Tropical Surf Tour

Life in Indo's good. I've found a couple of waves that I like & some restaurants too.

I've been hanging around with a bearded Californian for a while & I'm hoping to score a fine Dutch lady soon... we surf the same break & she's great :-) Usually when I think I'm in with a chance with a girl I'm entirely wrong so who knows but I'll try all the same.
I'm gradually getting the hang of the short board; I had my best wave on it so far this evening.

I have a motorbike with a board rack which is damn cool. I it ride while drunk & wearing flip flops..which isn't so cool but hey! Life's good.

Beginning to worry about real life which is approaching at a rate of knots. To this end I've applied to do some bar work at a couple of festivals. But seriously...I want a job at an eco-friendly design house somewhere in the West Wales - Bristol - Cornwall Crescent. Any ideas guys?

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :-)

Have the press been mentioning 'Tsunami'? If so, I think maybe they've been getting over excited. I was a tiny bit worried for a few moments at Dreamland, thinking its name doesn't exclude it from being a nightmare but things turned out OK in the end!
Dreamland is a collection of huts just above the high-tide line on a beautiful sandy beach at the boittom of 100 foot sheer cliffs. High-tide produces a vicious shore-break that rears up & dumps anything in its path hard onto the sand. Not the best place to be trapped by the new-moon tide we had on the 18th. Normally this shouldn't be a problem but the surf websites were predicting a big swell to boot. 2 hours before full-tide & the odd wave was reaching the 'terrace' of our 'guesthouse' (2 rattan walled rooms). 1 hour before high-tide & the terrace was getting regularly flooded. Never mind, we could still escape up to our rooms. 2 steps up that is! Fortunately when the seas had taken the sand from in front of us thy had exposed some gnarly rocks which saved us from the worst of the action.
Others weren't so lucky. The warung next door had its roof supports broken & its roof collapsed. The wall between it & the next place along was all but knocked over - it was demolished later. Further up the beach 'Robbie's Place' was entirely washed away - chairs, tables, parasols, gas bottles, coconuts & everything bouncing around in the surf.
We helped as best we could, moving stuff as far back from the sea as possible, propping rooves etc. but mostly keeping everyone calm & smiling.
Within 2 hours of the tide backing off the damage had been knocked straight or knocked straight into the sea & things were looking more normal.
Off we went & watched Uluwatu being surfed by crazy folk. The waves were at least 12 foot. It is an awesome place, one I don't think I'll ever be good enough to surf but one I could watch all day.
We'd already decided to move on the next day & it looked like a good decision - we left about 3 hours before high-tide & it was already looking like a re-run of the day before, hopefully no worse.
Now I'm in Ubud, away from the coast while the surf's too big for me & I'm experiencing a whole different vibe. More travllery than surfy, more German than Australian, but still the constant offer of T-shirts, taxis & motorbikes.

Tried to post this last time.. take a look:

http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r111/NiallDarwin/SL_Indo/

Hi folks, here's a quick update while I'm back in civilisation (Well, Kuta) for 2 minutes:

I got a bike & razzzed up to Medewi on it. Initially I hated it, dirty water, weak wave, crowded, etc. etc. Then I began to get the hang of it & stayed for about 2 weeks.

I finally left for 'Dreamland' 2 days ago. Dreamland is a picture-perfect white beach at the bottom of some cliffs. It has beach-front super-basic 'Losmen' (guesthouses), one of which I'm staying at. No electricity, shared squat-toilet, waves running right up to the door... It also has a wave that only works around low tide so I'm hurrying to get back there for today's wave!

I should write about the folk I'm meeting along the way but not today, somebody remind when I'm bored!

Injuries: Many grazes on shins, knees & ankles from rocks at Medewi; Big bruise on right wrist & graze on right shin from landing on (& cracking) my board (6' 10", Fen!); Cut toes from reef at Dreamland.

Other stuff... ummm... going to 'Kunti' for Sushi lunch. Apparently expensive by Indo standards, cheap by UK & tasty tasty tasty by both.

Cheers for your comments folk.. catch you later :-)

I'm now in the resort town of Kuta & its just that-a big resort. Its pleasant enough & cheap enough but not really my cup of tea & the beach has rubbish, crowded waves. Despite that I've failed to move on to where I think I'll find waves I'll like - Medewi. I've been feeling a bit sniffley & lethargic today which is my excuse for not having moved on yet. Pathetic I know! Hopefully tomorrow I'll rent a motorbike with board carrier & move on up there. At least the waves here have given me a chance to get aquainted with my new board in an easy environment. I like it :-)

One of my readers (probably my only reader, hello mum!) was interested that I found such a difference when I got to Jogjakarta. To explain it I'd say Sri Lanka had a very 'third world/developing world' feeling to it & also felt very 'Indian'. I know that's not the right term but I hope you know what I mean. Maybe 'subcontinental' is the right term but that just sounds like rubbish to me! Jogja had a much more modern & Asian feeling, a bit like I'd imagine a small suburb of Hong Kong or Singapore, if such a thing were to exist.

Oh, I forgot, while at Jogja I visited Borobudur & Prambanann. The first is a mass of Buddhas & the second is a Hindu complex. Both are impressive but again, having seen the temples in Cambodia they compared unfavourably. God I'm spoilt...