Louis‘s Diary - Day 31-37
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Day thirty-one: 1-12-22
I drove to Bundoran yesterday morning. I had some very nice waves there. A long right hander wrapped around a point and was sending out little tubes.
The road to get here is amazing. You have the mountains on your right and the sea on your left, very nice!
I went to have a few beers in the local pub. I made friends at the bar.
I have never met such a nice, warm and welcoming people as the Irish. I've been here for a week and I've already met a lot of people.
I'll see you tomorrow.
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Day thirty-two: 2-12-22
Wake up in Bundoran. This is the best surf city I know. You can see reefs on every corner. Long waves as well as short ones. There are also a lot of bars, in fact it's the perfect city, isn't it?
I might be able to get a job here but in big swells I don't know if there are many fallback spots, at least compared to Ballina. I went back to surf a known wave, which I'm starting to get to know.
In Ireland, the biggest danger, apart from the waves of course, is definitely the pubs. I've only been there twice but each time I have a great time, meeting lots of people. The atmosphere is warm, there is always good music and the beers are delicious.
I haven't had any news about jobs, I'll start going to apply for a few next week.
I'm still learning English vocabulary, I feel like I'm speaking pretty well, at least that's what the Irish are telling me!
Life is good here, despite the cold and the night that falls faster and faster, I feel really good in this area.
The only problem is the food. When you are French abroad, you are always a little disappointed. Let's just say they make up for it with whisky and Guinness!
I noticed one thing here: as soon as you get to know the locals a little, they are always quick to show you photos of their friends, girlfriends, children, parents, the whole family!
I had only seen this in Central America.
Families are very close here, the Irish have kept strong values of family and country. I love it.
See you tomorrow.
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Day thirty-three: 3-12-22
When I opened the door, I discovered some nice waves rolling out onto the reef. There was no more than 50cm but the waves were long and offshore.
I surfed for 3 hours with an Irish guy. The atmosphere was really good.
I spent the rest of the day learning English and reading a new Hemingway book: "Over The River And Under The Trees".
Cheers
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Day thirty-four: 4-12-22
A rather ordinary day. After waking up in Castlebar, I headed north again. Back to my favourite spot, the left this time. There were very nice waves for me alone at the beginning, then a few dozen surfers joined me little by little. I let them try to catch some waves and got out. I had had enough.
I was thinking to myself as I was going to the water, I have only surfed onshore waves twice in over a month! That was in Wales, otherwise it was offshore every day. It's still amazing.
Cheers
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Day thirty-five: 5-12-22
I discovered that the spot was "armoured", about twenty surfers were fighting to catch waves. So I decided to go and check out a spot about 30 minutes away. A friend from Brittany had given me the tip during a session 2 months ago.
When we arrived there there were 3 surfers sharing a long left of 200m. There were some barrel sections but in general the wave offered long smooth walls of 1m80. To the north a hairy 2.5m right hander with the biggest runs was rolling out. The wave was very tight but some of it looked serious. There were only two guys in the water.
I went out on the right with my mini gun, a 6'10 with big rails that gave a lot of volume despite the big rocker. Fins: Rebel.
The session was complicated, a lot of water movement and series that were always off.
But it allowed me to meet two expats, one of whom has been in Ireland for about ten years and the other for about twenty.
One is Japanese, good surfer and very reserved behind his big smile. Very cool.
The other one is Kiwi, speaks loudly and looks like a bon vivant. Both guys live in a truck and seem to enjoy their lives!
I finished my day at the local pub with a French girl who has been here for 6 years and works as a surf teacher (she also lives in a truck). We have a good friend in common who lives in Portugal now. I met him during the lock down in Galicia. I had managed to get out of France despite the restrictions and had settled in Spain (also under lockdown).
The police were less present on the beaches than in France at that time and we had surfed some very nice waves without a cat around.
In short, he's a good friend of mine and we had a lot of fun reminiscing about this famous surfer with a lifestyle all his own.
Tomorrow, good waves.

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Day thirty-six: 6-12-22
I slept at surf spot, as usual, and got some nice waves. The same right hander as yesterday, but a bit bigger.
After a 1h session I went for a walk on the beach. After 30min of walking, I saw 4 surfers at the end of a point. The wave looked hollow from the side. I rushed back to the truck and went to check it out. Finding the spot by the road was a bit complicated, I had to open a gate to get to private land.
I jumped straight into the water and for the first time in Ireland I was surfing waves that were really tubing. There wasn't much water and it was a blast!
The two surfers who were there didn't take the big ones and left them to an Irish guy and me.
I must have taken about ten tubes that day. It was really cool!
I was too lazy to go to the pub despite it being Saturday night. I wanted to drive and find flatter ground for the truck for the night.
I missed the exit to the beach and ended up in a small village that was having an early Christmas party. A Father Christmas was handing out presents to everyone and children were playing in the streets.
So I stopped and went to the bar to take the temperature.
"Just one and go to sleep”.
Well, when I arrived I met a Welshman I had often met at the water.
I drank the whole evening with him. He is very fast and is always messing around.
The bar was full of people and Simon went to see all the girls, one by one, to tell them that I was looking for true love. Haha that really made me laugh.
I walked out of the bar holding onto the wall. The gravity was wrong that night.
I LOVE IRELAND

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Day thirty-seven: 7-12-22
The worst wake up call of my life, I will never drink again.
Luckily there were no waves so I was able to rest and wash my clothes.
Great walk in the bitter cold and beautiful scenery.
The cool life!
