Zen and the Art of Surfing

I started surfing relatively late in life, I had always dreamt about it and woke up on my fortieth birthday thinking that if I don't start now I am gong to have to surf in another life, I decided to make it this one and bought a surfboard. For the last few years I have been surfing on and off, probably more off than on. Surfing in the Cape is challenging, its mostly freezing cold especially after a good blow from the Cape Doctor, the wind is often onshore mushing up the surf and then there are flat days. Good days of swell coinciding with my being in town and having time on my hands have been fairly few and far between.

Every surfers dream is to have a month or more on an island with good waves, warm water and lots of time. So here we are in Bali certainly one of the best surfing venues in the world living that dream.

Not all waves are the same, in fact there are as many different waves as there are surfing spots in the world and each one presents its own challenges. Further each wave is affected by the tide, swell and wind direction, the period between waves and of course swell size. I realize very quickly that the breaks around Bingin where we are based are not for beginners by any means and almost all of them (other than Dreamland) break onto very shallow reef.

The Bali tattoo is evident everywhere, surfers walking around nursing nasty scrapes and gashes across backs, arms, legs, faces, heads. The standard of surfing is high and unlike a friendly easy break like Muizenberg or Big Bay the points are crowded, surfers are from all over the world and its each man for themselves -you snooze you lose.

I am here to learn so sit out at the backline and observe the good surfers.

Firstly you need to be really fit to paddle into waves and catch them and even more so to paddle out after catching them pushing under endless foamies. I realize I am paddling all over the place backwards and forwards, in and out wasting energy, often being caught by the big sets. I am also allowing others surfers to hustle into position past me.

The good guys don't, they paddle out and take a key position refusing to allow other surfers to hustle them out of it. They have patience and don't waste energy chasing after smaller waves and consequently are ready when the big set arrives. More though they seem to intuitively know where that position is and when the big set is coming. When it does they choose their wave and then have the confidence to commit 100% and squeeze all the juice out of it.

I decide to practice this philosophy in business and have a feeling that by doing this I will have a lot more time for surfing.

I make some surfing buddies, Eric the local surfboard hire man from Dreamland is a gem that shows me around and we shared a few Bintangs on the beach with the local boys. I meet a few South Africans and lots of Europeans; of course there are loads of Australians but its weird that Aussie - South African rivalry extends to surfing as well, so not many mates there. Special thanks to Andre a Brazilian now based in France who surfs all over the world. One morning he pulls me out of my comfort zone and we go out at Uluwatu.

This feels like the big time, the cliffs are lined with professional photographers, surf shops; look out points, bronzed surfers and striking woman.The paddle out is tricky with currents, reef, sets and surfers to avoid, There are three main breaks to choose from, the one we start at is called Peak and I catch my first wave which is snapped by one of the photographers (attached), the other breaks are called temple and railway tracks aptly named because it works at low over a shallow reef and you need to to go like a steam train to make it.

Another day when its really flat everywhere else we venture out at a place called Green Ball which is a magnificent bay at the bottom of 300 steps. We are the only ones out that day and I soon realize why, its a lot bigger and more powerful than it looks from the cliffs and with spring lows rapidly approaching when the wave sucks up the reef is knee height. There is something pioneering about surfing a new place for the first time, you are on your own and need to rely on your own observations and common sense.

I surf most days over 6 weeks and by the time we leave I am feeling fit and a little more confident in what I am doing (ready for Elands!!!). Yes there are crowds which can be a little frustrating but I am getting my fair share of waves. There are also days when I find secret places with only one or two other surfers, we sit out there in the early morning a couple of hundred meters from the shore as the sun rises enjoying each others companionable silence. Surrounded by nature one lives in the present, there is nothing else, horizons are limitless, you move with the ocean and in that movement you can feel the energy of the whole universe, that is Zen.

Koh Phagnan finding paradise

We arrive on Koh Phagnan on a Sunday without really knowing where we are going, trusting the universe (who sends us a tout, a good saleswoman at that!) and head straight to the bungalows the tout on the boat finds us (my worst are touts they bloody work you over - but we decided - tired and sleep a priority it will be ok for one night). Whilst it is ok, clean and with a pool its not where we wanna be - too close to the ferry and the lady boy bars, perfect for the sex tourist not us we want fantastic remote beach where we can swim in the sea and little or no distractions (like shopping!).

We hire a jeep and decide to do one more night where we are and find our home for the next 10 days. Mmmm well the jeep is a little Suzuki. Kids are squashed in the almost non existent back seat, we set off on our mission , we had been advised that the roads are pretty bad UNDERSTATEMENT of the century they are terrible, kids squabbling, us irritated with them, they obviously just don't understand our mission.......

We spend most of the day on the road and did the easiest road first, we found nothing that blew our skirt up, we went to Had rin (where the full moon parties are held), definitely not for us, by this stage the boys squabbles had escalated into full blown warfare, Nicky and I still having tummy troubles and having to make up stories for our pit stops at unlikely guesthouses without them knowing that all we needed was THE TOILET NOW. So we took a group decision to take the kid’s home to swim and head out on our own.

The road to Thong Nai pan nai is really bad and with a jeep that has no shocks, smooth tires and an engine that should be retired - it is quite a long and interesting journey, we decided to go there as some other travelers had told us about a place called Dolphin Bungalows, finally arrived and liked what we saw (the beach was amazing), but I (Lou) felt that Dolphin was not really what we wanted, and it was the wrong side of the beach - well it felt like that to me. I decided to walk the beach, I went into every resort and bungalow and finally found our home Candle Hut bungalows, they have new Zen (stunning) ones and older more traditional ones the older ones had what we wanted -A family room. (well family rooms are not for honeymoon couple or an active sex life - but hey we could always get creative - long showers etc :) yahh mission accomplished, we arranged for them to pick us up from Thong salan the next day and started our harrowing journey back in the dark on a shit road. I needed a stiff drink - in fact if I had a bottle of whiskey on the road I probably would have finished it, so we settled for beer and a quart was gone in a sec. We had to turn aircon off and grate into first every time we got to a hill, all ended well and we went of for a pizza - the last day of a dodgy tummy nothing like boring western food /bread to stop the runs.

Whilst Craig excited at the prospect of being able to work again (he was getting twitchy) he missioned to get connected - with not a lot of success - can you imagine how that affected us, mmm lets just say the 1st few days were interesting, here we were in Paradise and it was all a bit heavy.

What a difference a day makes! Once he was connected and sorted (it happened by accident he just picked up someone’s WIFI at our resort - perfect) it all got better and so the fun began. So did school work, the first day of math’s was as if Nicky had ants in his pants, but as the days go by its easier to get them both going. Bill has only had one email and he has accomplished all his tasks, if I don't have an eagle eye Nicky pops up his face book, so its constant - I think teachers should be applauded daily imagine doing this with 20+ kids every day - all day.

On the first day we arrived Craig went off to discover whilst I unpacked and made house, Nicky came running in at some stage to inform me Craig was talking to a girl on the beach who had NO TOP ON!!! When I asked if she had nice boobs, he wasn't very impressed, there he was looking after my interests and I was being Glib, no top ended up being Catherine from Sydney and a yoga teacher - weehee as the yoga studio in town was closed for renovations. Thank you universe!!