We know that for most families Christmas is a special time of year, a chance to get together, relax and enjoy the festivities. We believe there is no better way to do this than to spend your dream Christmas in beautiful Dorset, on the Jurassic Coast.

If you are thinking of taking a break this festive season, and love the idea of spending your dream Christmas in a beautiful holiday cottage, with enough space, and beds for all the family, here is our handy guide on how to achieve a stress-free Christmas, whether it’s in a dog friendly property, a cottage with an open fire or one with a table big enough to feed every man and his dog.

Our top 10 guide to a dream Christmas break in Dorset

1. Wrap your presents before you go
No one wants to be frantically looking for the Sellotape on Christmas Eve.

2. Pack some Christmas games for all the family
Who doesn’t love a traditional family get together over monopoly.

3. Order your food to be delivered
Take out the stress of the supermarket shop and pre-book your food shop delivery – or you could also take advantage of Dorset’s great producers and buy local.

4. Remember to bring a dish to fit your turkey
Avoid a Christmas day disaster and ensure the crown jewel of your Christmas Dinner remains the centrepiece.

5. Make sure to bring wellies and warm winter clothes
Wrap up and walk off that Christmas dinner.

6. Check out the local markets and craft fairs
For those last-minute treats and gifts,

7. Visit Father Christmas (if he’s not too busy)
See the lights or go ice skating and add to that all-encompassing Christmassy feeling.

8. Remember to pack the Christmas stockings
Or there will be coal to pay!

9. Double check there is a Christmas tree at the property
You can do so by calling your property provider before you go..

10. Enjoy dinner and a drink at the local pub on Christmas Eve
Meet the locals and join in with the festivities!

You can view properties with Christmas and New Year availability at http://www.dream-cottages.co.uk/

In addition to being well-known for their highly-detailed inflatable SUP reviews, our friends over at InflatableBoarder.com are also the publishers of a popular SUP rental guide which lists the best SUP rental businesses throughout the world.

Surf Steps is proud to be featured in the guide as a go-to local source for paddle board rentals, lessons, SUP coach training, and more.

The PDF guide is free to download and is a great resource for finding the best local SUP businesses to connect with. It’s available here:

http://www.inflatableboarder.com/paddle-board-rentals/

Checkout director Andy’s summer adventure…..it’s HOT!

http://wordpress.com/post/andyjoyce.info/1288

Latitude N 63° 57.7013′ Longitude E 10°.11.3 3993′ Lofoten, Norway 9-14 August.

Back in March, Norwegian friends and SUP organisors Kjell and Eilen got in touch: “We’re looking at running some courses in the Lofoten’s, would you like to run them? The location we’re looking at is Unstad beach, a top surf destination in the Lofoten Islands, is that ok? ”

Me: “Yeeeeeeeeeah!”

Just 3 short flights to get from Heathrow to the Lofoten airport in Leknes. I’m not sure if it’s better to do this than one long flight, I found the up and downs, with waits in between quite tiring.

Getting off the last little flight, I was picked up by Eilen. As we drove away we were greeted by amazing scenes of a undulating mixture of land and water. Deep fjords, lakes and mountains, set out in a sea of every shade of blue and green. All this within 20 minutes of leaving the airport. It’s such an unusual place that the 1st few days, I had to pinch myself to remind me it’s all real!

Midnight Lofoten view

For example, the sun really never went down, it got to twilight about 12 and sunlight peeked through around 2am. Slept ok, but woke up briefly many times as the light changed through the “night”

Cod drying racks

This is very traditional Nordic area, small communities separated by large mountains or waterways. Quiet towns and villages set on or near the water, Whale stew, dried cod, brunost (Caramelised brown cheese) and dense multi grain bread were on the menu. They live off what the land and sea provide.

We started the training with the ISA SUP Open water module on Friday, focusing on Surf technical race skills at Unstad beach. Then after lunch, did some race start and buoy turn training on the lake Storfjordvatnet, being much easier as the water was a lot warmer than the sea and sheltered. You realise this area is a water sports mecca, you can paddle, sail and surf in such a variety of conditions.

On the Saturday and Sunday, ran an ILS/ISA rescue/1st Aid course assisted by Eilen as a trainee presenter. We had loads of fun, I especially learnt and clarified more about 1st Aid from Eilen (a Medical Doctor) and Tommy, who’s a former paramedic and head coach/owner of Unstad Artic Surf.

On Monday, we drove 70-80km down the island chain to Å, passing the beautiful town of Reina, white sand beaches, waterfalls, and so many other jaw dropping sites, to drop off Eilen to catch the ferry to Bodo.

After breakfast I climbed the ski sloped mount behind Stamsund, where we were staying. It was quite a steep gradient with only 5km to climb from sea level to 400m. At this altitude, the wind picks up and the temperature drops, but your view unfolds and start to make sense of the complexity of the terrain. The weather is massively effected by this geography, you can be in bright sunshine one moment and then deep cloud the next. The Island mountain change and the gulf stream also create a temperate climate. It’s hard to believe you’re on the same latitude as Greenland and closer to the pole than Iceland. Although the reminder comes when the clouds and wind swing from the North, the temp plummets to 10 or so degrees in the Middle of August to a chilly 8-10 Celsius!

View from Steinetind over Lille and Stor Svarholtvatnet

On Tuesday, Kjell took me up to Unstad for a last goodbye surf before heading back to England. It was really small, but had a nice soul session on a foam board for an hour or so.

Overall, an amazing trip. The surf wasn’t great, but there is so much more to do I didn’t care. But I’ll be back, maybe a winter or spring trip and take in the Northern lights too!!

Special thanks to Norwegian Sailing Federations http://norgesseilforbund.klubb.nif.no/Sider/Hjem.aspx Kjell and Eilen for offering this opportunity and hospitality. Tommy, Mymy and all the students and crew from Unstad Artic Surf http://www.unstadarcticsurf.com/ for hosting and taking part in the courses, the food and the fun:-)