BALIAN - BALI - BACK TO THE LIFESTYLE - 16 JULY 2019

BALIAN



10 JULY

We drove to Balian. Nyoman dad had had a heart attack a few days ago while working in the garden at D’Bise warung (a small village in the mountains of Bali). Luckily, Nyoman wasn’t working that day and was working in the garden as well.

We arrived at Balian and checked into our hotel ‘Gubug’.

Tank and Fiona from Tasmania were there. We chatted as the afternoon wind increased.

The surf was blown out so Jacinta and I had a walk on the beach.

Dinner was at Tekor restaurant.

11 JULY

I had an early surf and surfed like crap but I managed to stand up and do a few turns. I had been carrying a few injuries and hadn’t surfed for 4 months.

I met Kyle who was here with his three kids and wife. Nice positive guy.

Back in for breakfast with Jacinta and then another surf. This time I surfed heaps better – slow to stand, more turns and control.

We had coffee at Tekor and a long chat with Max and Jass from Kempsey. Max is a teacher’ assistant and Jass was a teacher.

Lunch was at Taverna restaurant. Later, we had a walk into town and back.

Much later, we had dinner at Tom’s Garden. We caught up with and joined Bran and Maureen for dinner. A nice couple who have lived in Bali for awhile and have leased apartments  in Sanur and Balian.

12 JULY

An early surf without booties. I surfed heaps better – getting up quicker, cutting back better and took a few critical takeoffs. Old Geoff was in the water.

Back in for breakfast with Jacinta, I met Lee from Lennox Head who is a friend of Mark and Mandy.

Out for another surf, I surfed okay but the increased wind was causing the waves to be a little bumpy and lose some form. Still, I had fun.

Dinner at Gubug with a great chat with Jass and a few drinks!

13 JULY

I had a slightly later surf with less crowd. I was surfing better - mainly getting sets and more critical waves but i stuffed up two good waves totally. Haha!

I had earlier met two American buys who had mountain biked from Jakarta to Bali – amazing! They left today for the last leg of their journey to Kuta.

At sunset, we had a pleasant walk along the beach – very pretty, chatted with Bryan and Maureen and met Paul and Iris. The sunset was nice sinking behind the headland and a bank of clouds.

Dinner was at Tekor – chatted with Tank and Fiona.

14 July

An early surf check but decided to wait till a bit later before hitting the waves.

Jacinta and I walked to the village and then down to Mejan Beach and back via Secret Bay. A great walk!

Breakfast and goodbyes to Kyle and family who were off to Ubud.

A fun surf but I fatigued after an hour and got a cramp in my foot. Haha! I paddled through several whitewashes then got the cramp and while bending the toe back, I got washed nearly in to shore. I took the hint and came in. It was my first go on my new surfboard. It went well and I had a few good sizeable lefts and rights.

A light cheese and apple spread for lunch in our room.

I rested and slept in the afternoon.

We went down to the beach before sunset and drank and ate at the Bamboo Warung. We chatted with Marty a long time expat of Balian.

15 JULY

A terrible sleep – back aching, legs throbbing and shoulders sore.

I did my stretches, had breakfast, more stretches and then a surf. The waves were good and I had a great time going left and right on the blue board.

Before the surf, I was going to use the Merrick surfboard  but I damaged the nose on the shore break. Very annoying but it is now in for repair.

I had a massage with Bella (100 000R) it was soft and reasonably relaxing.

The aches and pains were gone – need to drink more and stretches only

We caught up with Mark, Geoff and Marty at one of the beachsiude warungs for a few beers. Dinner was back at Gubug restaurant.

16 JULY

A pretty morning and a very crowded looking surf.

Eventually, I had a surf a Occasionals. This a right hander which breaks a little on the fickle side. It wasn't that good so I paddled over to the crowded left. I had a few waves and came in.

We packed a small bag and Nyoman arrived to take us to Legian.

BALI, BALIAN - SURF, LONGTIME OLD FRIENDS AND HIKE - 18 JUNE 2017

I woke up to a heavy downpour of rain. It only lasted a short time though.

Jacinta and I went for a hike to Mejan Beach. Along the way we walked over a foot bridge and down to a pretty bay called ' secret bay'. The bay is really a cove with a small beach at the end. The waves funnel into the cove and wash along the cliffs on either side. The wave erosion undermines and smoothes the lower cliff wall.

We walked back up and followed a path to the end of the point. There was an expansive and beautiful view of the waves at Balian and the northern coastline. We continued along a narrow track through jungle, past a small field shrine, over a small cascade of water, through a field with cows and onto Mejan Road. Along the road, we passed a small temple then it was a steep descent to the beach access. The beach was long, wide and stretched off into the distance.

We returned via the road to the village. In the village we brought a large water 60 000r - 20 litres - and they delivered to our hotel room later. We continued along the entrance road to Balian and our hotel.

I checked the surf and ran into Mark, who was with a friend who turned out to be a guy I was good friends with in high school - Rodney. We hadn't seen each other for about forty years. We chatted and then had a fun, smooth surf together. It was so good to meet up again we Rodney and share some good waves.

After lunch, I  spent the afternoon relaxing in the room. It rained on and off throughout the afternoon.

We had a few beers and tasty dinner in the hotel restaurant. The girls had cocktails.

INDONESIA - BALI - BALIAN - 2 TO 9 JULY 2014- 'BALIAN HIGH'

Info

Car/driver Legian to Balian– Made – 350 000R – 0816570626

Gubug bungalows – 375 000R – nice air con rooms with a good view over the surf.

Our journey

We had a pleasant drive to Balian and settled into Gubug Bungalows. The room was nice and clean with a big bed, TV, air con and bathroom. Jacinta was happy! Breakfast was included. The patio had a good view over the surf.

We stayed in Balian for about a week. The weather varied from rain to clouds to sunshine. We met lots of nice people, hiked around the area, swam in the Pitaya pool and I surfed.

Balian was an oasis to us! The accommodation was good and varied and the food was good. There were a number of restaurants with some cheap and not so cheap food. The dishes ranged from Indonesian to Western. The deco of the restaurants varied from benches with plastic covered tables to hard wooden or rattan chairs with nice decorated tables. The views from some of the restaurants help make them a good social scene – Pitaya and Deki’s

There was a mixture of people from friendly locals to expats to tourists to travellers and surfers. Most people were who they were and some were who they wanted to be. Some were nice and the occasional one was an arsehole.

We met a lot of nice people, some were:

Myra from Bandung and Tony from Margaret River. Nice couple. She was very funny and he was very fit. Both of them were very earthy.

Darus, who is the manager of Pontok Pitaya and two Java girls who were his friends. He was nice and hospitable.

Viv and Didi from Tweed Heads. They had a long term one room lease in Kuta and some interesting stories to tell regarding the lease

The walks in the area were excellent:

One day, we walked to Mejan Beach, It walked via the village and down Jalan Mejan. There were some pretty rice fields and small temple along the way. The beach was long with grey sand. We backtracked part of the way and turned right after the temple. This path took us through Mina Gajah Resort and out to the headland. There were great views along the north and south of the coastline. We sat there for a while watching the ponding surf and endless lines of swell.

On another day, we walked south along the long stretch of grey beach. We crossed a few small rivers that were only ankle deep in water. After the long stretch of beach, there were a number of small headlands with beaches in-between. Occasionally, there were local people searching for food amongst the rock platforms. Eventually, we could go no further due to a long drop off the final rock platform and no safe way to climb back due to the incoming tide.

The hike into the village was easy, passing other guesthouses, restaurants, shops and local houses. The main town is centred on the main road with a large square with a number of shops and a night market in the evenings. The village housing radiated from the main oad in a number of directions down roads and gangs (small paths)

The surf was good though my recovering toe was a dominate consideration all the time. Basically, I didn’t want to hurt it again!

The waves were head height throughout the week. On my first surf, I was floundering but finished the session much happier. On some other surfs my toe wasn’t a problem and on others I bumped my toe and the pain was excoriating. I had to paddle over to the channel and wait until the pain subsided.

It was time to move on. The next destination was Ubud, Bali.