Wednesday, May 29, 2013

No boards for 5 days in Sumbawa...

     We arrived to the airport at 1:00 am Wednesday morning, our flight didn't leave until 9:20am, the reason for us getting to the airport so early was to get our boards on the plane for sure. We couldn't get into the terminal until around 4am so we just hung out, I got some sleep and Jeremy listened to music and wrote a bit in the journal. Got into the terminal and had to wait again at the ticket window to grab our boarding passes and check in the board bag, we put all our boards in my big coffin bag to make it easier. We got into the line right as it opened and hassled a bit to check our bag, but payed for it and checked it in, in line made a few friend's with some aussies. As we watched them check in there bags one of them would crouch behind the counter and lift up slightly on the board bag so it would show it weighing less. It was so perfectly executed we were laughing so hard in line and none of the workers new what was going on! Got into the boarding area and waited yet again, finally boarded the flight and snapped some pics in the air before getting a small nap on the hour long flight. As we arrived in the airport and found our driver we waited for the board bags coming in, and of course ours wasn't F***ing there, after all we did to make sure, we were pissed. The transport driver said he would pick them up if they came in tomorrow, we split taxis with the aussies and had two cars packed since we were headed to the same place. We arrived to our place were staying at after a 2 hour car ride, all the aussies were frothing so we rented some scooters and headed down the coast to find this good right hander we had heard of. The road there was awesome, about 2 miles on a dirt road of mud, rocks, holes, and it was pouring rain haha, had a great time flying through mud getting wet and racing around. They got out to surf as we watched them for a few minutes then headed back since didn't have our boards, both of us were starving when we got back so munched down some great pasta here at the restaurant. Both of us passed out shortly after dinner since we had been up for over 48 hours.
     Thursday was boring mostly sitting around and eating at the restaurant, we took a lil adventure before the taxi drivers were supposed to arrive from the airport. We adventured down the road to another wave we had heard of, the beach was littered with cobblestones very similar to trestles. The wave as a cool setup breaking into a bay, with a mushy right but looked like a decent left, the swell was a lil big for the spot so might be better when it gets smaller in a few days. As we got back the boards did not arrive, I cruised around to all the other hotels and still no luck, everyone had told us that if they didn't make it on the flight they would come the next day. Disappointed once again being in such an awesome place staring at great waves all day and nothing to do about it, of course we had some friend's say we could borrow boards but there's always the possibility of breaking them. We sat down for an early dinner and started chatting with an older aussie guy named Larry that seemed pretty interesting, he started telling us about his life and traveling in Indo since the 70's. He had literally been everywhere in the world to surf for the passed 40 years in his life, of course I asked him about every place I could think of I wanted to go and search for waves. Larry knew everything about the country and spots, time of the year to go, and what he thought of the area, living in Bali now he chases swells around the area all year. Larry's new adventure is buying a sailing catamaran next year and sailing from Mentawis down Indo, over Aus through New Guinea and through Soloman, Marshall, and Tahitian islands, turn around and keep doing it until he gets bored, legend.
     Friday we got up and had some breakfast around 8, I was chatting with the owner of where were staying and he offered to let us borrow a few boards, after taking a look at them they were decent enough to surf. Jeremy laughed when he saw the boards and how my leash was basically duck taped on and his barely hanging from an eroded shoestring, literally... He paddled out to the left called Lakey pipe and i just headed to Lakey peak seeing a few fun ones roll through with no one going right. I had a fun session with how crappy the board was, nice to get in the water finally, Jeremy said he also got a few fun ones over at the pipe with 2 guys out haha. Of course after surfing for 2 hours and a pretty solid 15 minute paddle each way out to the wave we demolished our lunch and just relaxed for awhile. I got on the phone with my mom for awhile and also chatted with my dad, they were excited to hear from me and talked about what I had been doing last few days. I told them that they should move over to Bali and try out owning a hostel or small hotel for a year to try something totally different! They are both interested in the idea and have already started to minimize our possessions to try something different like that in a year or year and half. It's exciting to hear that and I hope it works out because I would love both of them to start enjoying life more and travel, since they have both worked hard for so long! I yet again went to all the hotels to see if our boards were here yet and they weren't, now 3 days without boards, we heard of a guy at another hotel getting a  full refund for his flight since his boards took three days also! We just cruised around where were staying listened to some music and played pool on the sketchy duck taped felt pool table, but hey it works and is just as competitive!
     Saturday we got up and scootered with some of the aussies and our local friend Jamaica down the road to check out a beach break. It was away's down the road through a few villages where you get the stares, like what the heck are you surfers doing down here there's no waves haha. And of course after the 30 minute scooter ride there wasn't, but cool seeing some more of the lifestyle around this area of the island! All if us headed back and surfed another spot we had been checking out, still had the old beat up boards the owner, Rachelle (Ra- shell, man's name in France) let us borrow. Both of us got a few waves, just frustrating because the boards aren't nearly close to what we ride on the daily basis. Arriving back to our place I got an email from some friend's that had left this morning and said they would check into our boards for us at the Bali airport. They said the check-in desk told them they have yet to and will not put the bag on the plane because the bag is to big, and that it is probably sitting in the lost and found office. We were both pissed of course but at least we knew where they were, I booked a flight right away back to Bali to figure the situation out, figured it would be easier and less money if just one of us goes! We tried to enjoy the rest of our day and I crashed early because had a long day ahead of me with the 2 hour taxi to the airport, wait for 2 hours, hour flight, then figure out the board bag situation.
     Sunday morning got up at 6:30am and had a bite to eat before hitting the road, the 2 hour drive from Lakey to the airport is filled with cows, monkeys, goats, dogs, and of course people all over the road! The driver gets you to the airport almost two hours before the flight, so just gotta sit and wait it out, luckily I chatted with an older guy that I met who was also staying at Lakey's but just now leaving. Like Larry that I had met a few days before he had to traveled Indonesia for a long time and has been quite a few places, he grew up in Morocco but is now living in France. As I have said before it's just really fun and interesting to me to meet new people from other parts of the world, and to also see what they have done with there life and if they are happy with there life! The hour flight wasn't bad, got into the airport in Bali and went straight to the Merpati airlines check in desk, I asked to talk to a manager and after some hassle saying "I don't want to explain everything twice". I basically explained to them what I had to go through to come back and get my boards and of course they speak english but act like they only understand a few things. If this were to happen in America it would have been a totally different situation, all that ended up happening was I got priority check in the next morning. I got the board bag from lost and found, and got our driver Putu to meet me at the aiport so I could get back to the hostel and separate the boards into 2 bags, so that they would for sure get on this time. I got back to Canggu and went straight to Bu Mi to get some food, it was pouring rain in Bali so I had to throw a poncho on and take it slow. When I arrived back at the hostel immediately dove into switching the board bags up, had to take everything out of Jeremy's which is the one we left there and move it into mine. Also grabbed one of Bryce's (hostel owner) extra board bag's n had to put 2 board's in each bag and take out as much weight as possible to make sure that they get on this time! It was pouring the rest of the day, so I just chilled out and watched a few movies, got to bed early since had to wake up and leave for the airport at 5:00am.
     Monday I was up early since our driver Putu came to pick me up at 5:00 am, I arrived at the check in desk at 5:45 and sat there waiting till they opened, which wasn't till 6:30. I was the first to get the two board bags checked in just taking all precautions, then when all was done with I still had 2 hours before my flight. Went over to a Starbucks and grabbed a smoothie and cinnamon roll, got onto there free wifi and started chatting with some family and friends on skype through my phone. It was nice chatting to a few buddies to see how they were doing and also give them a few funny stories from the trip, also got a hold of my grandma who was more than ecstatic to hear from me! After chilling out in the A/C and comfy chairs in Starbucks for hour n half, made my way back into the terminal to hop on the bus that takes you onto the runway where the semi small 60 person plane boards. Flight was quick and easy, landed and saw my board bags getting unloaded, thank god finally, yet again got on board for the 2 hour long, crazy, and uncomfortable car ride to the beach. Once I got back I was just done, it was such a mission and I had a headache and stomach ache since the night before I left 3 days ago, I got a bit of food then went straight to the bed to nap around 2:30pm. Jeremy was of course frothing and grabbed his board and was out there right away, super stoked. I woke up a few times but didn't get up until 5:00am the next day, felt so shitty, head ached and stomach ached so bad.
Sleeping the airport night before flight to Sumbawa.

The old school shred sticks we borrowed for a day when our boards didn't come.

The restaurant at where were staying, looking out over the left side is the beach.

Low tide on the inside reef, boats get dry docked for the afternoon.

The left they call Lakey Pipe isn't bad either.

You can walk all the way out to the contest tower on low tide.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Canngu Round 2

     Wednesday we got a ride back to the the hostel we stayed at in Canggu, we arrived around noon and chilled for a bit before hitting our favorite food spot. Both chowed down on a mix of rice, veggies, meat, and noodles before going to check the waves. The waves looked alright but was going to get better in a few hours with the tide going low, so we went back to relax and pop in a movie. After the relaxing time we got a surf in at Echo beach out front, it was fun lil evening sesh, we finished the night off with some Pizza and watching a soccer game they had on a big projection screen at the restaurant.
     Thursday a group of us did the mob up north to the secret beach, the waves were actually really fun. We surfed this right that would line up for a few hundred feet all the way to the inside, it was about chest to head high and really consistent. Everyone surfed for almost 2 hours and got out, me and Jeremy got out and had a banana and some water but were to stoked so went back out as they hit the road to go back. We stayed out for another 45 minutes until we both caught one in and didn't have the energy to paddle back out haha. We hopped back on the scoot for the 45 minute ride back to the house and of course stopped by or Bu Mi warung to get the infamous $1.50 stacked plate of food. I worked on the website when we got back as Jeremy watched Californication with some of the roomies here. Ended getting another evening session in at Echo with a few barres to be had out there in between the crowds. To finish off the night we went back to another spot we had been two for dinner, dunno what its called, but we call it the 3 course meal place. Since you get 3 courses for around $5.50, and there all really good stuff! We both got back and just fell onto our beds  and passed out, I was so tired i woke up in the middle of the night door still open, lights, on cuddling the fan!
     Friday the roomies around here all slept in since the had a long night out for one of the guys bdays, Jeremy and I went back up north hoping we could score a decent uncrowded session again. We arrived at the spot and checked the river mouth first instead of heading down the beach like we usually do. Ended up going out at the river mouth with 4 other guys out, it looked fun and decently peaky, I got quite a few rights way down the beach. After being out for about an hour a big set came through with almost a dozen waves and washed everyone in except us two. They all got our and we had the spot to ourselves for the next half hour till we were tired and over it. After we road back, got lunch, Jeremy got sucked into watching apparently his new favorite show californication for about 4 hours, while I skyped the family. We didn't end up getting the second session in since we were just done from surfing so much in the sun the past few days, instead we hung out with everyone at the hostel accompanied with a few beers. Tried a new spot for dinner that had some awesome burgers and fries, after we headed to a saki bar that was streaming the Billabong Pro Rio contest. I wish I had got a pic of the restaurant but it was hard with my phone and not having much light. You basically walked up a small spiral staircase and upstairs is a large open loft with a nice setup of leather couches. But the sketchy part is there is no railing looking down onto the rest of the bar and restaurant area, really cool but pretty unsafe, especially if you were drunk! Only watched a heat and a half because the conditions of the contest were horrible and the waves weren't very exciting. When we got back Jeremy finished the season of Californication, I went to grab some ice cream, and when i got back watched Moneyball, with Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, I thought it was an awesome movie, considering I'm not into baseball at all.
     Saturday I left early to head up to the bukit and pick up a package, as I was getting back home stopped by a DVD store to check out a few movies. I saw the 6th season of Californication so i grab it for Jeremy, I grabbed a few other good movies, and headed back tot he house. As I got back everyone was laying around from there long night, one of the guys staying here, Nathan had a hug gash on his forehead! Apparently he was crowd surfing at this bar and somehow feel straight onto his his forehead, Bryce the hostel owner tried to super glue it back together and just made it even more disformed. So I guess they went to a clinic at 2am, another friend Emilie that's a med student ran into them on the way and joined to help, they got to the clinic and the doctor just stared at them and didn't know what to do. So Emilie just ran into the back and grabbed gloves and stitches and started doing it herself, haha, that's a drunk night in Bali for ya. We grabbed a quick lunch and Jeremy went straight for the new season of Californication, I ran a few errands then ended up joining him. A few of us ended up finishing the whole 6th season in like 4 hours, we ended the night by heading down to Echo beach for dinner. Down on the beach they have a few awesome BBQ setups,You can pick from all these meats and fish you want bbq'd and while you wait you get to grab a plate full of whatever you want from the salad bar!
     Sunday the waves were small but we went for a quick surf out front, wasn't even in the water for 30 minutes. Got back up and had a bite to eat at one of the cafe's, just chatted and watched the waves with some of the guys from the hostel. We got back and the goose was running around near the house again making loud noises and trying to get in, but we were okay with a bit of entertainment! I relaxed for a bit then got on the scooter to check out a few places we might move to since its our last night in the hostel. Headed back down to the beach to check the waves, they were pretty crappy I sat out while Jeremy tried for a surf. I had been feeling crappy since the night before with a bad headache and sore throat all night, then got really tired and sick feeling before the surf. After the surf we got back home and started looking into a place to travel to in the next few days, been seriously looking into Sumbawa home to Lakey Peak and a few other world-class waves within a short distance!
     Monday the waves were looking pretty small but headed to the beach to get in the water, not to many people out since it was still a bit early. Got a few fun waves to ourselves for a bit, but there waves a current and it was pretty inconsistent, so headed back home. Got a late breakfast at an awesome spot here in town called the Canteen, definitely recommend it to anyone coming here. Ran into a friend as we got there and sat down over breakfast and chatted about our last few days, she was leaving tomorrow so after breakfast said our goodbyes and headed back to the house. We started to look into booking flights, we found a flight leaving the next morning, but when tried to pay for it we couldn't since it was less than 48 hours before departure, and the next flight wasn't till Thursday! We were pretty mad since were trying to get over there as soon as possible to catch a few smaller days and get used to the spot before it gets really big! So we kinda went for a hail marry and packed up everything we wanted to bring into my one big bag, keeping the rest here in Jeremy's bag, and also a backpack each. We hopped on the scooter and hauled ass to the airport right as it was getting dark, we arrived and rushed to the ticket window to try and get the earliest flight. We went to a few different windows and finally found a reasonable priced flight leaving Wednesday morning, before leaving the airport we got something to eat. On the way in noticed a Cold Stone, which is basically one of the best ice creams known to man, and we have them all over SoCal, we couldn't resist! We got back to the hostel and just crashed out after a movie, looking forward to getting a few waves the next day before sleeping in the airport!
     Tuesday we relaxed for a bit before making the mission up north to get some waves by ourselves, it was pretty big and mostly walled. Got a few fun ones each, I got a fun lil barrel on the inside I was stoked on. We made the long fast bumpy road back to Canggu and got lunch before getting back and watching a movie. We sorted out some last minute things with the scooter and transportation to the airport before heading to dinner with a few friends for the last night! Went to Canggu Cafe, had a great meal, sat and chatted for hours, a great time for sure. Now we wait till midnight for the transport to come and take us to the airport, our flight leaves at 9:20am, but we need to get there early and get our bags to the terminal early. If we don't get them there early they might not make it on the flight since the place is so small only a few bags can get on! So were basically get to the airport past midnight and just hanging/sleeping until the airlines get there so we can check the bag in, going to be a long night...
My broken surfboard painted and now the Canggu Surf Hostel welcoming sign!

Goose cruised into the yard, had to take him out got a quick pic in the action.

BBQ down at Echo Beach, pick and meat that get's bbq'd right away and enjoy a good salad bar in the meantime.

Packing the board bag is always fun!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Outter reefs in Sanur

     Thursday was our first day in the new town were in called Sanur, we headed down to get some breakfast and rent a scooter. Had a nice lil breakfast downstairs while waiting for our scooter, we packed up the boards and went down to the beach to check the surf out front. We ended up in front of a resort where I saw some white wash way out there, started talking to a few guys with boats to see if could get a ride out there, ended up finding a guy that would take us out there and pick us up when were done for $5 each. We hopped on the skiff and cruised out to where we saw a decent left coming through, there were a few local guys out, they were nice and we all surfed this left for about an hour and half. It was really weird being about a mile off the beach in the middle of the ocean surfing, both of us caught some really long waves, getting 8 turns on a few for over 100 yards! It was a fun session and there were other waves breaking farther out and both off to the right and left of us, we think this place has some great potential but the waves and swell direction have to be right for it to get over here. After we got back to the beach, ran into a local guy that looked like he had just gone surfing also, talked to him for awhile and he said he goes and checks a few spots around there area, so said we would meet him down here tomorrow and hop a ride with him to the reefs. We got back to the hotel and both grabbed a burger for lunch since it was so good the night before, Jeremy was stoked to get a decent size burger also. Sat back and relaxed for a bit in our room which has AC and a TV which is both new to us haha, we wanted to go cruise around a bit, so hopped on the scooter and explored. Went down the beach road and saw all the cool lil shops and food, saw a sweet place we wanted to try for dinner. Got onto the bypass which is basically a big 2 lane highway that takes you around the island, except lanes aren't really put into use here. It looks like a nascar race with people on scooters all over the road not in a lane just weaving in and out of the cars going about 50mph, it is madness, you have to be alert and have your fingers on both brakes, gas, and horn at all times! We were on our way to Kerama's to see the setup, we made a turn onto a new highway in the right direction and were immediately pulled over at a checkpoint. Basically they ask for your scooter registration and an international driver license that both of us don't have, we tried to haggle with the guy for a bit. But ended up having to go to an atm to get some money out and come back to pay the guy so we could get our registration back. Gave him the $25 bucks, took back our registration and got the F outta there, pretty crappy situation but it is what it is, we got to Kerama's and it was windy, choppy, and no one out.  We hung around for a few but not long then headed back for dinner, went to a cool little Italian place called Sale Pepe that we saw earlier in the day. Each of us got a pizza that was pretty tasty, at the end of the meal they offered us a free lemon cello shot, both smelt the liquor and then just said eh and went for it. The shot ended up being pretty tasty, got back to the hotel which was literally around the corner and watched some TV before both passing out.
     Friday we got up early to meet our new friend Wayan down at the beach so we could go on the boat with him out to the reefs, another guy joined us also, his name was Rory and he was from New Zealand. We cruised out on the boat to check out a few spots, ended up surfing next to a large shipwreck, the waves were pretty fun at first lil overhead, then a few larger sets rolled through that were big and washed us down the reef. All of us ended up surfing a good size left for about 2 hours, it's so weird being so far out to sea, kinda sucks though since there is so much water moving around your getting sucked every which way and sometimes you might have to duck dive 15 or more waves just to get back out! Headed back to the beach and hung out for awhile and chatted with Rory and Wayan, Rory was telling me about an adventure he took with a friend. He and a friend sailed form Newport Beach to Fiji and in a year, since I got into sailing a few years back, I get very interested in these kinds of adventures that I would like to do someday. I picked his brain with 100 questions about the trip and how he prepared, I was also talking to Wayan for awhile about the kite surfing lessons he gives and how to kite, which is also something I would like to try when I get back home. After chatting and playing with a lil puppy running around, headed back to our hotel and both grabbed lunch and chilled in the room for awhile before dinner. For dinner we tried an italian place that Rory mentioned was the best in town, we got there just in time before it got busy, both of us had the Ravioli's that I thought were delicious. After paid the bill we were then introduced to one of our most frequented places on the trip, gelato... it was delicious and gone in less than a few minutes!
     Saturday we headed back down to the get on the boat with Wayan, this time found a pretty big right that was in between the waves we surfed the last 2 days. There were a few other people out but not for long, we each caught some double overhead waves and a few that we got some good snaps and turns on. But it was once again a lot of work to keep in the same spot, and you don't have anywhere to judge how far in or out to sit since your no where near a beach or land. On my last wave I got caught on a turn and went over the falls, and while falling I landed on my tailbone right on the rail of my board, my back got super sore, and as I started paddling in I noticed my board got a pretty bad crack on the rail, so I headed back to the boat. We motored back in as the wind started to pick up and the tide was getting super high, the water was washing up the beach and over a lil seawall in front of some locals shops and almost getting to there food and clothes that they sell. On our way back we  hit a cool lil warung on the corner, I got a mei goreng which is a local Indonesian meal with noodles, veggies, and chicken, I liked it and it's nice to try something different. Jeremy had a pretty bad headache so he chilled in the room but I went to explore this lil island nearby, it's called Serangon and supposed to have a surf break on it. I got onto the island and was exploring for awhile trying to get to the spot where I thought the wave was, on the way I went through some awesome areas of small lakes and bays that reminded me of going to Lake Havasu back home. The island was like it's own little world, most people that lived on it never left, there were places to eat, temples, lil warung's, hotels, and some fun boat  and water rental activities in the harbor. I finally got the wave after some searching, it's a sweet lil beach with 6 or so warung's lined up looking out into the ocean, I sat down at the only one still open by this time and got a snack and coca cola. A lady walked up and I started chatting and I ended up buying these cool lil hand made turtles she made, she didn't have changed for the $5 I gave her so instead she offered a massage, I said sure why not sounds like a good deal! It was a great shoulder massage while enjoying a cola and chatting about all her friend's she had met over the years from America and of course she asked me if I knew all of them haha! I had to start heading back since it was getting dark and I didn't want to get stuck on the scooter on the busy by pass on the way back, as I got back Jeremy was feeling a bit better from having a lil snack downstairs. I got something to eat for dinner also and went to pick up my surfboard from a ding guy down the street that fixed my crack for a few bucks, wanted to get it done right since its a brand new board!
     Sunday we packed up and headed down to a spot I saw the day before when dropping my board off at the ding guy, it looked like a cool setup and there was nobody out! We watched for about 20 minutes, this perfect lil over head peak coming in with nobody around. It looked kinda shallow,but any surfer will tell you how awesome it is finding new waves that you have never surfed before, especially when there's nobody out you get way more stoked. I said F it lets go and Jeremy said alright I'm in, we paddled out through a shallow channel and then a few hundred feet to the wave, halfway out we saw another guy paddle out behind us, when we got out there it ended up being a local guy. We asked him a bit about the wave since he said he surfed here all the time, just sitting there it was shallow about 3-4 ft deep, and not just reef, but live coral, like colorful coral you would basically go snorkel in, pretty heavy... I caught the first left and took it easy and got outta there before it bowled up to super shallow section, after a few more I found out the right was actually pretty fun and a lil more rippable. We surfed the peak for hour and half and as a few guys paddled out during the end of the sesh, we decided to paddle a few hundred yards up the beach to a long point break looking wave we noticed. This spot was now a lot more crowded but looked like a longer wave, the reef was also sketchy, we both caught a few goods ones before heading in for good. Both of us were dead since we just surfed for almost 3 hours and paddled around a lot bunch, we brought some money so grabbed a sandwich with fries at a nice spot right on the sand, I had been looking into the zoo here on Bali and really wanted to go check it out. We got back from lunch and chilled for a few before heading out to the zoo, it was less than a 30 min scooter ride away, got there and Jeremy immediately headed for the tigers. Checked out the whole zoo for over 2 hours and saw every animal and got some great GoPro footage for my new webisode. The zoo is much different form one back home, we were able to walk into some of animals habitats and get up close and personal with some large and baby deer, bats, peacocks, and other exotic birds. I love animals so I was stoked to see some that I had not seen in a long time and definitely a few I had never seen before, just all in all a great experience. We got back and grabbed some dinner downstairs and watched Rugby with all the aussies that stay here, the owner is aussie and I guess this is just the hotel they come to and watch there rugby!
     Monday we went back down to the spot we surfed the day before with the fun peak, sat down for some breakfast while watching both of the spots, but the wind was just onshore making both waves really bad. Decided to go check out the other side by Kuta since the wind should be offshore or at least much much calmer there, we went back to the room to grab a few more bucks and look on the map for a quick direction to head. As we got over there to check out the beach, it was really big and pretty closed out, thought about trying to hop a boat out to the reefs, talked to a guy and he wanted $10 each. It looked pretty crowded out there from what we could see, so just decided to paddle out to the beach break, it wasn't very god at all but at least we were getting in the water. Both of us had to work pretty hard to get a good one but they would come through here and there, it was a lot of paddling and duck diving since it was a beach break and the waves were around 10ft faces. Got back onto the beach and enjoyed a coca cola while hanging with a few locals and chatted about some other surf spots in the area. It's really cool whenever you talk to a local surfer here, there not stingy or weird about telling you where the good waves are.  guess if your nice and they can tell that your a decent surfer they don;t mind sharing some tips on, they will tell you directions to the spots, tides, swell directions and everything, most people back home would never give up a decent spot! We were both starving so we hit the road to get back to grab lunch, on the way back I stopped by a post office to try and track a package my mom had sent me. After lunch I decided to scoot over to the post office in Denpasar, the biggest city here on Bali, to try and get my package, I then find out I have to pay $30 for customs and taxes before I can leave with the package! I was more than furious after everything I have gone through to try and get this package, I tried to negotiate since I disn't have that much on me, but apparently the customs office was already closed so I just left and hopefully could come back tomorrow and figure it out. We went back to our first lil Italian spot Sale Pepe, the owner was there again and she was excited to see us, we enjoyed another great meal accompanied with a Bintang!
     Tuesday we had planned to head down to a wave we were told was near Kerama's but way less crowded, after a lil exploring we found it and it was big with huge barrels. Paddled out there and I caught the first wave, paddling back out I got pretty worked and drug on the sharp rock bottom, which I can say wasn't very forgiving. I got a few cuts on my hand and arms, and a nice cherry on my lower back, nothing to serious though, I walked back up the beach and paddled back out, there were only a few guys out here and now I know why, as I watched the biggest most perfect and heaviest barrels I have ever seen in my life! We each caught a few smaller ones, one I got pretty shacked on and was stoked, but the bottom was just so sketchy we just decided to paddle down the point where some others were at a less sketchy wave. A local ripper from Newport that most surfers know of Alex Knost was out surfing with some friends, I have surfed with him a few times around Newp, and he is just a trip. In his mid 20's but just has the style and mind set of the 70's era, and of course doesn't wear a leash, but he got some of the sickest and stylish barrels I have ever seen. We both caught a good amount of waves but I personally didn't have a good session, but it was a super sick spot and always cool to surf somewhere new! On the way back to the hotel I swung by the post office again, now with some money, I tried to talk them down on the price but it just wasn't happening, I payed took my package and left. We grabbed lunch at the hotel, relaxed, and cleaned up a bit since we are leaving here tomorrow to head back to Canggu for a few days to get our passports sorted out. We finished our last night here by going down to the beach and watching the waves for a bit since the tide was super low it makes everything so much different. Ate at a cool spot that had a pool table and ping pong that caught our eye, while waiting for our food we shot a game of pool and had a beer. After eating our pasta that we both enjoyed we hit the ping pong table and Jeremy basically cleaned house, apparently he plays a lot and I guess is ambidextrous in ping pong? We stopped by our favorite gelato place yet again for the last time, this time we made it count and got like 5 scoops each, great last night in this awesome lil town!
Fisherman at low tide

Sign says it all

Tiger jumping for food!

Orangutan

I volunteered to hold a vulture

The elephants were awesome

Our sweet tooth spot, italian gelato

Friday, May 10, 2013

Canggu Part 2

     Sunday we got up early and scooted up to the secret beach we had been surfing at, we had it all to ourselves, waves were decent size but pretty walled. We found a corner that was letting up and went out there to get some Go Pro footage for a bit, we were only out for about hour n half, then we made our way back through the villages and rice patties back to town! We stopped at our favorite place again, warung Bu Mi and got our normal big plate of rice, veggies, and meat for about $1.50, got back to the hostel and I skyped the family and friends for a few hours. We decided to head down to the beach out front and try to get an evening sesh before it got dark, it was super choppy as it usually is in the evenings around here since it's so open to wind. We both caught a few and were going to catch another one in, I went to duck dive one of the bigger sets and came back up and the nose of my board was snapped off! I was just surprised that it had just happened but of course mad, since that was the board I had been riding the most. We got back to the house and cleaned up, as we were both super hungry for dinner, we went to a place called Bj's that was known for there burgers. We both got a burger and it was definitely the best we have had on the island, most places have lil thin patties and small buns. But this place was much better with bigger patties and buns, and some pretty tasty fries! We chatted with the owner for a bit while finishing the meal and admiring the cool design of the restaurant, we payed for the meal and scooted back home in the dark to watch a movie before crashing out.
     Monday we slept in a bit and headed down to Echo beach which is a 5 minute scoot out front, we got in the water and Jeremy surfed the main peak out front and I paddled down the beach a bit to the river mouth. I went down there since it was a bit bigger and I was riding my 6'2" back up board, there were some fun ones but a lil crowded, so it was hard to get the bigger sets. I got out and walked up the beach and Jeremy was already at the scooter, apparently he was only out for 15 minutes when someone paddled in front of him as he was taking off and he ran over the guys board and ended up cracking his own board bad enough to where he had to get out. I said everything must happened in two's like how I got my phone stolen then the same day he cut his head, now I broke my board and his got dinged up! We got lunch at our fav place again, relaxed for awhile then went to a local surf shop to check out boards but I couldn't find any decent ones. Jeremy had fixed his ding with some repair stuff he brought, and wanted to get a evening sesh in, I cruised out there with a fin and the Go Pro to try and get some water footage. We weren't out to long, since the wind picked up and it was a bit crowded, we went out to dinner at a 3 course meal warung we had the first night in Canggu, good food, cheap, and close to the house. Finished the night off with a few beers hanging with friends at the hostel,
     Tuesday we decided to head into Kuta to look into renewing our Visa's and look at more surf shops for my new board. On the way to the airport we stopped at KFC, it was a trip, nothing like home, the biggest KFC I've ever seen with barely anything on the menu! We munched up some good chicken and fries then kept on through the busy Kuta streets to the airport. As we parked in a sea of scooters, literally a parking lot with easily 2,000 scooters, we made our way to the information area and immediately got pointed in different directions by everybody! We finally found out we had to go to a building away from the airport, we arrived and of course with our luck they had close the Visa extension section 15 minutes before we arrived. So we hopped on the scooter and headed towards downtown Kuta where we had been directed towards some good surf shops, we ended up at a cool lil shop and one of the boards immediately struck my eye. It was a perfect shape, similar to what I usually surf, I talked the guy into making a deal for the board, including a leash, kick pad and fins! I was so stoked that when we got back we went out for a quick evening sesh so I could try it out, unfortunately it wasn't very good again since it was windy, but we ran into some friends down there after surfing and decided to meet back down for dinner. The dinner we had with friends was awesome, right on the beach was a bbq setup where you could go pick from fresh fish and meat that would get bbq'd right away. While you were waiting for them to grill up your meat of choice there was a great salad bar to fill your self up with, we chatted about our travels and what were planning to do the rest of the time in Bali. Always nice meeting new people while traveling with such a different background from yourself, we said our goodbyes and headed home for bed!
     Wednesday we had planned on going to a new area called Sanur, we got a late start and went to a great place called the Canteen for breakfast. We got back to the house and relaxed while watching a movie, and looking into transport vans and places to stay in Sanur, we picked out a place gave em a call and they saved us a room. We decided to stop by a Visa renewal office that Bryce had recommended to us, the guy was a bit hard to understand but we finally figured it out and gave him our passports so he could renew them and get them back within a week. We could now pack up and call a transport to take us down to Sanur, we hired a guy for $20 to take us about 15 miles but in traffic, so it took almost an hour. We arrived at the hotel which was a lil hidden down an alley way, but had a sweet lil bar food area downstairs, we took our boards and bags up to our room on the 3rd floor and got settled in. We were both starving so after unpacking and hanging in the ac for a bit we went down to grab dinner, I got a burger with fries that was actually really good. It had a decently thick patty (which is hard to find in Bali) and lots of toppings, we both mowed down our food and went back to relax before crashing out. Our room has a tv with 8 or so american channels, we haven't watched tv the whole time in Bali, so it was nice watching discovery channel and catching up on some cool shows.
Broken stick

Living room and Kitchen of the hostel.

Improvise Go Pro stand, coconut and bamboo!
New board, yewww!
Love the scenery on the beach everytime you go for a surf in indo.

Riding on the beach

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Flat surf and Canggu

     Tuesday we decided to head down towards Uluwatu for a morning sesh again, we got in the water around 10. It seemed quite a bit less crowded today for some reason, but of course we were not complaining. We both caught lots of fun smaller waves down towards racetracks, also a few up toward the middle, ended up surfing for almost 2 hours. We got out and checked some pictures that the photo guys got, we each got a few sequences, and Jeremy had some sick backside snap shots. After running into our older lady friend Jodie, that we have been kidding joking around with the last week we had been surfing there. Shes funny speaks good English and is always saying something to make us laugh, we trucked it up the hundred or so stairs back to the top and scooted back to our place for lunch. We enjoyed another great lunch of pasta carbonara that we both have been obsessed with the  last few weeks, I also got my usual coca cola and french fry fix, that Jeremy always rags on me about. After lunch we both chilled on the balcony and tapped away at our computers looking up where we should travel to next. We decided to stay on Bali for the next two weeks but move to a few different spots like Canggu, Seminyak, and Sanur (near Kerama's) until we need to renew our Visa's again. Then we are going to try and make a big trip to either west Java home to Ombak and Turtle's or to Sumbawa where the infamous Lakey Peak is. We researched transportation, airfare, prices, roads, food, accomodation, surf forecasts, and spots, it really takes a lot sometimes to find a smart plan that will work out. After we had finished we decided to stop by the Flame Balls surf shop to pick up a surf movie I had been seeing displayed the whole time we have been here, it's called Indo (link to trailer), starring the islands best surfers. We looked through a few books he had on the shelves to check out the spots we had been researching, after getting some more info we headed back to Sunset Grill to get a pizza that sounded good to both of us! When we got back I started editing my second webisode that you can watch here , I have always been interested in making movies and this is the perfect opportunity to start my hand at it.
     Wednesday the waves were awful small so we didn't surf, I was on the computer for quite a bit trying to upload my second webisode. I had finished editing it the night before, the internet has it's times where it doesn't work at all so it took almost 4 hours to upload it. As I waited Jeremy and I went down to the water snorkeled, swam, and got some Go Pro footage, it was actually nice and relaxing to just float around and enjoy the ocean. We made the walk up the 150 or so stairs back to our place we were staying, enjoyed a great lunch once again, we started packing up and getting ready to leave in the morning for Canggu. We went back to Uluwatu to grab some photos we had saved on the photo guys computers from the last week and a half of surfing. Me and Jeremy both got some cool pictures from each and haggled them down to a fair price, then we went to our favorite lil warung Salin for our last meal there for awhile. The waves were small, it was super low tide, but the sunset and setting was beautiful, while leaving we ran into a taxi guy and negotiated a price to get to the hostel in Canggu, he agreed to be at our place at 7:30am the next morning. We got back and popped in the movie Indo that we had bought the night before, it is an awesome surf flick that any surfer would enjoy. It was especially cool to us since we have now surfed some of the spots in the movie and also have seen a few of the surfers in the movie out surfing since we have been here!
     Thursday morning we got up early and made sure we had everything, and the taxi was there shortly, loaded the bags inside and hit the road. It took about an hour and half to get to Canggu, which is about 20 miles away, but the traffic and scooters everywhere makes it hard for a car to go anywhere fast in the more populated areas of Bali. We got into town and the driver couldn't find the place with the address we had given him, It happens quite often when you ask for a ride somewhere they just say yes so they can get the ride and money. But more often than not they don't even exactly know where that place is, we drove around aimlessly for over a half hour, we were heading down the bumpy gang (alley) half asleep from not getting much sleep the night before, I saw out of the corner of my eye a hammock in the front porch of a yard. I had seen that hammock and small lounge area in the picture on the website, I yelled stop here it is, we finally arrived! The owner of the hostel Bryce popped out and greeted us, we moved our stuff into our lil two bed room, we hopped on the scooter he had gotten for us for $3 a day and followed him to go check the waves. It was small and crowded out front where were staying, he said he new of a chilled out secret spot a good ways up the road, we headed back to the house, packed on the boards and hit the road. I can usually keep up with the roads were going down and know how to get back, but I couldn't keep up after 10 minutes, this spot was so hard to get to, I can see how there was nobody there. It was beautiful scenery and much different than the bukit where we were staying, the roads wind in and out of small rolling hills through the colorful villages with terraced rice paddies filling any open land you can see in sight! Every person we scooted by gave a us a smile and the lil kids playing and riding there bikes wave and yell Hiiiiiiiii, it's truly amazing to be in a place where people are just happy to see somebody they have never seen before. We ended up at the surf spot and took the scooters on the beach and drove a mile or so down for a surf check, took me back to a trip deep into Mex when we drove the trucks down on to the black sand beach, always love mixing my love of motorcycles and the beach! We parked the scooters and paddled out to some fun 3-4ft, beach break waves coming in with nobody out, surfed for a few hours till the wind picked up. Grabbed a liter water from the lil warung on the beach for $8,000rp (approx 80 cents) , chugged it and back onto the scooter for the adventurous ride back. We stopped at a awesome lil food joint Bryce frequents and each made our own hand picked bowl of rice, veggies, and meat for about a buck and half, we all woofed it down hen finally got back to the house. We sifted through the hundred something movies he has accumulated over the years he has been here, there all in a think plastic sleeve, you can buy each movie for about a buck and there was everything from endless summer 2 up to Taken 2. We all layed down and watched a few movies, later Bryce to us to a sweet dinner, 3 course meal for lil over 5 bux, we all got our own plate that sounded good and talked story and munched for the next hour. It was an awesome first day here in Canggu and can't wait for what were going to find to do tomorrow!
     Friday we went down towards the same area we went the first day but tried a new spot lil farther past, explored a bit to find a new spot. We went out and caught a few lil nuggets, it was small like waist high but you could find a few here and there that wouldn't wall up. We made the 45 minute mission back to the house, stopped by the mart to get some ice cream and snacks, literally just sat down n watch movie for 3 hours! It gets tiring waking up early, scootering for a few hours round trip and then surfing, all in the sun and humidity, so we need a lil relax time midday. One of our friend's we have met here had a volleyball, so we all decided to play some pepper down at the beach before Sunset. It was actually really fun since I haven't played volleyball in a long time, a few locals on the beach ended up playing with us the whole time! We took a dip in the water before heading back to the house, we met up with some friend's down at the beach for dinner at a great lil local spot. We finished the night with the movie Blow which is a personal favorite of mine and our hostel owner Bryce's
     Saturday we had all decided the night before to wake up early to try and get to the spot we surfed the day before early enough so the wind didn't come up! We got down there by 8am and it looked fun like the day before but still small, it's just nice to go on a drive like that deep into some villages with lil kids smiling and waving as you fly by on the scooter. On the way back we stopped at our local favorite already, Warung Bu Mi, where you can pick between 20 dinner sorts of meat, veggies, rice, sauce, and sides. You basically make what you want on a big plate, usually costs around 15,000 Rupiah ($1.50USD), the food is so flavorful and fresh. We did the usual chills sesh for a few hours at the house, one of Bryce's friend's from Australia (where he is from also) came to visit the night before from Singapore where he works. It's a quick 3 hour plan flight, and he says it's nice to get away from there come here for the weekend to surf and kick it with his mate. We packed up the scooters again to head back to the secret beach to hopefully grab an evening sesh, we got there to a blown out 2 ft wind chop, so we headed back to our local break. On the way back Jeremy and I got separated from Bryce and his mate Cameron, we got stuck behind a tourist charter bus, which basically takes up the whole road since the roads are small enough as it is. As I went for a sketchy pass on the bus around the corner, I had to slow down to dodge a scooter coming head on and then a stopped car behind him. At the speed we were going, which wasn't very fast but fast enough to not be able to stop in time to avoid hitting the stopped car, I had to make the quick decision of dodging the car and threading the needle between the now 3 ft gap next to the bus still turning the corner about to pinch us. Within 2 seconds we went from going head on with a scooter, dodging a van, then slipping in between the bus and van, and finally straightening out to not fly off the side of the road into the rice paddies, I forgot to also mention with surfboards strapped on the side of our scooter. Lets just say after Jeremy opened his eyes thinking we were dead or on the hood of a van, he was a bit mad, since it probably wasn't the smartest decision but we were still alive. Finally arriving at the sandbar surf spot just out front we got a quick evening surf in some okay choppy shoulder high peaks. We decided on hitting a pizza joint we had passed many times on our way to surf, and pizza is something we can both agree on and enjoy, must say it was pretty good but my standards. We got back to the house and some new guys had showed up, they were from Germany and had been staying here before we left, but just got back from Nusa Lembongan (an island a quick ferry away). Super cool guys that rip at BMX back home, they are also just traveling around Asia seeing as much as they can, we had a few beers with them, I passed out early and Jeremy stayed up a bit later just chatting.
Just another dinner watching an unbelievable sunset in Bali!

Offerings they make a few times a week and are put out every morning to wish a good day of business.
Impossibles on low tide.
Stuffed in the back of a taxi for the ride to Canggu
Beach to ourselves..