Treasure Island Dreaming

Awe inspiring walls of crystal blue sea charged out of the deep and formed glistening barrels that peeled down the reef for 200 some meters…. Welcome to treasure island.

Treasure island is known as one of Indonesia’s best right-handers, and last week I saw what it is truly capable of. A fickle wave, it is rare that all the conditions come together. One Wednesday in late July the stars aligned and we scored perfect treasure island with only 6-10 surfers in the water. The boys staying at the lodge and I took turns having a beer on the boat and getting some pics and video to document the epic day. Later when the swell faded we scored some rippable waves in the bay also, all in all a glorious week of surf!

Check it all out below:

If this video appears cutoff view it in full here

Until next time... Live long and get barreled!

Return of the Blog.....

To all my loyal fans,

Sorry for depriving you of a post for nearly three weeks now, I know it must be rough. Life out at the lodge has been a lot busier now that we have had quite a few guests staying with us. FEAR NOT….

All the vicarious adventure action and visuals of tropical wonders are packed into this baby. So I’ll pick up where I left off…

I had just left Penang, and although I had a great adventure, I was happy to be heading back to the island. My re-entry into Indonesia went smoothly, and after a night in Medan, I was back on the job. I met up with our 3 new guests and headed to the airport to catch a 7am flight. Of course, being an Indonesian airline, the flight didn’t leave until 2pm. The plane that showed up looked like it had been invented by the Wright brothers, and didn’t hold many more people.

With no other people on the flight besides the four of us, we had plenty of leg room and space to throw our boards in the cabin. One of the benefits of taking a small airline is the personal touch and family atmosphere. Ross had taken this flight before when he departed the island, and told me he smelled smoke coming from the cockpit. Therefore I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask the captains if they had an extra smoke. With nothing but a small curtain between me and the cockpit, I walked up and asked them. Like a shoot out in the wild west, they both quickly drew their pack of smokes from their front pockets and offered me one with a smile. I was mostly joking, but when I asked them if it was cool to smoke on the plane, they said “tidak apa-apa”, Indonesia for ‘no worries’.

A 40 min flight landed us safely in the harbor town of Singkel. I had to buy some things for the lodge, so I spent the night in Singkel and caught the speedboat the next morning. On my trip to the lodge the water was crisp and the sunrise was radiant. After a couple hours, I was back home, safe, sound, and ecstatic to arrive to pumping swell. The next 3 days saw perfect waves and conditions.

While I was gone a couple changes occurred; the construction was finished in the back, giving me my own room, and my beans died from heat exhaustion. Despite the death of my beans the garden is coming along all right. It’s not growing extremely fast, but my cucumbers, tomatoes, chili’s, peppers, basil and eggplant are healthy.

After the swell faded it was time to go on some non-surfing adventures. First stop, the cave at the base of the mountain. A 40min boat ride around the backside of the island took us to the small mountain where the caves lies.

The caves had a eerie feel to them. A mushy layer of mud encrusted the ancient rock formations. The larger cave was spacious and deep, however I really enjoyed the smaller cave that was teeming with bats. We took turns standing in this small corridor that housed heaps of bats eager to coming buzzing around our heads.

After a few drinks in the cave and a couple bat encounters, it was time to continue our excursion. As we exited the cave the water in the afternoon was the most bright aqua I have ever seen.

After admiring the ocean for a bit we saw a school of fish jumping nearby and knew it was time to drop the line and go for a trawl. Pak Dean, knows all the good fishing spots. So when he said we were getting near a patch of reef teaming with Travali, it wasn’t even a minute later that one of the boys struck into a nice 6 kilo fish.

Healthy and sizeable it was more than enough fish to make a sushi feast for the whole camp.

The next day I got a little sick of everyone else pulling in fish so I went for a spear dive. Snagged a couple fish, but nothing big. One was a nice baby snapper, not much meat on it, I figured I'd use it as target practice and surprisingly I stuck it. Next time I see a big one...he's toast!

Later in the dive session, I let the boys borrow my spear and cruised around taking photos. I just kicked around, swam into some holes, found some cool coral heads, and eyed some good spots to go lobster diving.

It's amazing how the fish can tell when your hunting them. Without my spear I had so many fish cruise right up to me and show not the least bit of concern. Check the school I followed for a while below...

The swell came back up and it was surf time again. This swell was generated from a windy storm to the north, so it was hitting the reef at a weird angle. The inside section was very hollow but also breaking into 6in of water. When one of the boys pulled off of a beauty, my eyes lit up, and before I had time to think about it I was in the barrel getting smashed by the lip, and face planted on the reef slicing my shoulder pretty good too. Luckily the cuts weren't too deep!

While the next BIG swell makes its way around the cape of South Africa, I’m gonna work on my spearing skills and tend to the garden. I’ll try and throw some wave pics in the next post, I figured I’d switch it up, your probably getting bored of surfing by now. I know, I know, of course not...what was I thinking, who could get bored of surfing!!!(check the photos below) Hopefully this has quenched your craving for adventure. Until next time…. sehat dan senang (health and happiness)

Curry Muncher for a Day...

Just when I was starting to get a little too comfortable on the island, fate served me up a little surprise vacation. Although I hadn’t planned on leaving the island until October, the Indonesian Consulate had other things in mind. Apparently, mold caused the invisible they use on my visa entry stamp to fade off, leaving me know choice but to leave the country. My destination, Penang Island, Maylasia home to the famous Penang Curry among many other fun experiences I recently enjoyed.

Upon my arrival to the airport had the great fortune of selecting Mr. Ming as my driver. On a 10-minute drive to the embassy he managed to teach me every variant of racial slur the Malaysians use forn the many immigrants to their country. Among a slew of other racist terms he taught me, Ming informed me that “In Malaysia we call the Indians, Curry Muncher, because they are always eating the stinky curry.”

I had only heard rumors about a place in Penang called little India that is famed for having some of the most authentic and delicious Indian Curry in all of Asia. After sorting out my visa at the embassy, my stomach was grumbling, and all of the restaurants smelled more and more appetizing by the second. I couldn’t hold out for Little India, so I decided to go for the renown Penang curry at a local café. Incredibly flavorful and delicious, it was only missing one thing I was craving, Naan!!!

After stuffing myself, I figured it was time to fins a place to stay. I had been told by the co-owner of the lodge, a long time veteran of visa runs to Penang, that the best place to stay was the backpacker’s district in Georgetown, a convenient 5 min walk to little India. After walking around for a minute to find quite a few places full up, I stumbled upon the Love Lane Inn. For 18 Ringgit/ night (About 5.50 USD) I got a ‘cozy’ room with a sink, fan and queen size bed, everything a man needs. The Penang Curry and a day of traveling turned what I intended to be a quick nap into a 4hr sleep.

I woke up refreshed with the smell of curry tantalizing my nostrils once again. I grabbed my camera and set off to sniff out what came to be the best Indian meal of my life. Along the way I saw a beautiful mosque, one of the most famous in Penang.

In the end, it was not my nose that really found Ros’s resteraunt, but I judged by the packed house of Indians eating curry and steamy naan while watching world cup, that I was probably in the right place.

With the giant selection of curries I didn’t quite know what to choose. I only had one night in Penang, and so the pressure to pick the right dish was at an all time high. To be honest, my restaurant/curry selection process was one of the more stressful moments I’ve had since I came over here….That tells you how mellow life is on the island!

Anyways the owner of the shop, Ros, saw my bewilderment and came quickly to my aid. She asked me what kind of curry I like, how spicy I liked it, and so on…. She then proceeded to make me a special concotion based on my request. I said I liked Tikka Masala style curry with chicken, and liked it with lots of garlic and PEDAS SEKALI (Extra Spicy!). She grabbed some masala sauce, deboned some delicious looking tandoori chicken, grabbed some fresh onion, garlic and vegetables, went back into her magicians booth of a kitchen and closed the curtain. 10 min later I was delivered a steamy piece of garlic naan, a bowl of blood red chicken curry with tons of garnish’s, and a plate of rice on top of a banana leaf. By this point I was salivating so much I could have used a spittoon.

The first bite of curry exploded in my mouth with a rich creamy masala flavor, quickly followed by a bombardment of various chili flavors. Ros, looked at me for a reaction…I gave her a Big thumbs up.

It was so tasty I wanted to grab her by her shall right then and there, thrust her into her own Tandoori cart and keep her in a closet in my room. Unfortunately the tandoori cart was missing a wheel, so she got lucky, and I left her with many thanks and the only tip I have given for food since I have come to Asia this year. No doubt, the best Indian meal of my life.

Surf Banyaks - Bay of Plenty - Gunturs - Banyak Island Lodge

My first fish!

The past four days in the Banyaks were straight out of a surfer’s wet dream. With perfect sunny skies, no wind, and non-stop swell, I had to pinch myself every morning to make sure I wasn’t asleep. Like the turtles in our bay the swell moved in slow and steady. The first day Ross and I had the bay all to ourselves, and were trading tubes back and forth like baseball cards on the school bus. By the end of the day we lost count.

The next two days offered double to triple overhead waves, and brought a few charter boats to the bay. Having the insider knowledge, I waited until the boat crews were surfed out and the tide was getting low before I moseyed out into the line-up.

Meanwhile, our food stocks were getting low, and with new supplies not coming for some time, Ross and I decided it was high time to try our luck at spear fishing. Ross armed with my gun, and myself with the Hawaiian Sling we set out into the blue.

I have never gone spear fishing before this trip and so my first few goes were pretty rough, but this time I was determined. 30 min. into my hunt, I stabbed a nice sized Parrot Fish, but got too excited and pulled out the spear quickly, leaving him wounded on the reef. I couldn’t stop there; I was determined to get a fish.

I took a big breath and swam down behind a large coral head. Slowly, I slipped around the corner just as a small Bayam came into view. As I let go of the rubber everything went slow motion like I was riding a wave. I watched as the three prongs of the spear penetrated the flesh and pinned the Bayam against the reef. To ensure I had a successful kill I left my spear in him for a few minutes as I bobbed up for air. Slowly I lifted him on the reef and swam back to the boat. My first fish was not the tastiest, but it’s a start!

Waves...Waves...Waves!

My first and last love will always be the barrel, and boy have I been spending a lot of time inside my sweetheart this week. The bay has been going off it's rocker! Without a charter boat in site for two weeks we are starting to wonder what's been going on. In the last week I have probably claimed over 50 proper barrels and ridden 100's of waves. View a short video on youtube!The story over here has been miraculous mornings and stormy sunsets. The past few days have had crazy tempest style storms in the afternoon/evening, but all of them have faded out by the morning. Usually they leave a little bump on the surf, but with no other surfers in the bay but Ross and I, we have the luxury of sleeping in, eating a nice breakfast, and then getting psyched up to paddle out. Yesterday I surfed for 7 hours straight. I finally got a couple nice scratches from the reef that have been well overdue. After a massive meal I was left lying in bed, aching a bit, but laughing like a hyena at the ridiculous waves we scored with no one around . Suffice it to say I was ONE STOKED BLOKE.

I'll put another update soon about the garden and life in general, but for now all I can think about is tubes, double-ups, shacks, pits, slots, and spits!!!!

The Rebirth of the Garden and our Spirits

The monsoon really took the wind of my sails as far as my hopes for the garden were concerned. My cousin Harvey, an experienced commercial farmer from the Big Island, told me you never know what to expect when dealing with nature. Between weather and insects there are so many forces you have to account for in order to make it through to harvest. Not eager to give up hopes for a bountiful harvest, I formulated a new strategy. Due to the many hazards (torrential rain, insects, salt water floods, and monkeys), the best solution was to make the plants mobile. I purchased plastic potting bags, and Ross and I spent an entire day lugging soil from a rich deposit deep in the forest. I can only hope the new garden eventually bears fruit!

After getting some fun surf for a couple days, it was finally time to get back to work. With booking requests for the lodge coming in daily, it was time to begin expansion. For less than a month’s rent in the states, we are having a 8m x 4m extension added on the back of the lodge. As construction began, the owners of the lodge needed to take a supply run to Medan, leaving me to take care of the lodge and monitor construction.

In order to complete the building safely, some trees needed to be cut down. Many of the have died due to the post earthquake increase in sea level, and having them hanging over the new structure is a recipe for disaster. At first, Ross and I were eager to give a hand in pulling the trees down as the master chainsaw man sliced away. After a near death encounter with a stout 150m tree, we became a bit more cautious.

The Mighty Monsoon

The waves and weather over the past week had left us in a state of bliss. After 3 days of perfect surf and beautiful sunsets, I was left in awe. What I’ve come to realize out here however, is that when everything seems to good to be true….it probably is!

Out of nowhere, ominous clouds engulfed sunny skies, and an hour later, the bay was attacked by a massive monsoon. Combined with a large high tide, it caused a storm surge the likes of which I have never seen before. Ross and I, cooped up inside while lightening, thunder, and gale force winds battered the lodge.

We watched in dismay as the monsoon repeatedly stabbed daggers of salt water in to the hearts of the plants and my dreams for a flourishing garden. The storm unloaded its fury for 3 days straight before finally letting go of it’s grasp on the bay. Even with deep trenches dug out, the entire garden was flooded with salt water, destroyed by the wrath of the Mighty Monsoon.