INDONESIA, ROTE, NEMBERALLA - SUNSETS, SURFS AND SWIMS - 3 OCTOBER 2018

25 SEPTEMBER 2018

The ferry ride from Kupang to Ba'a  was pleasant and soon we were at Rote. Our car was late and it was a hot and shadeless wait. An hour or so later, we were arrived at Angurah. We settled into our room. The bed was fine and the breeze running through the room made it quite cool. We had lunch, I had a nap then we wandered down the beach for a beautiful sunset and a few beers at the bar next our stay. It was a different night with the owner telling us a lot about Rote culture and his life.

We chatted with a few guys back at our lodgings. Amazingly, two of the guys went to the same teachers college as me. More amazingly, one was Sparra, a good friend I shared a house with and a number of surf trips. We hadn't seen each other for forty  years.

26 SEPTEMBER  2018

I woke and caught the boat out to the surf. It was small but fun. The crowd increased. Back in for breakfast and another sleep. After lunch, I had another surf. It was bigger and the crowd was wave hungry and greedy. I had some fun waves despite the vibe. Jacinta and I had a short walk along the 'main' street. We watched the sunset, had a beer and sat in the breeze reading. Talking to Andrew, in the room  next door, turns out he knows a number of long time friends of mine and was a guest at a reunion I attended last year. 27 SEPTEMBER 2018

I walked out along the reef to the surf break. The waves were bigger at double overhead on the sets. I had a great time but was pretty tired  towards the end of the session. Back in for breakfast. Jacinta and I spend the day at beach - sitting under the cabana, swimming and reading. At sunset, we had a few beers at a bar along the beach and watched the sun sink over the ocean. 28 SEPTEMBER 2018 It was cool in the morning. I  sat in a cabana on the beach while watching the distant waves and chatting philosophy with a guy from the guesthouse. Jacinta and I had walk along the beach. Later in the morning I had a snorkel. The visibility was poor and there wasn't much to but random pockets of small fish, dead coral and weed. My go-pro camera stopped working as well. About mid afternoon, I caught the boat out for a surf. I had a number of good waves before the crowd increased. A fun session. We watched the sun set and ate out. A nice change. 29 SEPTEMBER 2018 Jacinta and I had an early walk along the main street and returning via the beach path. The people were smiling and friendly. There were lots of dogs, pigs and goats. After breakfast, we  had  a swim and sat in the shade in the beach. About late morning, I had a surf. The waves were a bit crumbly but still had good shape. There were only six surfers out. I had an afternoon kip. At sunset, we sat on the beach and had a couple of beer. 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 Sunday equals church day in Rote. It was very quiet throughout the day. Jacinta and I had a morning walk along the road and the beach towards the north. All quiet and serene. One cafe was open so we stopped in for second breakfast. About mid morning, I ventured out for a surf. It was really good but very windy. I had heaps of good waves so I was very happy at the end of the session. We had an afternoon kip then I had a snorkel while Jacinta baked in the sun. there were a lot more fish and the current was very strong. We finished the day with  sunset beach drinks. 1 OCTOBER 2018 An easy morning. I hired a mountain bike and went for ride following the coast road'. The road became a track  crossing two dry riverbanks and  become a road again. I took a number of side tracks leading to the seashore' The sun blazed down and the ride back was very hot. I followed a different road back which lead uphill. I had a fun downhill track towards the end passing through two small villages. A hot 3 hour ride. I spent the afternoon recovering from being over heated. We had sunset beers on the beach and a nice dinner at Becky Boo restaurant. 2 OCTOBER 2018 An easy day - swims, reading and escaping the sun. We had to book a flight from Rote to Kupang for tomorrow as the fast ferry wasn't running due to strong winds. Later in the day there was a blackout. No fan that night. 3 OCTOBER 2018 We spent the day swimming and reading. The surf was very small. The power was still out. No internet, etc. They couldn't finalize our bill. We approached them a number of times to work out away to pay but nothing happened. Anyway, we left for the airport and said we would contact them by email. All a bit strange. We checked in at Rote airport and the flight took 20 minutes.

INDONESIA - BALI - BALIAN - 8 to 13 August 2013

Arrived Balian so keen to get into waves but arrived to blown out surf and settled into Ayu’s in the upstairs room. Such a great view 150 000R. … Ah well time for a chit chat.

The next day had waves with a 3 hour surf, then 1 ½ hour surf then a 1 hour surf. All good!

A walk to the south of Balian.

Met Chad, Steve and a heap of other people that I forgot the names. All nice people. End up having a few beers that night.

Woke up feeling seedy. Once settled I had a 1 ½ hour good surf, then chatted, videoed and rested. Went for another surf. Had a good time but got feeling temperature as rising! The walk up the hill was so hard! I got water and went to my room and laid down. I didn’t move till the following day as I had high temp, aches everywhere, gut pains, glands aching and a heavy head. I just drank water and waited.

I woke feeling bad but not as bad!  By lunch, I was still aching but good enough for a surf.

Sat around the pool at Pitaiya and chatted with Karen with 2 kids who works at Canggu.

In the afternoon, I caught up with Chad, Panana girl, another guy and drank rum. Later, I was drinking with Steven and Fransi. Later, we went to the beach warung but I’d hit the wall and wanted to sleep.
 

The next day was ‘story day’ from the night before at the warung on the beach:

1.       Oz guys knocking on room doors late at night because they couldn’t find their keys. Then wanted fight the people in the room.

2.       Girl nearly fell off concrete steps.

3.       Guy slept on beach…thought he’d drowned but turned up later.

4.       A mate’s friend returned home late, knocked on his door then threw up.

5.       Girl dancing at warung threw up and was carried home.

Sort of glad, I went home when I did.

Did a walk along the coast to the north of Balian.

The next day it was time to leave. Nyoman picked me up and off I went to Kuta and check up on the fever – still had some aches in the glands.

Retrospect Balian

1.       Met some really nice people – Michael who is married to a local girl. Great stories to e told; Chad and Steve; Fransi and Yafit; Panama and indo girl; couple – Danish and Brazil; Ziggy; Karen; and a heap of others whose name I can’t remember but I never forget a face.

2.       This trip in Balian was a mixed social, surfing, and sick trip… always different.

3.       Ayu’s was great as usual.

4.       Never get tired of the Balian walks – always something has changed/adapted.

5.       Locals are so friendly!

 

AUSTRALIA - Eden - january 2011

We camped for a weeek just south of Eden.

The camp area hada white sandy beach in front of it with a small creek/lagoon emptying on the nortern end of the beach. A good beach for swimming but no waves. maybe on a very big swell.

Just north was Quarantine Bay. There were a lot of boats moored here. The fishermen cleaned their fish near the breakwall which attracted seals and heaps of sea birds. The seals put on a good show and it was free.

Further north was Eden. A quiet seaside fishing town nowhere as developed as pambula and merimbula to the north. The headland of the town had nice views over twofold bay. The wharf was fun for fishing and looking at the commercial fishing boats.

North of Eden is a stretch of coastling in the Ben Boyd National Park. There were a number of nice beaches and walks along the coast with a dirt road connecting the various spots such as the pinnacles, long beach and haycock point.

The Yowaka River flows into Pambula. I had a kayak up this river for a couple of kilometres.

Further north is Pambula, Pambula Beach nad Merimbula. Nice long beach and great views from the headland and wharf at merimbula.

A short distance south is the Nullica River. I kayaked a short distance but was turned back by the strong winds. Still a very pretty place.

Going south from Eden is the southern part of Ben Boyd National Park. There is a walk from Boyd's Tower to the lighthouse at Green Cape. This walk is abpout 10 hours. I did the walk from Boyd's Tower to Saltwater Creek which is about 4 1/2 hours. The coastline was very pretty with rocky bays with small sandy beaches and cliffs.

I had a surf at Saltwater Creek, one morning and it was a good and powerful wave.

Opposite the BB National Park is Mount Imay National Park. I walked to the top of Mount Imlay which was steep and uphill most of the way. The walk took about 3 hours. The summit had views across the forests and coastline.

AUSTRALIA - QUEENSLAND - Burleigh Heads National Park - october 2010

 

The headkland at Burleigh Heads is a national park.

The walk is easy and diverses into a number of directions.

The coastline is pretty and there are greaat views along the shoreline of the north and south of the gold coast. These views contrast strongly when looking at the skyline of buildings representing Surfers Paradise while within a few metres of this view point is a male brush turkey attending to his nest.

CENTRAL COAST - Shelley Beach to The Entrance - HIKE - 20 August 2010

 

A beautiful, warm and sunny winter's morning.

I walked along the coast from Shelley Beach to the Entrance passing through Toowon Bay and Blue Bay. The water was clear with a small swell. Too bad it wasn't summer as it would have been perfect for a swim or snorkel.

New Zealand - coast north of Gisborne - 6 January 2010

We drove north of Gisborne only a short while to find quiet stretches of white sanded beaches mixed with farming and houses.

We stopped and walked around a few beaches until Makorori where I had an okay fun surf (I think it was that beach) before the wind picked up.

Tolaga Bay was very impressive. The beach was strewn with logs and flotsam with heaps of people swimming and lazing. We walked out on the pier which went for ages. The bay itself has two dramatic and high headlands on either end that stretch out far into the ocean.

Sponge Bay was differently dramatic, being a picture postcard perfect headland and an island. There was a great lookout affording amazing views of Sponge Bay and in the vast Poverty Bay.