Sunshine Breaks is a family run business started by Rob & Mary Gray.
The Sunshine Breaks Aim:
To provide holidays and accommodation that are unique, a little bit different and a bit special in areas where you can sample adventure, culture & relaxation.
Rob & Mary Gray are the founders of Sunshine Breaks. They have a passion for travel, adventure and the mountain environment and several years ago they decided to visit Las Alpujarras in the south of Spain. They instantly fell in love with the area, its people and its way of life and they decided that this wonderful place was the ideal location to launch a business idea they had often talked about. For a long time they had thought of running their own business organising holidays that they themselves would like to go on and have accommodation that they would like to stay in.
With the company aim in mind Sunshine Breaks was born and the first part of this vision was established in the form of Casa Escocia, now known as the Sunshine Breaks Mountain Villa. Rob & Mary wanted their bed & breakfast to feel like a home from home for people visiting and exploring the area.
Casa Escocia proved to be a success and for just over a year they hosted a multitude of guests from around the world, many of whom are now friends.
The next phase of their operation began when they joined forces with Cliff Lowther who runs the adventure company RoXcool. Combining the facilities at Casa Escocia with the experience and qualifications that Cliff and Rob have in the outdoor industry allowed the Sunshine Breaks Mountain Bike & Adventure Base to come into existence.
Mountain Biking proved a big hit for guests coming over to Caa Escocia and Rob decided to ramp this side of the business up. 2008 sees the start of the Sunshine Breaks all inclusive holidays. Fantastic mountain bike adventure opportunities can now be had by anyone visiting our little piece of mountain heaven.
Rob was still very busy throughout with other business interests in the UK and both he and Mary took the big decision to move back to Scotland. They will shortly be opening a new Mountain Bike shop and Cafe in the south of Scotland but will continue to spend as much time as possible in the south of Spain. Everyone needs a bit of sunshine in their lives!!
The Team:
Mary Gray
Mary is the manager at Casa Escocia, our Mountain Villa. She does all the hard work and organises everything so that our guests have a truly wonderful time when they stay here. She is also an amazing cook and many of our guests have made comments about how much they enjoy her food. She loves going for a walk in the mountains around Casa Escocia and finding fresh produce growing to add to her delicious recipes. A keen snowboarder, Mary has spent many years on the slopes on both sides of the hemisphere. She loves her life in Las Alpujarras and favourite pastimes include lazing on the terrace at Casa Escocia reading a book.
Rob Gray
Rob is the organiser behind everything that goes on at Casa Escocia and beyond. He has travelled around the world and has a real passion for adventure and mountains. A former member of the UK's busiest mountain rescue team and a keen mountain biker, snowboarder, walker and climber, Rob loves getting out there and amongst it. He struggles to sit still for more than two minutes at a time and if you can catch him you can ask him about all the different things he is up to! Favourite pastimes include mountain biking with his two daughters, walking his dog and riding fresh powder.
Cliff Lowther
Cliff is a very experienced mountain guide with over 20 years of professional outdoor instruction experience behind him and a host of qualifications including MIA (Mountain Instructor Award), Winter ML (Mountain Leader), SPA (Single Pitch Award) instructor and BASP first aider.
Cliff has worked in activity centres and outdoor education colleges as well as spending a lot of time working with young offenders trying to help them improve their lives. He is the academic one amongst the team with a BA hons degree in education and training. He now lives a more tranquil and simple life in Spain with his wife Lynne. Home is in the village of Murtas in La Contraviesa, the mountains between Las Alpujarras and the Mediterranean Sea. A keen mountain biker, climber and all round mountaineer he loves nothing more than being outdoors.
Check out the Sunshine Breaks Video Collection on Youtube
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