Tag Archives: Surf

Surfboattrip in Bildern: Timor, Rote, Savu, Sumba

19 Apr

HIER findest du die Fotos.

Im April letzten Jahres war es wieder einmal Zeit für ein Abenteuer. Ein Freund von mir schrieb in Facebook, dass ein Surfboattrip angesagt sei und er noch eine Truppe sucht, die mitkommt. Ich brauchte genau eine einzige Sekunde, um zu entscheiden, dass ich mit dabei war.

Wir entschieden uns für die Sama Sama vom Balicamp und für die Route Timor – Rote – Savu – Sumba.

Nur schon die Anreise war für sich ein kleines Abenteuer. Mit tonnenweise Gepäck und Brettern sind wir von Bali nach Kupang in Timor geflogen, von wo aus wir mit dem Boot losfuhren. Erster Stopp war Nembrala in Rote. Surfen im vom Sonnenaufgang geröteten Wasser. Nur wir. Lies hier, was diese ersten Tage uns so schenkten.

Die nächsten Tage waren einerseits mit beängstigenden Wellen und andererseits mit den tollsten Wellen gespickt, die ich jemals gesurft bin. Ich hatte das Glück, die schönste Insel dieser Welt bewandern zu dürfen und erlebte das Leben auf dem Boot von der schönsten Seite. Lies hier über diese wundervollen Tage.

Die letzten Tage verbrachten wir vor allem in Sumba. Nebst tollen Wellen, einsamen Stränden und einer nicht ganz erfolgreichen Wanderung durch den schlammigen Fluss und undurchdringliches Dickicht stattete ich dem Markt einen Besuch ab und war auf Süsswassersuche am Ende der Welt. Last but not least flogen wir zurück nach Bali und mussten, zumindest vorübergehend, unsere Bretter mit weinendem Herzen in Flores zurücklassen. Lies hier über diese wunderschönen, teils aber auch sehr harten Abenteuer.

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Bali mit neuen Augen – Zuhause und andere Geschichten

15 Feb

Bin gerade mal 48 Stunden auf der Insel und ich habe das Gefühl, nie weggewesen zu sein. Es ist wunderschön, wieder in meinem zweiten Zuhause angekommen zu sein. Die Gerüche, die Hitze, die feuchte Luft, der ganze Lärm, das ganze Durcheinander, die Leute, das Meer. Einfach Alles. Mit jedem Blick, mit jedem Atemzug sauge ich ganz Bali in mich auf.

Und doch: Es ist wahnsinnig, in welcher Geschwindigkeit sich das Bild einer Strasse oder eines Ortes ändern kann. Bekannte Restaurants und Läden sind verschwunden, dafür neue entstanden. Es herrscht einfach ein unglaubliches Tempo. Als ich heute zu einem Freund fuhr, um meine gelagerten Sachen bei ihm abzuholen, fuhr ich auf einer Strasse, die ich monatelang mehrmals täglich gefahren bin. Und erkannte sie nicht wieder. Kein bisschen. Ich wusste, dass ich auf der richtigen Strasse fahre, aber es war nicht mehr der durchlöcherte Schotterweg von früher, sondern eine geteerte Strasse mit Mittelstreifen. Das hat mich dermassen verwirrt, dass mir mein eh schon nicht sehr ausgeprägter Orientierungssinn fast gänzlich abhanden gekommen ist.

Ist mir aber gelungen, das richtige Haus zu finden. Meine drei Bretter sind wieder bei mir. Frisch ausgepackt, gewachst, mit Finnen und Leash versehen.

Wollte gerade mal zum Strand runter fahren und schauen, ob es irgendwelche surfbare Wellen gab. Und da sitzt tatsächlich ein Balinese neben einer Barriere und will IDR 2’000 fürs Parken. Es sind zwar nur 20 Rappen, aber trotzdem. Jahrelang fuhr ich hierher und es war immer frei. Aber die Banjars (das sind die Verwaltungen der Dörfer), kommen immer mehr und mehr auf den Geschmack, wo immer möglich was dazuzuverdienen. Naja, solange das Geld der Dorfbevölkerung zugute kommt, aber man weiss ja nie, in welchen Taschen sonst so das Geld verschwindet. Wie kürzlich schon einmal bemerkt: Indonesien ist auf der Rangliste der korruptesten Länder auf einem Spitzenplatz.

Um meiner Empörung noch Stärke zu verleihen, entschied sich der Wind just in diesem Moment, ein paar Sturmböen zu schicken, so dass sich die Palmen bogen. Um noch eins drauf zu setzten, liess Petrus auch gerade noch eine schöne Portion Himmelswasser runter regnen. Wer sich mit Wellen ein bisschen auskennt, weiss, dass es zu diesem Zeitpunkt bestimmt keine Wellen gibt, also ging ich zurück auf mein Zimmer und machte es mir da gemütlich. Von meinem Sitzplatz aus kann ich nämlich die Spitze einer der Strandpalmen sehen, die mir von nun an als Windmesser dient. Je nach Schwankstärke der Palmenwedel kann ich etwa abschätzen, ob sich der Gang zum Strand lohnt oder nicht. Sehr praktisch.

Am späten Nachmittag war es tatsächlich soweit, dass ein paar kleine Wellen lockten. Ich wagte es als erstes ins warme Nass und hatte bis zum Einbruch der Dunkelheit total viel Spass. Ich verdränge jetzt mal, dass meine zurzeit ziemlich schwächlichen Arme und vor allem meine Rippen nach dem Aufwachen wahrscheinlich einige giftige Schmerzpfeile abschiessen werden.

Abends beim Nachtessen im Restaurant Bow in der Jalan Batu Belig (super schön und lecker) musste ich gefühlte literweise Tränen lachen. Und zwar wegen einer tragisch-komischen Liebesgeschichte, die sich ungefähr im Jahr 1989 zugetragen hat. Erzählt mit trockenem Humor unter noch mehr Lachtränen. Eine Geschichte, die so romantisch begann, verrückt ohne Ende war und absolut tragisch endete. Ein Typ, wie er romantischer nicht sein konnte, leider auch ein Typ, wie er egoistischer bzw. narzisstischer nicht sein konnte. Wenn ich die Erlaubnis von der Dame kriege, würde ich die Geschichte gerne einmal posten.

Meine Freundin und ich gingen dann später noch einmal ins Favela, weil ich ihr unbedingt die Location zeigen wollte. Bäume, die in den Räumen wachsen, eine Aussenterrasse wie aus dem Dschungel, viel Liebe zum Detail. Ich bin begeistert. Aber die beste Entdeckung war heute die Toilette: Eine frauengerechte Toilette. Ein riesiger Raum, mit Sofas zum plaudern und sich die Nase pudern (Frauen können einfach nicht alleine aufs WC), einem alten Zahnarztstuhl (oder war es ein elektrischer Stuhl? Schwer zu sagen) und einer altmodischen Waage, die man mit Gewichten selber einstellen muss (ist mir übrigens auch in nicht alkoholisiertem Zustand nicht gelungen. Das ganze hat ein angenehmes Wohnzimmerfeeling.Heute war die Bar leer (wir wollten eigentlich schöne Männer schauen gehen). Aber freitags ist immer Party. Und dann ist es brechend voll. Vielleicht nächsten Freitag.

Bali ist einfach interessant. An jeder Ecke, überall wo man hingeht, trifft man interessante neue Leute. Man hört so viele Lebensgeschichten, Erfahrungen, es gibt so viel zu diskutieren, zu bereden, zu lachen. Bali, die kleine Insel, bietet, so wage ich zu behaupten, die dichteste Dichte an einem bunten, kreativen, geschäftigen und eben höchst interessanten Menschenmix, den es auf dieser Welt gibt.

So, in weniger als vier Stunden muss ich wieder aufstehen, da ich gerne ins Morgenyoga in Bingin will. Ein weiter Weg für ein bisschen Yoga, aber es ist eben Ted’s Yoga. Das ist guuuuuut.

Und ja, ich glaube, ich habe heute während dem Schreiben mindestens 15 Schokobons verdrückt. Mein „Bettmümpfeli“, wie man auf gut „Züri-Düütsch“ sagt. Gute Nacht Welt.

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Inspiring people I’ve met in Bali

27 Aug

There’s loads of inspiring people I’ve met in Bali – or – in one case – haven’t met at all but heard just awesome feedback. So I’d like to share those so you can meet them as well!

Teddy Sun – http://www.lightthepathyoga.com/ He’s teaching Yoga classes in the South of Bali in a very beautiful open space overlooking the Bukit. He’s also teaching personal classes. Not only is he a great teacher, he’s also just super awesome, very down to earth, very warmhearted!

Steve – http://www.baliprivateyoga.com/ He’s teaching private Yoga classes an doing Yoga retreats in Bali as well as in New Zealand. He’s a very mellow and enthusiastic person. Had super cool conversations with him. Get yourself in Yoga-shape with Steve!

Paul Dumais – A Surfer, Qi-Gong-Teacher and one of the most vibrant person I’ve ever met so far. He’s truly inspiring. Always up for some good fun and a hearty laugh! Based in Byron Bay, Australia, he lives in Bali for a few months every year. You can probably reach him through the following facebook event page to get up to date about his Qi Gong classes  (if not, just message me and I’ll send you his contact): https://www.facebook.com/events/538379716198675/

Tom Cronin – a meditation teacher – http://tomcronin.com/ He approached me in a restaurant where we were eating at the same time because he saw me in a shop the other day. Wasn’t really in the mood for talking to a stranger, but then, something about him made me go back to his table. A very good decision indeed. He’s a very caring person, full of positive energy. He’s based in Sydney, Australia but also teaches and speaks on retreats in Bali.

Rick Cowley – http://www.surflifewith.us – Never met him personally. But his a good friend of Paul Dumais (the Qi Gong Teacher) and so I found the Facebookpage and Website of Surf Life. From what I’ve heard, his retreats are life changing. He posted some photos with guest feedbacks. This is my favorite:

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Danny Clayton – A Kiwi-Girl and founder of Saltgypsy – www.saltgypsy.com Met her at a BBQ at a friend’s house. Very inspiring how she founded Saltgypsy and where the story went from there. They make awesome surfleggins and always find and write about other brands and surf peeps who have the „certain something“. Fresh, creative, BEAUTIFUL!!!

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Snapped Boards – June 2013

20 Aug

Can’t believe it. Snapped my 5th board during my (not yet very long) surfing career attempting a duck-dive. How stupid is that? My board-snapping-series started a few years ago. First, I only snapped my beautiful Kai-Otton-Competitionboard in half in a small swell in Berawa. The waves were small that day but razor-sharp. I duck-dived one and the board just slipped out of my hand, really don’t know why. When I came back up, I had not just one board, but two halves of a board.

Anyway. I fixed it and it was almost like brand new again.

The following year was the really bad one. One day, we went to a spot close to Keramas on the east coast of Bali. It was quiet big, the current strong and the wave a heavy one. After infinite paddling to stay in the take-off zone I managed to get the best wave of my current surf life. Happily paddling back towards the line-up it happened. Big set from the back. Ahhhh! My friend yelled at me I should paddle more to the right. But I wasn’t sure I heard him right, cause it seemed more logic to me to paddle to the left and try to make it through the green wall instead the roaring white water lip.

I was wrong and he was right. I didn’t make it to the green, the wave broke exactly where I was, my attempted duck-dive failed and my new board was snapped right through the middle. Anyway, now I know that, in situations like that, I should aim for the white water because the force of the water is not as strong as at the breaking point.

Not that I wouldn’t make the same mistake again in my life. I actually did. A saying says: I don’t do mistakes once or twice, I do them five or six times, just to be sure. That completely applies to me. You can imagine the result, right?

Anyway. Went to Serangan the same day, borrowed an old board of a good friend, warned him that I might gonna snap it, paddled into the line-up, didn’t pay attention, unintentionally ended up in the middle of a freakset, attempted a duck-dive, came back up and the board was snapped in half. Damn it!

The next day in Berawa was still quiet big. So I took my old Kai-Otton-Competitionboard, paddled to the line-up, didn’t pay that much attention again (was chatting to a friend), got caught up in a freakset again, attempted a duck-dive again and came back up with my board in two pieces (and it didn’t snap at the same place it already did the previous year). AGAIN.

Couldn’t believe it. All my friends just laughed their ass off and nobody even considered borrowing me his or her board. I wouldn’t give my board to someone like me, that’s for sure.

Anyway. I actually did find someone who gave me his board for the following day. An epoxy one. They’re supposed to be quiet hard to snap. And what happened? No, no duck-dive or freakset this time. But I fell on my motorbike on a shitty potholed road. And of course exactly on the side with the board in the board rack. Nose severely cracked. Ouch.

Yeah, and then, my beautiful pink board as I described in the first paragraph of this story.

Anyway, I hope five times is enough for the rest of my life. Please, God of Surfers, give me a break and let me successfully duck-dive any freaksets I might encounter in the future!

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Indo Boattrip, April 2013 – Part 2

28 Jul

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On the water road again, heading towards Savu. Stopped on the way at an island for a surf. Nice small righthander, got a few waves, screwed up a perfect one, my (still very weak) paddle strength gone.

Back on the boat one of the guys caught a fish. Oh man, it took ages to get the (big) fish out of the water. Everybody gathered to see the spectacle. And then, the fish escaped from the hook, but luckily (for us) didn’t manage to jump back into the water. Our dinner saved 🙂

Joy and I went to the very rocky island for a little walk later in the afternoon. Or better: hopping from stone to stone. It was a bit of a scary atmosphere there I have to say. We felt a bit uncomfortable, images of people-eating people arising in our minds. So we never lost sight of the boat. But nothing happened. No magic, no bad people, no monsters or ghosts.Before heading to the next spot, which was a long way from this one, Skipper Joachim offered us another session on the outer reef. It looked wild. The guys looked at it and decided to stay on the boat. Joy and I gave it a try. Paddling was a torture, the currents super strong, but we made it eventually. So, there we were. Sitting in the line-up, feeling uneasy, but still eager to surf. And what happens? The first set arriving was a freak set, and a U-shaped one in addition, so Joy and I were surrounded by a U-mountain of waves and paddled and duckdived as if our life would depend on it. After that we had enough of adrenaline and headed straight back to the boat, being welcomed by a cheering and laughing crowd. We were the heroes of the day.

After another night crossing, we arrived at the spot we wanted to go. But unfortunately, the wind was too strong which means unsurfable waves. So we had two options: Hiking on a close by island or going straight to Sumba. The majority was for hiking, so that’s what we did. A very good decision indeed. Just imagine: Shimmering blue crystal clear water, pitch black rocks, lush forests and green grassy hilltops. We had to climb some rocks first, then find our way through the forest, Joachim always first making sure no spiders or snakes will be in our way. After that, a leisure stroll through the knee- to waist high grass until the top. What a splendid view we had. I think this is the most beautiful hike I have ever done in my whole life. There’s nothing comparable. A paradise island! A dream!

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Some of the guys were a bit cranky because we didn’t have good waves for a while. So we had a few small arguments. But all negativity was forgotten as soon as we arrived in Sumba. A perfect, big righthander was awaiting us. All the guys had good fun. Joy cracked her nose. I just got washed over and over again to the point I actually started crying I was so super frustrated. Was in a horrible mood the whole evening.

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Got a beautiful, long, big wave the next morning and the world and my mood was perfectly good again, even though I still got a few big sets on my head. Went to a different spot in the next bay later in the afternoon. A small lefthander, good fun. Then a sunset session back at the morning spot. The swell dropped off and we enjoyed some fun small waves. Alex, the Belgium guy, looking like the biggest tourist, joined us with a Stand up paddle. We were all really scared of his big plank and his obvious lack of ability to handle it so we sent him to the inside. Dome joined him. Alex lost the SUP board and had to look for it in the rocks (in the dark) and finally, after more than an hour, found it again. Dome got scratched over the reef and was full of bloody scratches. So much about surfing the inside. Hahahaha. We treated Domes wounds and cheered for Alex when he finally came back with the lost board. Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese with Parmesan cheese. What an awesome day

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In general, the food on the boat is absolutely top of the top. Absolutely amazingly delicious. Biggest breakfast with homemade bread (yes, they baked bread on the boat), pancakes, omelettes, cereals, etc., big salads with the best sauce, different curries, veggies, avocado, fruits, tons of nutella, pringels with homemade guacamole, fresh fish right from the ocean (grilled red snapper, tuna sashimi), homemade (or better: boatmade) chocolate banana cake, and much more.

Next day, cause the swell dropped off even more, we went to a beachbreak not far away from where we were and had good fun in the small waves. We also had a big toilet problem because the current was sometimes carrying our “floaters” right into the lineup. Oh well. It can’t be all perfect right?

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Went to the beach after the session, doing some more exploring. We first wanted to walk on the jungle-path, but decided to go the other direction. We ended up walking through a shallow muddy river. Ah, it’s such a disgusting feeling to walk through mud, feeling the mud between your toes, never knowing how deep it is. We were sometimes waist deep in the river mud. I don’t know why, but whenever I have to walk through mud or muddy water, I think of dead bodies floating around somewhere down there and me stepping on one. Absolutely disgusting. I’m even shuddering when I’m writing this. Just the memory of it utterly disgusts me. I wasn’t the only one. Except for our Skipper, who is a real adventurer, I could read the same feelings in everybody’s face. After the river, we walked along the beach again, through flaring heat and finally found another path into the woods. After a few steps into the forest and some wild attacks from big horseflies we fled back to the beach and gave up on our exploring trip. All we wanted was going back to the boat. After that, we went back to the bay we came from and stayed there for the night. In the late afternoon, Joy and I went to the beach with our Skipper to find some fresh water for our tanks. We passed a beautiful small beach with a cave and went exploring a bit, were sitting there and enjoying the nice scenery. Then we went to the next small bay with a river. Because the river was half dried up, the fresh water pond was quiet a bit in the back. We brought all the tanks there, filled them up and brought them back to the Dingi (I think, one tank must weigh about at least 20 kg) Joachim just put a canister on his shoulder, Joy and I dragged them through the sand. It was a good piece of work. A lot of sweat and a bit of swearing later, all the work was done and we treated ourselves with a swim in the fresh water, watching sunset.

Suddenly we realized that low tide has gotten quiet low and that we have to hurry back to be able to get back to the boat and not get caught up in the reef. The water was already too low to use the engine so Joy and I had to paddle while Joachim stirred the boat. We just made it in time. There was one critical part where a set came in and we just – really just – perfectly made it through a gap into deep water. Saved!

Back on the boat the cooks were preparing the most delicious dinner: Grilled red Snapper and fresh tuna sashimi. There’s nothing better than a freshly caught fish!

A lot of adrenaline for one day. But again: A beautiful day full of good moments!

… to be continued …

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Terrific traffic jams

30 Mai

Did I mention that I could never – under no circumstances – live without traffic jams? NEVER!!!

But let’s start from the beginning: I went surfing in Greenbowl today, that’s a beach at the very southern tip of Bali. A beautiful one with white sand and green-blue, crystal-clear water.

Because you have to walk down 350 steps or so to get there, you get a three-in-one package: Beautiful beach, good surf and plenty of leg-exercise. Who needs to work out in a boring fitness-center when you can have all that for free in plain nature?

To avoid traffic, I left early morning and made it down there in 50 minutes. It was a beautiful drive, very serene, very enjoyable. And the best was that they built new food stalls there. So first thing I did was to eat a delicious mie goreng (fried noodles) for breakfast. And, the second best was that they built a quiet spacious building with clean toilets and showers. Perfect for me and my slight bali-belly.

Anyway, I enjoyed an uncrowded surf and managed (for the very first time) to do a proper cutback. Not just one, but two in a row on the very same wave. Ha!!!! Big success!!!

Went to Rapture Surfcamp after that to say hello to everybody. Entertained Enda a bit who is currently sick (he managed to have a deep and philosophical conversation with me for two hours and didn’t fall back asleep, hahahaahah, well done for keeping up that long) and bought my surfleggins (why I need them? I don’t, but I like them ;)) Maybe I gonna post a picture soon as to get some comments about my taste of fashion 😉

Anyway, and THEN, it was time to go home to Berawa. What should I say. I needed almost two hours for the same distance as in the morning. First, all went well. Not too much traffic, just an almost-crash at the very beginning. So I sped along the roads, occasionally overtaking all kinds of slow vehicles, sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, always very aware of all the stupid people who don’t know how to properly drive (I’m a perfect driver of course). Then, suddenly, I had to duck under a chicken, which chose to cross the road at exactly the same time I was passing the very spot it wanted to cross. It didn’t run as chickens usually do, but it FLEW (not very graciously) right towards my head. I ducked in time and the chicken, my head and my motorbike are still all whole and healthy. And then, from Mac Donalds until the Airport (that’s a stretch on the main road which usually takes 10 minutes to pass) I was moving with snail-speed. Literally. A snail would even crawl faster than we drove. But I am half Asian. So, at least 50% patience is in my blood. Running through my veins. Patience is a virtue. I repeated that as my mantra during the whole time. As I moved forward in tiny bits, I wasn’t just choking on all the exhaust, but also almost choking with rage.

Indonesians in traffic are the worst. They bully, they swarm in the street, they fight for the best position, they speed, they just do everything you shouldn’t do on the street. However, to move forward as fast as possible, I had to adapt my driving style and become as bad as them. So I was driving sometimes on the walkway, sometimes on the street, overtook on the left and right, I pushed to the front, darted malignant glances at everybody and was just (a bit) ruthless.

I made it home. Just. With my last energy.

Not going anywhere far in the next two weeks that’s for sure.

My home is my castle!

 

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Amanda

30 Mai

Amanda and I have to share a bathroom in my house. Beautiful, bizarre Amanda.

She’s a really huge cockroach with long gracious antlers. My housemate named her Amanda. No idea why she chose that name. Or how she would know if she’s female or male. Anyway, it’s Amanda. BUT: I hate cockroaches. I usually kill them. Just, she has a name now. I can’t kill her because it’s too personal now. It’s as if I would kill my dog or my cat (not that I have either one of them, but still).

So I arranged myself. If I have to go to the bathroom and she’s there, I clap my hands, wiggle with a stick, shout at her so she would run away and hide in her hiding-space. I know where it is. I could put some poison there. But as I said, I just can’t kill her. But all is good. She runs away and I’m happy when she’s hiding until I’m gone.

Today, another cockroach was in my bathroom. I’m happy it wasn’t Amanda because I involuntarily killed it. With an anti-mosquito-spray. I sprayed the bathroom with no other bad intention than to get rid of the mosquitos and what did the stupid cockroach do? Drop stonedead. But AMANDA IS SAFE!

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