Day 177 - Kitesurfing, Family and One Epic 40th Birthday
Today I woke up and it was my 40th birthday. I was the first one up, so I was kind of just laying in bed reflecting on what an extraordinary life I have lived over the last 40 years. I’ve been through, seen, felt and experienced a lot, and I’m completely happy with life. There’s been challenges, heartbreak, fear, excitement, adventure, massive highs and some pretty low lows, but every part of it has shaped who I am today. Laying there quietly in the morning in Morocco, on the other side of the world with my family beside me, it honestly felt pretty surreal to think about where life has taken me.
While I was reflecting, Kia woke up and wished me a happy birthday before whisking off to get coffee brewing and see where the kids were at. They gave me space to wake up and ease into the day before the celebrations started. The kids had made me cards, and Kia had written me a really nice email since cards are hard to come by here and she didn’t have time to make one. It was a beautiful email and one I’ll probably hold onto forever.
Kia and the kids had also bought me a new wallet for my birthday. My old wallet was starting to completely fall apart. I think it was about 17 or 18 years old by now. It had been halfway around the world with me and served me well, but it was definitely time for a replacement. The new one was a Moroccan leather wallet, which felt like a pretty fitting 40th birthday present considering where we are in the world right now. Hopefully it carries me just as far over the next couple of decades. It’s one of those gifts I’ll probably keep for a very, very long time.
After gifts and cards, we all got ourselves ready for the day. Mum and Dad were planning to call me around 9:30 in the morning, but everyone was getting hungry and keen to head out for breakfast, so I called them before we left instead. It was really nice chatting to them and catching up on everything from the other side of the world on my birthday.
We then headed up the beach towards a place near the surf school we’ve been going to. It had this really nice outdoor seating area right on the beach with trees, shade and a super relaxed atmosphere. Honestly, it looked like the perfect birthday breakfast spot. The breakfast itself was very Western style and felt like something we hadn’t had in forever. I got avocado toast with poached eggs and tomato, plus some Moroccan bread with olive oil to dip into. We also shared a crepe with salted caramel butter, which was ridiculously good. Add in some coffees for Kia and I, juices for the kids, and it was honestly just such a nice way to start my 40th birthday.
While we were there, we started chatting to a lady that I didn’t recognise at first. Once we got talking though, I realised her husband was Nick, the guy I’d been doing kitesurfing lessons with over the last few days. It was really nice hearing about their journey. They’re from the UK and have been campervanning their way around Europe and Morocco with their dog before heading back home. I think they had another couple of weeks left before making their way back through Europe to the UK.
Not long after, Nick headed down to the beach for an earlier kitesurfing session because they were leaving Essaouira later that day to continue north through Morocco. We kept chatting to his wife for a bit before one of the waiters at the restaurant started talking with us as well. We ended up having a really good conversation about surfing, university and life in Morocco. He was studying renewable energy at uni and also played in a band. He was telling us all about his hometown of Safi further up the coast, which apparently has some of the biggest surf in Morocco with huge barrels rolling through. He reckoned we should definitely visit one day, but honestly it sounded a little bit above our current amateur surfing level.
After breakfast I wanted to head down to the beach to watch Nick and cheer him on before my own lesson later in the day. He was doing really well and had started standing up properly and riding for decent distances before losing power in the kite and crashing. Watching him gave me a bit of confidence that hopefully I’d be able to do the same when my turn came around.
Eventually we found his wife again down on the beach and sat chatting while watching Nick out on the water. Emmett and Maddie spent ages playing with their dog Billy, some kind of poodle cross. They were throwing tennis balls into the water for him and Billy would race in and bring them back. The kids absolutely loved it.
Eventually I realised we needed to head back to the apartment so I could get myself ready for my lesson at two o’clock. By then it was already after lunch time. Back at the apartment, Kia and I had a quick chat about what we’re doing after Morocco because we’re still trying to work out our next move. We’d been researching flights and different options the last few days, so we quickly talked through a few ideas before I got changed, packed my bag and headed back up the beach. Kia and the kids stayed behind to grab some lunch and planned to follow me up later.
When I got to the surf shop, I grabbed my wetsuit, life vest, harness and helmet before meeting up with Hamza. We collected the kite and board and headed down the beach looking for a good open spot to set everything up. Once the kite was pumped up and connected, it was straight into the water.
The conditions were pretty intense straight away. The surf was really big and aggressive, and while I was trying to stand up and balance everything, I was getting smashed by waves constantly. I’d stand up, fall down, get dragged around, reset and try again. After a few attempts though, I finally managed to properly stand up and ride for a fair distance before losing power in the kite and crashing.
The problem was I hadn’t realised how far down the beach I’d drifted. Instead of cutting properly across the wind and back out toward the open ocean, I was basically just letting the wind pull me straight down the beach. By the time I realised, I’d drifted way past the nicer surf area and into rougher water with rocks and much bigger waves.
Things unravelled pretty quickly from there. I eventually had to ditch the board because the water got too rough. I was trying to body drag myself back toward shore when I lost control of the kite and dropped it between a set of massive waves. One of the waves grabbed the kite, dragged me through the water and snapped a few of the lines. Suddenly everything was just chaos.
By that stage Hamza had already made his way all the way down the beach to me. He helped gather the kite, untangle everything and drag it back up the beach while explaining what I’d been doing wrong. The funny thing was I already knew exactly what I’d done wrong while it was happening. There’s just so much to think about all at once. Getting onto your heels properly so you can cut back across the wind, bending your knees, controlling the power, not pulling the bar too close to your hips, balancing yourself while waves are smashing into you. It’s honestly a lot to process in real time.
We walked the kite back up the beach, disconnected the damaged lines and Hamza ran off to grab another set before reconnecting everything. Then we headed back into the water for another few goes. By this stage I was definitely a bit gun shy after ending up so far down the beach in the rough stuff earlier. I really didn’t want to repeat that experience again, so I was only letting myself go so far before pulling things up and resetting.
Because the wind and current were both so strong, you were getting dragged down the beach incredibly quickly. Realistically, you only got one or maybe two attempts at standing up before you were already at the limit of where you should really go before coming back in and starting again. Hamza was a lot more onto it after that too. He’d stand on the beach watching closely and yell out for me not to go any further. I definitely learned my lesson.
But I absolutely stood up properly and made my way across the water a decent distance multiple times. The crazy thing is it all happens in the blink of an eye because there’s just so much to focus on at once. Even now I can feel my brain trying to piece together all the movements and timing. I’d honestly love to have another crack at it because I feel like I’m right on the edge of it starting to click together.
I think kitesurfing is probably a lot like snowboarding. Once you really lock in that feeling and understand how to control the board and use your edges properly, it probably stays with you for a very long time. I feel that way with snowboarding now. Even after time away from it, I can still remember the feeling of turning and balancing naturally. I reckon kitesurfing would eventually become the same thing if I kept at it long enough. It’d probably take a few more two-hour sessions to really get comfortable, but I can definitely see how addictive it could become.
I definitely got smashed around a fair bit today though. Drank plenty of beach water, got worked over by waves and had a few decent wipeouts, but honestly I had such a fun time doing it.
After the session I headed back to the surf shop, dropped all my gear off, quickly got changed and then met back up with Kia and the kids down on the beach. They’d been hanging out in the sand while Kia tried taking photos and videos of me out on the water. We stood around chatting about the session for a while before deciding to head back to the apartment for showers and to get changed before dinner.
We’d picked out a restaurant right on the Esplanade that we were keen to try. It was definitely a bit more expensive than our usual food stops, but it was my 40th birthday after all, so we were happy to splash out a little bit for the night. On the walk there, the hip hop festival was still happening out along the Esplanade, so there was music, dancing and heaps of people everywhere. It created such a cool atmosphere around town.
When we got to the restaurant, we found a nice little table tucked inside out of the wind. The meal was fantastic. Lots of food, lots of laughter, really good conversation and just a genuinely nice family dinner. We sat there watching the sun slowly disappear while reflecting on the day.
By the time we left and started walking home it was already around 8:30, which honestly feels late for us these days, but in Morocco it almost feels like that’s when the evening is only just beginning. People were still arriving for dinner as we were leaving, and we’d arrived around 6:30. Families were everywhere, kids still running around outside and people still out surfing and kitesurfing even after sunset.
It’s such a different lifestyle rhythm compared to back home. Shops don’t really get moving until around 9 or 9:30 in the morning, but everything stays alive so much later into the evening. We’ve heard kids playing outside until midnight or later some nights. Even while we were walking home there were still people out on the water catching the last light in the sky.
Once we got back to the apartment, Kia and the kids surprised me again. They’d picked up a few slices of cheesecake and found some candles, so they sang happy birthday and we all sat around eating cheesecake together for dessert.
Honestly, it was such a beautiful way to cap off a milestone birthday. Turning 40 in the middle of this huge, crazy adventure around the world with the people I love most. I’m just incredibly thankful for the life I’ve lived so far, for the journey we’re on right now and for what hopefully still lies ahead over the next 40 years.