Does staying at a posh pad with creature comforts make you a surfing sell-out? Our writer finds out at a boutique lodge in Peniche, Portugal, that offers a different kind of surf break
There comes a time in every surfer's life when he still thinks he's (legendary former world champ) Kelly Slater, but it's actually all gone a bit Nigel Slater. This thought occurs to me as I'm hoisting the bodyboard-sized caramel twirl off the top of the chocolate fondant shortly after polishing off a 40-hour-braised rump steak, cancelling all the benefits of a day's wave-riding in one calorific wipeout.
John Malmqvist, the former Swedish national surfing champion who has provided this feast, agrees that priorities change. "When I lived on the Gold Coast in Australia, after a day's surfing I'd have been happy to dig a hole in the sand and sleep there," he says, "But these days, I want a nice bed."
Continue reading...