‘50’ Diary
Dugga, Ann, Dayne and Brock
Holidays with Purpose
Friday 22nd June
We arrived at Lagundri Bay late in the afternoon after a long trek in, to the welcome site of the Indo Jiwa anchored in the bay and the point peeling off at 3ft (small for Dugga but a perfect start for Dayne aged 15 and Brock aged 13).
The trek in had not changed to much in 18 years (with the exception of the quality of the road from Gunungsitoli to Teluk Dalam) and we were all a bit weary after the numerous plane flights and lack of sleep (Melb to Perth, Perth to Jakarta, Jakarta to Medan, Medan to Gunungsitoli…..followed by a 3 hour overland drive) as Nias is still one of the most remote places to reach.
All up not bad going though if you work it out - 30 hours from Tullamarine to Teluk Dalam.
The crew of the Indo Jiwa were on the beach to greet us armed with walkie talkies and rubber duckies. They were well organized and had us out to the boat in no time, to be greeted by Channa and the rest of the crew who were armed with icy cold drinks and a plate of sensational homemade spring rolls. It only took Dugga and the boys 10 minutes to eat, drink, unpack the boards and do a bolt to get the last hour of surf in before dark (nothing like a few waves at the infamous Lagundri Bay to clear the cobwebs and sweat away from a long trip). It was the first time Dugga had been back since 1989 so after an 18 year break he was hanging out to get into the water.
Saturday 23rd June
We woke the next morning to a slightly smaller swell (3ft and an onshore / cross-shore wind) but that wasn’t going to keep the grommets out of the water so with the exception of a few hours in shore they surfed for the best part of 8 hours that day.
We had some catching up to do with old family friends and also the YPPS (aka: the Sorake Beach Foundation set up by Kevin Lovett , the first surfer to discover and surf Lagundri Bay along with some local surfers) which has a mandate to look after the point, so we headed for shore for the afternoon.
We had brought a second hand laptop with us to donate to the Foundation from Dugga and Reevso (a friend from home and a long time Indo traveler) as the Foundation needed a laptop due to the constant power shortages which made a desk top almost un-usable and also to allow them to connect to the internet so that they had access to the outside world and could allow surfers staying there to email home.
We caught up with Phillipous and Cornelius from the Foundation and presented them with the laptop, which was gratefully received and then headed off to catch up with some of the families we hadn’t seen for many years.
It was an emotional day for all and when we met up with Tanijin and Simone and their family it was as close to a family reunion as we could possibly imagine. The children had of course all grown up and had children of their own and we spent a lot of time laughing and chatting about the old days. Unfortunately, Tanijins uncle had died the day before so it was tinged with some sadness as well. We were leaving the next day and as we would not be there, we donated a bag of rice to the family to assist with the funeral feast (at which the entire village had to be fed).
Also the Well that the family used for the Losmen that they ran had been half filled with sand when the earthquake and Tsunami hit so we assisted them with the funds to have it properly repaired / dug out. Their Losmen had been completely demolished (along with everybody else’s Losmens on the point) but they had managed to rebuild 3 rooms out of the 9 rooms that they had previously had with the help of another surfer / traveler (which is lucky for them and they are in a better state than some of the other families there as they can still earn a living even if it is drastically reduced in capacity).
Sunday 24th June
We headed off at around 2am and made tracks to the Hinakos where Channa and Ruby have their LEAP projects based.
Channa and the boys checked the surf early in the morning but Asu was only small and cross shore so they came back to the boat for a bit of R&R and some of Yanto’s great cooking (he is an excellent cook and if any of you readers decide to do a Holidays with Purpose will be spoilt by his repertoire of great meals).
Channa then went to shore and collected his family and brought them out to the boat for lunch (Ruby – of course, as well as Shaanti, Mahlia and Sunny). The family have stayed with us on the boat while we are based in the Hinakos and the kids have all had a great time together.
The surf picked up in the afternoon and the wind went offshore so we went out at Asu at about 4ft and got some good waves.
We also went in to check out the land base and look at some of Channa and Ruby’s work with compost vegetable gardens, etc. It is an excellent set up and you can’t believe that they have only moved to Asu from Hinako island just over a month ago (it looks like they have been there for years).
Monday 25th June
We had some purpose work to do today on shore so we headed in to the Coconut Kids Club to meet the children and families. The kids club is a fantastic idea and it is extremely well received by the families of Asu who have no official schooling on the island. The children who attend range between 3 years and 12 years of age and all seem to soak up their lessons like sponges (they often arrive at hours earlier than the club starts each day they are so keen!).
We surfed Asu again today, small (4ft) but clean and conditions were good.
Tuesday 26th June
Channa took us up North for a surf today in his new speed boat to one of his ‘secret spots’ and as the swell had picked up again (now about 6ft +) and we scored brilliant waves - it was a ‘barrel fest’.
Cant say to much about it as you will need to come here yourself if you want to hear about this one but needless to say Dugga paddled in and said “book the boat now for next year!”
We all collapsed for the afternoon as we had been up and at em since 5.30am and did not return until 2pm and no-one could not muster up strength or will to surf again that afternoon (as they had had about a weeks worth of waves that they would get at home in that session alone) and Dugga said he hadn’t had barrels like that since the old ‘Mackie sessions at Lagundri in the ‘80s.
Wednesday 27th June
Headed off to the secret spot again today and the swell was slightly smaller and wind was cross-shore. Still scored some amazing waves and barrels but it was not quite as perfect as the day before (but still extremely good).
We were building the compost gardens in Asu today with Ruby, the kids and the people from the Kampung (village) so we had to be back on land for 2pm kickoff.
It was a very productive afternoon and we managed to get 2 and ½ garden beds built and planted with tomatoes, eggplant, snake beans and ?? (we went back in the next morning to complete the job). The locals were very keen and jumped in to help. It is Ruby’s hope that once they see how well things grow in a compost garden they will do one at their own houses and therefore have plentiful vegetables all year around.
Swell had picked right up during the day to 6ft+ so we headed out to Asu for the last couple of hours before dark. Some of the rumors on the grapevine say that the wave is not as good since the earthquake (bearing in mind that the reef has been raised everywhere by between 3ft and 6ft so there has been some considerable changes to the topography of the land / reefs) but we can tell you that the rumors certainly are not true – the wave is as good as it ever was so if you come up and join Channa and the crew you are bound to get great surf. (swell and winds pending of course).
Thursday 28th June
Completed the garden project this morning and then surfed Asu for a couple of hours at about 5ft and came back to the boat for lunch (more of Yanto’s great cooking).
Headed to Hinako in the afternoon to visit the Coconut Kids Club for a Purpose games day. Dayne and Brock joined in with the kids and they loved having a couple of Aussie boys participating in the day.
We had bought another second laptop with us to donate to the kids club and we presented it to the head teacher after the games day was completed. It was very well received and there were smiles all around. There are 200 children who attend this club and the admin work that needs to be done is quite considerable so a computer for the teacher was needed.
We also inspected the LEAP Canoe and Coconut Oil projects which are both excellent.
3 of Ruby and Channas volunteers from Asu (Keith and Elsa from Australia and Andrea from Brazil) came along as well and it was a great afternoon with the children of Hinako.
Friday 29th June
We were meant to head to the Banyaks today but the swell and wind directions looked good for here (and besides everybody from the Brazilian surf camp plus the 2 boats that were here left yesterday and there is virtually no one here but us so we are getting uncrowded waves).
The 2 boats headed for the Banyaks and word is there are another couple up there as well so we might hang here for another 24 hours and get the place to ourselves.
Surfed at Bawa today (6ft) and got some nice waves but the icing on the cake was Dayne catching a Giant Travaly which made his day (and probably his trip!).
Afternoon was Asu at solid 8 ft.
By Ann and Dugga Warren