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.

The Garden Begins + Blacky Story

So the swell went flat and it looks like there won’t be any coming for quite a few days. Luckily the plants boomed and thus the soil in the garden needed to be loosened. I got to work hacking away at the roots and Ross finished up his crab fence. The soil here is so rich it’s like planting in pure compost. It has been enriched by millions of years of untouched nutrients and a few tsunami’s to boot.

As the roots of some of our plants began penetrating the bottom of our Styrofoam trays, we knew it was time to make some nice drainage ridges and start planting.The seeds went wild with the beans reaching nearly 6 inches after only 4/5 days.After getting the beans and the melons in the ground, it was amazing them instantly start flourishing. I can’t wait to reap the fruits of our labor (melons, chili’s, basil, beans, tomatoes, eggplant, cilantro, lettuce, peppers, and more!!!)

With the plants in the garden, and swell on the way, life was good. We decided to go out and try our luck at spear fishing. We didn't have much luck spear fishing, but I managed to snag a lobster of one of the local fisherman!

Our spearfishing adventure was still quite eventful however....Our loyal puppy, Blacky, had been coming out on the boat with us on regular occasions. Knowing he couldn’t come with us all the time, we tried to get him to learn by motoring off. Leaving him behind paddling after us, we figured he would get the message and turn around. When we returned, Blacky was not greeting the boat with his usual barking from the beach. After a few minutes the tone had gone quite melancholy, we heard a yelp from across the bay behind us. We quickly motored over to find Blacky struggling for his life in the mangroves. Thank god he’s still alive! Hopefully he has learned his lesson so he can continue to protect the garden from monkeys and gnaw on my sandals at night!

First days in the Bay of Plenty

So we finally made it to the Bay of Plenty and life has been good. Our first day had some fun swell, so we put our many tasks aside and went for a surf. The next day there were still some fun waves, and with no boats in the bay we were compelled to go for a quick session. Although the waves were fun, with another swell on the way it was time to get to work.

As the agent for our lodge, my first task was to check the Internet and respond to any inquiries. What would be a quick hour of work back home turns into a half-day adventure in the bay. It is the Bay of Plenty (waves, fish, rich soil) but not plenty reception. So to get on the Internet I had to fire up our little boat and head across the bay to what has come to be known as the tree of knowledge.
The large tree sits high up on the point and gets the best reception in the bay. Quickly I fixed up a stick, so Ross didn’t have to hold my phone above his head while a struggled to load e-mails with the fluctuating connection. After a couple hours all the work relating to the outside world was handled, and the Internet told us that a SOLID swell would arrive in a matter of days. Thus, we rushed back to the lodge to get our seeds planted and start work on the garden.

Living on a remote island is all about using the resources you have creatively. So the Styrofoam box that came with our new satellite was prime to become a starting tray for our seeds. While I planted the seeds, Ross got to work on making a fence around our garden to protect it from the curious hermit crabs, more than eager to devour our starts.

Two days later our seedlings already began to surface, and the swell arrived.

With the sound of the waves overpowering our conversation, it was time to saddle up our big boards and get into the surf. The first morning the swell was a bit jumbled, but I still managed to get a few tubes. After a 5 hour session, our stomachs were grumbling so we went in for some lunch.

To our surprise, the charter boat in the bay decided to head off, and sure enough, two hours later the winds groomed the surf into a pristine dream. I ripped Ross out of his daily post-lunch nap, and straight into the line-up.

Although we got some great waves, it did not come with out a price, I scraped myself a bit, and Ross’s back had a nice encounter with the reef. Despite our wounds, with perfect empty waves reeling down the reef, we had to stay out till dark!

After a stoke filled session like that there is only two things a man needs: A Bintang (“Indonesia’s Favorite Beer”), and a nice piece of fish. We quickly caught up with some local fisherman on their way home and snagged a nice piece of Ahi. Tired as I was, the stoke running through my veins motivated me to throw down a proper sushi feast. Ross filleted the tuna and I rolled it up into some tasty and spicy treats. The highlight was the Indo style spicy tuna w/ homemade sambal (Pedas sekali - Very Spicy). We grubbed hard, knocked back some more Bintang and fell asleep five minutes into our movie.














With the swell fading, and not much on the horizon, the next couple days will be filled with work and surf movies.
Sampai Nanti…. Until Later

Trip to Aceh

Selamat Pagi Teman-Teman(Good Morning Friends),

I have finally made it off the mainland, and have arrived on Tuangku Island. Ross and I had a fairly smooth trip out here, for Indonesia that is. Unusually, both our planes flights left on time (Bali-Jakarta-Medan), and miraculously we weren’t charged a cent for our 100+ kilos of baggage.

Another pleasant surprise came on the second leg of our trip. As we were both adjusting to our knees crammed against the seat in front of us, a kind stewardess by the name of Christien came to say hello. Being the only white people on the plane, she asked us if we would be more comfortable occupying the empty business class section.

Although we were quite content with a few drinks and the added room, the hospitality did not end there. After the flight was over we were invited into the cockpit to meet the captains, and in return, felt obliged to satisfy the crew of stewardess’ request for a group picture.

After we landed in Medan, we headed straight to the Medan Club for pitcher of draft Heineken. There we met up with the lovely Mrs. Friska, co-owner of the Banyak Island Lodge. She was kind enough to escort us on our shopping mission to Brastagi, the Coscto of Indonesia. We stocked up on supplies to last us until our spear fishing skills improve and the garden starts bearing fruit.

Next, it was back to the Medan Club for a few pitchers with Dean, former Australian Iron Man, and co-owner of the lodge. After we were well prepared for the long journey to the hardcore muslim region of Aceh, Ross, Dean, Friska, and I got into the car around midnight and began the 10hr journey.

I had a feeling things had been going to smoothly, so I wasn’t surprised to wake up a few hours later to an overheated engine. In the middle of nowhere, we had to make a few phone calls and wait 3 hours before another car arrived to pick us up. We moved the 300 kilos of gear from one car to the other, and were back on our way.

The delay caused us to miss the weekly ferry, but fortunately my good buddy Mr. Erwin was happy to show off his new boat and give us a ride from Singkil to the lodge.

That sums up our journey out to the Bay of Plenty where I will be staying for the next five months. Looks like swell is on the way, and there is lots of work to be done before I can start the garden, so I will sign off for now…

Next post coming on Tues after the swell fades!

Bouncing around Bali

Hello again,

So the adventure continues....

On the plane to Bali, I connected with a fellow surfer from South Africa named Ross. We decided to join forces and headed up to the Bukit Peninsula, home of the famous left point break Uluwatu.


By recommendation of some cool Aussie guys, we set up camp at simple losmen near some quality waves.





In between the reeling lefts of Uluwatu and the death defying barrels of Padang-Padang lies
Thomas' Home Stay, a secluded slice of paradise admist Indonesia's surfing meca.


Shortly after our arrival my good friend Martini arrived from Jakarta to join the crew and have some fun.


Instantly we hit it off with the Finish and American surfer chicks staying next to us.






Complete with fresh chili's and beautiful views, we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.






After a few days of surf and relaxation, Ross and I got busy preparing for our next stop, the Banyak Islands!!! Two days of motor bike traffic, near accidents, and intense haggling later, I am now sitting pool side in Kuta, Bali at a Luxury Hotel that costs 30 USD / night.






Tomorrow morning we head off at 6am to Medan and then an overnight ride, followed by a ferry, and an hour boat ride will get us to the Banyak Island Lodge in time for the giant swell hitting on Tuesday!!!

Perfection is only days away, and I couldn't be more excited!!!

Sampai depan kali..... (Until next time)