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!

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

New boards and turtles

     Hello everyone blog update on my second week on the North Shore, very exciting and fun week I just had! After visiting a friend in town on Friday night I arrived back on the North Shore saturday evening. Sunday we cruised to the east side for a surf, with far less people out surfing, at a cool slabby wave. As we walked down to the water right in front of our surf spot was a dead turtle on the beach. It had been attacked by a tiger shark, definitely pretty heavy paddling out in front of that!
     Monday the waves weren't very good so i headed into town with Salah and a few friends as they did some errands. When we got back we just kicked it and BBQ up some good home made dinner.
     Tuesday I got an awesome surf at Sunset in the a.m. on my new 6'6" PANG. I bought it from Chris' friend for $280, brand new never ridden, this board at home brand new would go for at least $500. It was a sick session for my first time on the board, got 8 waves or so in 5-7ft (12-15ft faces). After the session I chilled for quite a bit then got another quick sesh at Kami's before heading into town. I hung out with a friend at the University of Monoa,we got a bite to eat and went to the schools baseball game!
     The reason I came into town was to go out on a scuba dive boat that I found on Craigslist. I found an ad that said "volunteers on scuba boat wanted", so i went to responded. It'a a sweet gig, yes it is volunteer but there are many perks. If I go on the boat twice a week I should be able to get my scuba certification before I leave Hawaii, usually costs about $300 to take the classes. Second I can get signed off on hours being on a boat for getting my captains license, which is what I want to do as a career, when i get home. Third I can dive and use the diving gear when ever I want for free, and last I will get a percentage of the tips from the customers during the charters.
     I got down to the boat Wednesday morning and we took a few divers out to 2 dive spots, it was cool being on a boat and seeing the coastline of Waikiki. The captain and other crew were fun and welcoming, I even got to snorkel for a half hour at the second spot. Swam with a school of tiger fish and some sea turtles! After the awesome day on the boat I caught a 2.5 hour bus ride back to the North Shore.
    Today Thursday, I got a nice morning surf at Sunset with some okay 5-6ft waves. After I got all packed up to head to Haleiwa and grab lunch at the cafe my cousin works at. Unfortunately as I left the house the scooter broke, so I had to push the scooter half mile or so down the street to our friends to work on it. The throttle cable snapped, so I called up our mechanic to otder a new one. Since it was going to be awhile Chris and I got a quick sesh at Kami's then fixed his truck a bit, we finished the night with a great home cooked stew meal.

OTHER TRAVEL UPDATE
I booked a flight over to Maui in a few weeks to visit my friend Nate who's a photographer, we met on a trip to Mexico in march 2011. His blog has some awesome water and land imagery. Check him out below and his new series of Honu (sea turtle) photographs.

Sunset this evening as I was typing this blog post up.

Turtles in about 20 ft of water off the shore of Alo Moana, Shot on my Go Pro 3 with Polar Pro Filter

I have been seeing turtles surface while surfing the past few days, but there only up for a minute or so. Getting to be below the surface and cruise next to them for a bit while they effortlessly swim through the day.

The board rack, 9 boards, definitely good to have a little of everything on the North Shore

Friends and family bbq

The day before i left we set up a great bbq to have all the friends and family over for some shenanigans. Had a great group of people come over, people stopped by for some corn hole and beers,  then got some burgers going in the evening. Family got me a sweet cake that i got to share with all my friends after a little speech to thank everyone that they made it. But once again thank you everyone and enjoy the pictures, if you want i can send you some of them, just let