One friend, three strangers and an overdose of Doxytab. This is the story of a trip clouded in mystery and superstition that turned out to be nothing more than an island in the mist. An island with perfect waves. An island called Bali.

I’d never been across our borders or even on an aeroplane up in our skies. The closest I’d been to international travel was a few hundred metres from the beach, sitting on my board. I always seem to experience life by diving in the deep end and I always choose the lifeguard’s day off. This was to be no exception. First time on an aeroplane, first time out of the country, don’t speak the language, travelling alone and on a seriously tight budget with little room for error. I’d call that a swan dive from the high board of life, for sure!

Thankfully I’ve been blessed with great friends. Many of them were right there beside me with every stupid, crazy but mostly beautiful life experience. Everything from heavy waves to 3 day parties, near death experiences to butterfly covered dreams and not forgetting the all important run-ins with the law. I could expect nothing less in Bali except I only knew one out of the four guys I was to meet there and I had a few days to myself before I hooked up with them.

Dwight, who now lives in Durban, was arriving two days after me. He was travelling with his good friend Garth, also from Durban. Mike and Marek were to pitch up on the same day at different times. Mike was coming from Germany and Marek from Tokyo. A well travelled crew and a great bunch of guys. The lifeguards, it seems, eventually do pitch up for their shift.

The transition from South Africa (in the heart of our winter) to Bali is an experience in it’s own. It’s like switching to summer in the space of one day. Shock number 2 is the Balinese culture and it’s people. It’s one thing to meet a foreigner in SA and think that they’re a little odd but when it becomes the norm without warning, it’s a little more difficult to deal with. My first day in Bali was spent soaking all this in.

The engaging nature of the Balinese was lesson number one. I stayed in Kuta upon arrival. This is the tourist hub of Bali. Everyone you meet (I mean meet not see because everyone you pass tries to make friends) wants to sell you something or offer some sort of service. If they weren’t trying to pull me into their shop they’d be shouting things like “You want Massage? You want jiggy jig?” or “Taxi, you want taxi?”. If you go to Bali this is how it is. GET USED TO IT OR DON”T GO!

Lesson number two was all about Malaria and the Doxytab I was taking to ensure I didn’t get it. I’ve been told since that Doxytab is one of the mildest Malaria tablets available. If that’s true, I don’t even want to know what the others are like. Admittedly I wasn’t quite tripping but the combination of jetlag, Doxytab and culture shock was almost enough to make me doubt my own sanity. Bali is considered safe from Malaria. I got bitten, I stopped my medication and 2 months later I’m still Malaria free… I hope.

Lesson number three was simple. It’s nice to travel alone but it’s better to be with friends. After locating Dwight and Garth at the end of day two I felt a little more at ease. Everything was starting to settle down. We started making plans and chatted about what to do and most importantly I had some buddies to chat to in the line up. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing like meeting new people and chatting away about surf around the world. There’s just something good about being with people you know.

Soon enough Mike and Marek arrived from their respective destinations and once the crew of 5 was together and everyone had caught up or become acquainted, the boys decided on a serious night out. I decided to spend the evening in quiet meditation. Actually it was more like shelter from the storm that was brewing in my head. The doxy was taking hold and I wasn’t quite sure which way to go.

I’ll have to let Mike fill you in on what happened next…

“It gets a little blurred from here... We arrived at 66 and it was empty - dead! The place next door looked tight though and we went in for our one drink policy... The barman then said that the place only cooked from 1am and that we should stay... Dwight suggested the 1 tequila and we wait to check it out - the rest of the night went down as smooth and as quickly as that Tequila did - easy!

Mav hit form and went up to girls and was inviting them over for drinks and general conversation, the club started to pick up, the music got good and more importantly more drinks went down... tequila was our friend, our lubricant between the people of Bali and each other...

Here’s what I remember: When you have new legs and are wasted dancing is hard... The view of the beach from this place was unbelievable... 50% of locals in the club are more than likely hookers so watch out... One dude, tripping off his face, was loving my crutch and dancing with it like it was a girl... Marek likes to jump in pools when he is boozed and then laughs hard at the cleaner following him around who’s mopping the floor whilst apologising hard... The cleaner then laughs at him because it’s the funniest thing he’s seen in a while... Booze is expensive!

Dwight and Garth are dark horses and could have come right if there weren’t girls at home... People in Bali and travellers are cool... Met these Norwegian girls and Aussie guys who were good fun.... I got in at like 6am and was let in by Darryl...

When I woke up at 11am drunk as hell and jet lagged, Marek and I laughed so hard I didn’t think I’d breath again... I was hung over and would be for the rest of the day... We went to the beach and let Marek get back on his board... Coke was all I could keep down so we watched him and planned what we’d be doing the next day…”

Once the boys got that out of their systems we were ready to hit a small island east of Bali called Nusa Lembongan. To get there we had to take a ferry from Sanur harbour. A mad taxi ride and a great breakfast later we were ready to cruise. I’m not sure why but we were surprised to see some disturbing cargo being taken from a taxi and loaded on board our ferry. A few live chickens and a pig were going to make the journey with us. Bird flu with your eggs and toast? I don’t think so. The boys weren’t taking any chances. Dwight and Garth soon had us sorted out on a speed boat. It took some negotiating but the boys got it sorted.

mmm…Nusa Lembongan… This is where the island life really kicked in. Time just stands still. There’s no hustle or bustle. I can just picture father time chilling out on a deck chair at Made’s place. I see him sipping on home made banana juice while chatting to Made about some deal involving sand for his hour glass. On Lembongan Made is THE MAN! We stayed at his losmen (bungalows) while we were there and he really looked after us.

Here’s what Marek had to say about him.

Check-in at “Made’s Place”. Highly recommended, even if it’s just to meet Made and see how he works the deals. “No problem”, “How much you want” and “Three million” are his favourite expressions. Made will sell sand to Arabians and it’s a beautiful thing to watch!

Lembongan is home to Shipwrecks. A sick right hander that changes with the tides like the weather changes in Cape Town. Everyday without fail we’d see smitten, 2 foot, uncrowded slop at low tide turn into 4-6 foot perfection with more traffic than Singapore airport at high tide and then simply fade back into oblivion with the outgoing tide. Luckily for us Made sorted us out with a boat and a captain to take us to a ‘secret’ spot that broke nearby.

This ‘secret’ spot happened to be advertised on the wall at his place. Even so, we still managed to score 4-5 foot lefts with just one Japanese guy in the line up. Shipwrecks however is the jewel of Lembongan. It’s the one spot where I paddled out and within 3 waves I felt right at home. There are two other well known waves on the island. Playgrounds (a fun right hander) and Lacerations (a not so fun left hander) never really made an appearance. I can safely say I didn’t mind. Shipwrecks regardless of the crowds was the place to be.

The island had to come to an end eventually. In three days we had done enough surfing, eating and chilling to cover the rest of our trip. Needless to say we didn’t leave it at that. Instead we headed back to mainland Bali for some more good times.

Day 6 according to Marek:

Leaving Lembongan this morning. The swell had died down completely and there was not much left when we said good bye at 9am. Made had organised a speedboat for us which got us back to Bali in under 30 min. GO MADE! Then we entered the madness of Bali and Kuta.

The guys all had admin to do so we headed through to Kuta and split up for the rest of the morning.

We slowly made our way through to Uluwatu via the airport (more admin). Accommodation was hard to find but we eventually settled at Rocky’s Bungalows after Garth negotiated an epic deal for the crew.

Rest of the evening we spent chilling and Dwight directed us to an awesome restaurant in Jimbaran Bay where we had the opportunity to sample the best seafood on the island so far. PASSED OUT at 9pm!

Our last week in Bali was spent living on a cliff overlooking Bingin, Dreamland and Impossibles. This was where we surfed every day. Our routine since Lembongan was simple:

• Wake up at 5:30am-surf check.
• Dawner till the crowds get bad or our arms give in.
• Breakfast and a snooze was a natural next step.
• Surf check round 11am and another surf to work up a lunch time appetite.
• Kick back and chat after lunch.
• PM surf before supper.
• Find a good place to eat. Meet some new people
• In bed round 10pm (not by choice…it just happened).

At the end of two weeks I was not happy to but definitely OK with going home. I had my fair share of waves, met some really cool people, experienced new things to my hearts content and just unwound totally and completely in every possible way. It seems I was not alone…

“It is wild and has been the most fun I have had in a long time... The boys were awesome to travel with and made it easy... The people we met were great and I’ll hold onto the friendships...” - Mike.

“So, I find myself on the deck chair after having the traditional breakfast of fruit salad and banana milkshake. Have spent a week in Bali with good friends and have had the opportunity to properly recharge the batteries. It has been good to see Garth and Dwight again, Mike I will see in Tokyo next week and Darryl has become a life long friend. Was good to feel the surf again, the salt water and the push of the wave. It reminds you of what is important in your life...” - Marek.

By Darryl Brandreth

Some interesting and useful facts:

1. The Boeing I flew in travelled at an approximate ground speed of 900km/h at an altitude of about 12 000m while the outside temperature get’s down to a frosty -54 deg Celsius.
2. The cops in Bali are corrupt. We only checked them once in all of two weeks when they happened to pull us over. It was nicely explained that we could pay our fine at the magistrate’s office in the city or simply pay a spot fine of 100 000 Rupiah. The boys then negotiated the spot fine down to 50 000 Rupiah (+- R35.00) and settled it then and there. Needless to say we didn’t get a receipt and also noticed that only foreigners were being pulled over.
3. When the locals paddle out at a spot they pretty much take over. They paddle around you no matter how long you’ve been waiting for a wave and drop in whenever they feel. Make friends with them and you’ll be just fine.
4. Everything but booze is cheap. This doesn’t mean you should try and enjoy yourself with any ‘high’ end recreational options. For a country that dishes out life imprisonment for drug charges, the shit sure is available. Chances are though that the guy who’s trying to shove some weed in your hand is actually a police informer. Whatever you do, just keep walking…
5. Mozzies SUCK!
   Doxytab SUCKS!
   Jetlag SUCKS!
   Turbulence SUCKS!
   Bali ROCKS!!!

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