Monday 30 September 2013

Women's surf club fancy dress surf

Sunday was spent at the women's surf club fancy dress end of season surf competition. With all the girls wearing fancy dress we headed into the water with swell boards and small waves to have a brilliant fun afternoon of surfing.

As soon as the fancy dress suits started getting wet a lot of us struggled to stay afloat, but whilst laughing our heads off managed to catch a few waves, do a few silly tricks and have an absolutely brilliant time.

A massive thank you goes out to all the girls that took part, and an even bigger thank you to the instructors for putting together a brilliant competition and a fantastic club. Keep up the good work ladies and I'm already planning my costume for next year!
Fancy dress surf newquay

Fancy dress newquay

Newquay surf competition

Fancy dress surf

Surfing in fancy dress
To view all the pictures visit my Facebook page here
Written by Mandi Brooks

Sunday 22 September 2013

Offshore and super clean surf at Fistral beach Newquay today, Lots of pictures.

I've been suffering from a cold for the last few days and not feeling myself but when I heard the surf was clean I couldn't resist going down to the beach to check it out.

With the sun out and temperatures into their twenties a bit of fresh air was just what I needed, and I took my camera down to capture some of the surfers out enjoying the clean waves and balmy weather.

Check out all the pictures over on my facebook page, and don't forget to like my page to stay up to date with all my latest pictures.

Fistral Beach Newquay

Surfer Newquay Fistral Beach

Newquay beach

Surfing at Fistral Beach

Surf in Cornwall

Surfing in Newquay

Newquay Surf Fistral beach

Red and yellow flags. RNLI







Friday 20 September 2013

What is the best driving view in the UK? Win a Nikon camera!

As a lot of my regular readers will know I'm a big petrol head, My first car was a classic 1972 Beetle which I adored. The little bug took me to loads of local and national car shows and festivals including drag racing at Santa Pod and eventually across the pond to Europe to shows like European Bug In.

Even now with my beloved Beetle sold and finding myself driving in a boring Renault Clio I still get excited when I see an unusual car on the road or hear the rumbling of a motor bike driving past.

I also do a lot of driving, I drive around 2 hours every day for my commute to and from work and even when I take my holidays often have driving holidays which has seen driving to Scotland and even driving to Amsterdam completed. I've seen some amazing sites and views and nothing beats a good blast along a country road.

Now I've found a competition which combines two of my favourite things, Photography and Best driving views. The company Car Craft are currently hosting a competition to find the best driving view. Their competition called VROOMwith a view is currently open until 15th October to submit your best photos of your favourite driving views to win a Nikon cool pix S3500 digital camera. Visit the competition page here,

Here's some of my favourite driving views to inspire you.
VW Beetle photography

Best driving views

Black vw fastback



Wednesday 11 September 2013

Over the Hill festival Newqauy 2013

It's hard to believe that just over a week ago Cornwall held it's second Over the Hill festival and yet again the sun shone on the whole weekend. Now less than a fortnight later we have temperatures in single figures, torrential rain and even hail storms so large in Falmouth that you could have mistaken the time of year as mid winter rather than the end of summer.

On the same weekend of Over the Hill Cornwall also held the Electric beach festival on Watergate bay beach. I was lucky enough to have tickets to both festivals but choosing which one to go to and which one to miss was a tough choice. I decided to attend Over the Hill and camp there for the whole weekend but dipping out to the electric beach festival on the Saturday to see Zion Train.
Over the hill festival newqauy

Over the hill festival

Both festivals were amazing however either i'm getting old or those also enjoying Over the Hill seemed to be a lot younger than myself. There was trouble in the camping field one evening which a bunch of youngest and security having a run in, but other than that the festival was a success. Highlights for me included Wille and the Bandits, the peoples string foundation and black Friday.

Electric beach was also brilliant and this year i'm pleased to say they didn't run out of alcohol like last year. I'm a massive fan of Zion Train and have seen them several times live before and seeing them on the beach didn't disappoint. With an amazing sunset and the band getting everyone in the dancing mood i had a brilliant time before heading for the bus back to the camp site at Over the Hill.
There's one more music festiva for me to attend this year in Cornwall and that's the little apple cider festival at healeys cider farm and being a massive cider fan I can not wait!
Electric Beach Festival

Tuesday 10 September 2013

10 Fun Ways to Showcase Your Photography

So you have a bunch of great looking pictures but now what? Do you let them sit on your computer, collecting virtual dust and completely hidden away from all potential appreciative eyes? No way! You need a unique way to show off your pictures that is as unique as your images.
Here are 10 fun ways to showcase your photography outside of having standard prints delivered and hung around the house.

1. Ceramic Mug: Your pictures will look extra slick wrapped around a dishwasher and microwave safe ceramic coffee mug. If you want to get really weird with it, try putting a picture of someone drinking coffee on this coffee mug from York Photo.

2. iPhone Case: More pictures are taken with smartphones than actual cameras these days. There’s even a decent chance you have smartphone pictures worth having printed! Why not protect your iPhone and show off your photography skills with a customized smartphone case? York Photo carries customizable smartphone cases for the iPhone 4, 4s and 5 and also the Galaxy S3.


3. Fleece Blanket: Wrapped up in your photography? Print one of your best pictures on a fleece blanket from SnapFish and you literally will be! The 50x60 fleece blanket makes a great gift for that person who loves getting cozy under the covers… anyone!

4. Doodle Frame Pillow: A 16x16 pillow from Shutterfly with one of your top-notch pictures printed on it helps create a mood for your living room. Throw a picture of the sky on there and you can rest your head on the clouds!

5. Mouse Pad: A personally customized mouse pad gives the office a little more personality and legitimizes your picture taking skills. Find mouse pads for only £5 at Shutterfly right now!

6. 110 Piece Puzzle: How can you turn your photography into fun? Order a personalized 110 piece puzzle from York Photo and have some fun putting one of your favourite pictures back together. The more elaborate the image, the more difficult the puzzle!


7. Deluxe Tote Bag: The deluxe tote bag from York Photo provides plenty of room to carry stuff but also to have a photograph printed on the outside. And if you decide to put a picture of you or your family on it, there is never any chance your bag will get mixed up with someone elses!

8. Calendar: Keep track of the days and remember where you have been with a personalized calendar from SnapFish. SnapFish is even offering free shipping on orders over £30, so it’s a good idea to get a few customized calendars printed!

9. Playing Cards: It’s all fun and games on poker night with a custom deck of playing cards from SnapFish. Pick a photo you love and have it printed on the back of a standard deck of playing cards and bring a whole new flavour to game night!


10. Photo Gallery Magnet: The sleek photo gallery magnet from Shutterfly is a homely addition to the fridge. The 4.5x5 magnet uniquely showcases your photography and costs only £4.50!

dBy Allison Preston. Allison is an avid sports fan and an experienced writer with a passion for deals and coupons and for saving her readers money. She currently writes for leading coupon and online promo code site bluepromocode.com based in Santa Monica, California. 

Friday 6 September 2013

Check out the amazing Heineken 'Dropped' campaign

Recently As some of my regular blog followers will know I visited Amsterdam for the music festival Pitch. When I think back to my sunny travels across Europe I can’t help but smile and wish sometimes that I could travel all the time and not go through the daily grind of my 9-5 job. Thinking back to my trip to Amsterdam and the things I explored I remember the Heineken experience, beer tasting, boat trips and lots of history of the brand.

Now Heineken have released a brilliant campaign to find out whether men are born as men or mice and what it takes to be a real man. Imagine your daily routine the 9-5 office, knowing when your lunch break is, knowing the sandwiches you make every morning are in your lunch box waiting for you, knowing that when the clock strikes 5pm you head home for your evening dose of Coronation Street and Eastenders…. Well Heineken are plucking men out of their daily grind and dropping them in completely random places and hoping they find their own way back home!!!! This sounds amazing and really hope they create a version to test the women too as I would love the challenge.

Watching the first video in a series on their you tube channel shows one crazy photographer and graphic designer boarding a plane full of clowns blind folded and being dropped in his secret location ready to make his epic journey home. Further episodes include two men being blind folded and hand cuffed together for their voyage home. You can follow the journeys of these men on the Heineken® Dropped YouTube channel. Or watch the first episode here, imagine big brother but rather than stuck in one house your travelling across the globe whilst the world watches how you cope.

I think this is a brilliant idea crafted by Heineken and I for one will definitely be following to see how the boys get on whilst secretly wishing that I could take part and experience such an adventure.

The men are given a few items to help them get home but will have to concur local people, local transport and many other challenges concurring their fears to get home, My first issue would be dealing with the scary clowns!

Following the men as they concur their journeys is a bit like playing top trumps seeing their modes of transport. I'm currently routing for William who was dropped in Morocco purely because he spat back at the camels.

If you like social experiments and love travel check out the heineken dropped you tube channel.