Bobbing up and down on our surfboards on the swell off the Northumbrian coast, we realised we weren’t alone. There was a massive, muddy, grey, head sticking out of the sea. An obviously affronted, and possibly angry, seal was staring straight at us – we weren’t sure whether to look back or just back off.
But he was harmless – just chilling out with his head above the waves checking out the crazy surfers. The Farne Islands, only a stone’s throw away, are well-known as a seal watchers’ and divers’ paradise, with the number of grey seals totting up to about 8,000.
We managed to catch a fair few waves – keeping our distance from the seals. The lines of swell greeted us from the horizon and were perfect for the two beginners splashing around in front of us. My friend Dick and I were heading further out back to swoop down the faces of the bigger waves.
Satisfaction was beaming from all of our faces when we were finally felt we’d had enough. Pickled, exhausted from paddling through the waves to get out back, and beginning to feel the chill of the North Sea, it was time to get out of our wetsuits and booties and sling our gear in the motor home.
Otherwise known as an RV (Recreational Vehicle), the motor home is experiencing a revival. From the trendy and expensive VW Camper vans, to the highly practical and comfortable Explorer motor homes, you can carry all your kit – and nearly everything else you own. We squeezed in six kites for kite surfing and four surfboards into our Explorer, with room to spare. All you need to do is grab a few friends, stuff for a beach barbecue and morning fry-up, and then enjoy the freedom of rocking up at different sites. You can literally follow the wind and the waves.
We had headed up from Newcastle to the tiny fishing village of Beadnell, situated on the doorstep of some of most beautiful stretches of coastline in the whole of England. Pitching up late at night at Swinhoe Links Caravan Park, we woke the following morning to a typical drizzly northeast Saturday. But that wasn’t going to dampen our spirits as there was a slight breeze in the air for our kites.
After cooking breakfast we headed 50 yards over the dunes and straight onto the beach with all of our kiting gear. Kite surfing may look complex but once you know the basics you can generally be set up and ready to launch the kite within 10 minutes. The wind on the Saturday wasn’t too strong, around 7-10mph, which meant we had to launch our largest kites –16 metres in area, designed for fairly light winds. We practised a bit of jumping and heel-dragging, but unfortunately the wind didn’t play ball for too long. We resorted to grabbing our surfboards for some action just using wave power – as long as we were playing in the water we were happy, just like the seals.
Getting there
Cheap internal flights are available from Easyjet, www.easyjet.com, which flies from London Stansted to Newcastle airport and Flybe,
www.flybe.com, flying to Newcastle from Exeter, Jersey, Belfast and Southampton.
Accommodation
For the details of Swinhoe Caravan Park, see the www.caravan-sitefinder.co.uk
For details on the Explorer Elddis:
www.explorer-group.co.uk
More info
For surf and weather reports, see
www.magicseaweed.com
www.northumberland.gov.uk
www.visitnortheastengland.com
