poos & pasties

i was starting to feel guilty about constantly leaving england for the Continent (don't i sound like forster?) every time i had a few days off so on my new "get to know england" campaign, i went to cornwall last week.

it was pouring rain (or "pouring down rain," as they say here) when we landed at newquay. and it was pouring rain when i pulled on a 5-mm wetsuit to go surfing.

now. cornwall is known for a few things - its traditional british pasties (that rhymes with "fast," you pervert) and its clotted cream. but there's a diehard surf culture as well, captured in the documentary land of saints.

i quickly learned that you've got to be some kind of saint to put up with the cornwellian conditions: overcast skies; a cold, driving rain; tiny, intermittent waves; and, according to surfers against sewage, "the random poo floating by."

but i loved it - the cornwell coast is rugged and dramatic, and the people are warm & down to earth. i stayed clear of the pasties and the poo, and will definitely be back.

the ripcurl boardmasters competition begins today. they'll be ripping it up at fistral beach.