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