Full House

I have only ever heard of the concept of house shares before now, sticky stories of filth and mayhem put me off ever living with friends even the neatest of the bunch. The idea of sharing a bathroom with a group of people and having dish washing schedules isn't my thing and I never dreamed I'd ever resort to this kind of living arrangement until I was invited to stay with the Zigzag media crew in J Bay.  

I thought I'd write a very short and helpful guide to surviving being a groupie surf widow:

1. Get to the house early and pick the bedroom with the en suite. That way you will never actually have to deal with soggy undies on the floor and toothpaste stains on every surface, I'm sure you can imagine far worse situations arising however these dudes are somewhat mild in comparison to living with my brother.

2. Dishes... at least twice a day you will open the kitchen cupboard and there will be no dishes, none to eat or drink out of, let alone cook with because every imaginable surface is crammed with dirty ones. I urge you from Day 1 to instigate a rule, each dude MUST do their own dishes. This usually doesn't work.. . I know, so the next best thing is to leave all dirty dishes where they are, wash what you need and hide it! Ous will get to the point where they will actually wash them themselves, don't make the mistake of doing them, they will expect this sort of service for the remainder of your stay.

3. Food is currency with surfers, mostly because they are generally broke and subsist off cereal, potatoes, rolls, beer and chips. DON'T eat, move or throw away their food. If you'd like to become a surfer's BFF then offer to make them tea or coffee ... a lot. Hide your stock, hungry surfers will annihilate whole loaves of bread and litres of milk after a day out at Supers.  

4. Prepare your mind for the amount of sand you are about to find in places that there should be no sand. Invest in slip slops. Never remove them from your feet.

I'm still in Jeffrey's Bay covering the J Bay Open, two 'lay days' down, one severely drained bank account, a serious case of shoppers fatigue and the comp isn't even near finished! According to the swell gurus we're expecting 12-15ft waves sometime this weekend, so if you're sick of Cape Town come witness the pro fitness!