lucky enough to find the line-up empty which meant that the entire crew could paddle out together, Etienne remained on the beach initially to assess how well we had listened to his instructions and I can say that he was well impressed with how everyone navigated the 3-4 ft clean conditions on hand at Kitchen Windows. Chris and Josh dominated the lefts on their forehand, with Josh working on his bottom turn. Sarah and Nicola caught a few long rides, Tobias too was in on some of the action. I worked the face on my forehand and Ryan continued on with the form he had shown all throughout J-Bay. After the lesson Etienne provided us with some good feedback and mentioned how much we had all improved during our time with him.
With every completed surf session comes a hungry tummy, particularly Chris’s. We headed over to Nina’s for lunch, which was undoubtedly one of the crew’s favourite dining spots. This lunch was particularly unique as were we eager to catch the ASP World Tour event in Portugal, after some oooohs and aaaahs, jeers and cheers from various members in the group for their favourite surfers we returned to Mikey Meyer’s factory to see him glass some of the boards that he had been working on at the time of our previous visit. It was definitely an interesting experience for us all as we were able to see the various processes a surfboard goes through before it ends up under our feet. Mikey was very detailed in his explanations, and I can assuredly say that the group left enriched and a lot more knowledgeable regarding the production of surfboards. Later that night after dinner Island Vibe surprised us with a little farewell party and the Ticket To Ride crew celebrated the best way we knew how.
Friday morning saw us sadly bid farewell to the gang at Island Vibe, the staff there had really grown to know us and became such an integral part of our trip. We hit the road really early, and made our way to Chinsta, along the way we were fortunate enough to make a pit stop at the well renowned Nanaga farm stall for lunch and sampled some of the most delicious pies one would find all across the country. After a divine lunch we made our way North and eventually ended up in Chintsa. We happened to pass through East London along the way which is the home of our trip leader Nikita Robb, she showed us where she grew up as well as some of the waves on which she learned to shred the way she does now. Everyone got the opportunity to show off their culinary skills as we all attempted to cook dinner ourselves, Sam and Josh managed a decent stir-fry, Tobias grilled some pork chops and Ryan whipped his infamous cheese and tuna pasta. With the group pretty tired we checked into our hostel and got a glimpse at the waves we were preparing to surf the very next day, we made our way to bed frothing for the early morning session that awaited us.
Saturday saw us arise to a beautiful day. After breakfast we made our way down to Chintsa Beach to have a look at the conditions. Before we attempted to sample what Chintsa had to offer there was something that required our attention. Having not been able to do any swim training whilst in J-Bay the group were keen to get back into the pool, even though we hadn’t had much of an opportunity to train in J-Bay, the group had grown leaps and bounds in their swimming, everyone performed tremendously well. After our swim, we had some lunch in East London and then headed back to Chintsa beach for our first lesson of this leg with Klee and Nikita. With the conditions more challenging than what the group had been accustomed to, it was definitely bound to be a big learning experience for the group, nonetheless everyone surfed really well and enjoyed their time in the water. Chris and I managed to navigate a couple lefts and rights, whilst Sam, Josh, Sarah and Manu all managed to catch a good few waves and made the most of the conditions that were at hand. After a rather strenuous day we headed back and relaxed around the fire, and had a braai for dinner that evening.
We awoke really early on Sunday morning, grabbed a quick bite of breakfast and headed straight down to the beach for our surf lesson. With everyone raring to go, we were in the water and navigating our way around a rather choppy but surfable Chinsta Beach. Josh and Chris managed a few good lefts whilst Sarah and Nicola worked hard in the unpredictable conditions. Klee explained that conditions won’t always be favourable, that we aren’t always going to be able to surf crisp, clean waves in perfect offshore conditions, and that our time in tricky conditions will only help our surfing, and help our ability to navigate various peaks, better ways to paddle out and taking off in choppy conditions. After a long session we had lunch at the hostel, admiring the view of the beach that was on hand before we headed back into the water only this time at Glen Eden. Stoked to implement what we had learned in the lesson before, we headed out and enjoyed cleaner conditions. Everyone in the group performed comprehensively with Nikita leading us in her home waters where she had spent years training on her way to making the top 16 in the world! The afternoon saw some of the ticket to ride members taking on some of the Staff and guests from Buccaneers backpackers in volleyball. Sam, Klee, Ryan and I seemed to dominate the action in some rather competitive matches against the locals. After another great afternoon filled with surfing and volleyball the group were eager to munch down on the Spaghetti Bolognaise that was provided by the backpackers for dinner. An easy and quiet night was in order after such a long day.
Monday turned out to be both busy and yet relaxing at the same time. We surfed bright and early down at Chintsa Beach, the group braved the rain that hung around from the storm that graced us the night before and paddled out valiantly. After a few hours in the water we were off to the pool again, to catch up on the swim training we had missed whilst in J-Bay. Exhausted and fatigued, we headed over to Hemmingway’s Mall in East London for lunch and a movie, the crew took advantage of the so to say Monday “fun day” and headed to Spur, a local franchise for the burger specials they offered on Mondays, after which we headed to the cinema for an afternoon movie. The evening saw bangers and mash on the menu after which a couple of the crew gathered around the pool table for a game of cushion, Sam introduced the game to the group and it has quickly become a favourite whenever we find ourselves in the vicinity of a pool table. As the night drew to an end the crew expressed their anticipation for the surf that awaited us for the rest of our stay here in Chintsa.
There is no doubt that this is going to be a very special leg of the trip as has been the case with every destination so far, Chinsta has something special to offer, and we are here to sample some of the best waves on hand as well as everything else Chintsa has coming our way, watch this space!
Dayne Topkin
Thanks Dayne, I hope you all enjoyed a different perspective!
Klee