The camp ground in Zarautz was full of people, we got one of the last spots and we were reminded again that holiday season on the atlantic coast was in full swing now. The next morning we drove to the little town of St Jean de Luz in the south of France. We both have been there multiple times and know a camp ground that even in high season still has enough free camp spots. Luckily we got a spot that is big enough for two campers and than we played the obligatory game of mini golf, that we play every time we are on that specific camp ground. Also we visited the bibam bar which has the style of a jungle bar and offers spectacular views of the sunset over the ocean.
The next day my sister arrived with her boyfriend and son. From now on it was the five of us. It was crazy for us to see how much we had built our own routines and how different they were from the routines of a young family with a two year old child. At the same time it felt good to spent time with others and play with my nephew who has only seen me once in the last year.
The good thing is that he loves the beach and this is where we went the next days. The swell was also there and so we could surf and play on the beach with my nephew. Here also it was totally new to us to go to the beach and lay down with an umbrella and sand toys. Usually we showed up on the beach go surf and leave again or sit down for a sun downer or take a walk at the beach.
We all had a few nice surf sessions on the rocky beaches but noticed that the water was extremely warm and had a very weird metallic taste. After the sessions we all were coughing, had a headache, a sore throat and Linda and Maris even had nose bleeding. We all felt like we were sick. Linda researched and found out that very locally on this part of the coast since 2021 there have been the micro algae „Ostreopsis“ which can cause exactly these symptoms. I asked other the surfers and they all had the same symptoms. The lifeguards at the beach said that all was fine, but we were not convinced. I wrote an email to the Surfrider foundation, an NGO that takes care about the environment of surfers and also actively engages in environmental campaigns. Also I wrote an Email to the local health agency of the region…. google translate helped me there, my french is way way worse than my spanish. The surfrider foundation answered me the next day and supported our feeling. There were exceptionally high concentration of the micro algae around, just under the threshold where majors can close beaches. A few days later I even got an answer from the environmental agency that underlined the message from the surfrider foundation. Although the campground, the surroundings and the beach were nice, we decided to leave to a place without algae, so we all drove back to Spain. The camp ground in Zarautz was full but a few hours furthers west in San Vincent we got lucky again and could grab one of the last camp spots on the same camp ground we had stayed before and fell back in the same eat sleep surf repeat routine…. well almost the same. With my nephew the day started way earlier and new activities were added to the schedule like playing ball, building sand castles and exploring everything around with huge curiosity that seems so normal to us. It was a totally different experience but still with a daily surf session. Somehow it was little like a soft re-socializing program for Linda and me. For one year we spent 99% of our time with each other and now we had to function again in a bigger social construct and we enjoyed it a lot. I normally do not spent so much time with my sister and her family and also I had the feeling that my nephew the first time really connected with Linda and me.
After a little more than a week together, the little family turned back north to the Atlantic coast of France (just way further North that the algae) and Linda and me (after visiting a Gaudi house in Comillas) crossed through Spain to Barcelona, where we had stored all our ski and snowboard gear with a friend that lives there. OFfcourse we also had to check out the new wakeboard park that had reopened in the old olympic canal of the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona. After a night there, we started our way back…. back to Germany and back to a „normal life“ that we were really looking forward to, although we enjoy every minute with Rosi.
On a last stop in Spain we finally found the olives in vermouth that I have been looking for that last months and stacked up on all the tasty spanish treats that are hard to get in Germany.
In the South of France we stopped for a coffee and a pastice with an old basketball friend who was on vacation with his family there, before we carried on further north.
The next evening we arrived in Münster with my parents. Here we stayed for about a week and I tried to visit as many friends as possible and spent time with my parents. Linda fulfilled her dream of a new gravel bike and used this to drive from Münster To Datteln to her mum, where Mine waited for us. A day later I joined with Rosi and we spent a day with Lindas Sister and her kids, before we finally packed up for the last part of this years journey and drove back to Berlin. This time the three of us: Linda, Mine and me.
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