Cobden - West Coast - South Island

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I didn't have much luck on the West Coast this trip. The winds are really tough on this side with the typical SW flow obviously creating stiff onshores for most spots. Looked at some amazing coastline along the road north and can imagine that with the right conditions there'd be many waves going off. I'd love to surf one of the rivermouths below the Glaciers and the sub-tropical rainforest that covers this section of the island. Next time....

I did end up surfing Cobden near Greymouth. The north side of the river has some brown water and some decent peaks somewhat like a Newport jetty wave. On the positive side, it was protected from the wind and the water was about 10 degrees warmer than the East Coast. Had a fun surf with a guy from Wales, (he seemed to think it was great), and a couple other locals recovering from their Christmas fun.

Big Bay Hut

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Woke up early to bluebird skies and a light offshore breeze. I ran out through the flax down to the beach for my first clear view of the bay. It's absolutely huge. The beach is literally over 3 miles long between the two rivermouths. The south side of the bay stretches about 8 miles out from the beach and the north about 6. I quickly made up my porridge breakfast and coffee, packed up my gear for the day and headed through the forest to the swing bridge to cross the river. The path through was a muddy bog after the past two days of rain. I was shin deep in mud 20 feet up from the river! Another barely marked deer trail to get back to the beach where I had to cross a waist deep river anyways. It took me about an hour to go 2 km's. I still had about 5-6 km's to go....

I kept up a steady pace jumping from rock to rock, but soon saw the wind starting to come up from the west making my chances for a surf slim. I made it to Crayfish Rock and had a good look at the best wave in the bay. A great looking right point breaking mechanically over large boulders. Unfortunately, the wind had kicked in and was blowing out the head-high waves. Pretty difficult to be on it here when the wind can change direction 4 times in 20 minutes and the hut is a 2 1/2 hour walk from the break. Should've brought a tent.... I decided to have a little lunch and go fishing. It was a beautiful sunny day and somebody must have felt sorry about the waves being blown out so I actually caught not just one but two fish. I'm calling em blue cod but truth be told I'm not really sure what they were. I had to throw them back anyways cause they were definitely on the small side.

After another 1 1/2 hours tramping back along the north side of the bay I reached the rivermouth. The mouth itself was looking mighty ferocious so I walked up the river for a bit and found what looked to be a good spot to cross. I put my camera in my waterproof bag, stripped down to my speedos and started wading across. The glacial runoff was pretty chilly but luckily it was only waist deep keeping my backpack out of the water. The river was about 40 yards across at this point so I was able to make it across pretty quickly. I jogged up the beach to warm back up and then thought I'd better change back into some pants before heading back to the hut just in case someone had shown up. It had been 3 days since I'd seen another person. Talk about solitude... Luckily I had changed clothes because Philip from Germany had arrived. Really nice guy, crazy enough to attempt the Pyke River Route on his own. I've heard you sometimes have waist to chest deep river crossings when it's been dry. I can't imagine how Philip will find it on his own. I gave him an extra gas canister for his stove in case he had to wait for the water levels to drop somewhere. It was nice to have a little company that night.

Big Bay Hut

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

Woke up to pouring rain. The rain had been relentless for over 36 hours. The good thing about the rain is that it keeps the sandflies down. Sandflies are nasty, noiseless bloodsuckers who relentlessly attack any tiny bit of bare skin till they've left it covered in welts and have driven their victim halfway to insanity. If you don't normally cuss, spend ten minutes with a handful of sandflies and you will. Little F@#%ers!!!!

OK, back to Big Bay.... I slept in and recovered from the previous days hike in. Around lunchtime the rain stopped so I walked out to the beach and up to the rivermouth. About halfway there a giant circle opened up in the clouds above me showing beautiful blue skies for about 20 minutes. It soon closed up and started to pour rain again. It rained heavily through the afternoon, finally clearing around 9pm. Just in time to show off an incredible sunset.

Martin's Bay to Big Bay

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I left Martin's Bay Hut after a breakfast of porridge and coffee. Said my goodbye's to the Kiwi fishermen and started down the track in a light drizzle. The track to Long Reef is good but as soon as you start heading east into Big Bay it changes dramatically. At times there is no path and you have to push through the bush keeping an eye out for tiny orange triangles or buoy's people have tied to trees which mark the route. It got pretty stressful at times. It started to rain pretty heavily and I was climbing into and out of steep ravines, stepping into knee deep mud, all the time trying to keep an eye out for those damn triangles so I wouldn't wander off the route.

After a couple of hours of this I made it down to the beach which felt great. It wasn't a flat sandy beach though. It was a scramble over rocks, reefs,cobblestones and shells. I saw more abalone shells littering the beach than I've ever seen in my life! There was no shelter from the rain so I pushed on to Mackenzie Creek. I tried following the trail to the river crossing on the DOC map which was a mistake. I followed the trail till it disappeared into flax bush behind an estuary when my instinct had told me to stay on the beach. I ended up stumbling along deer trails for an extra half hour which zigzagged all over the place. Sometimes I was knee deep in mud, other times I had to crawl through the bush making sure my board wasn't getting dinged up... I finally thought I saw a clearing and made my way towards it only to find out I was on the edge of a creek with no bank to walk on. I was getting pretty fed up at this point and soaked to the bone by the rain, so I jumped into the waist deep freezing water, held my board on the surface to keep steady and waded about 50 yards downstream to the beach I could've walked right up if I'd listened to my instincts! Mackenzie Creek was nothing after that. I was feeling pretty cold so, now that I was finally on relatively flat ground I picked up the pace as best as I could against the northerly wind for the final 3 miles up the beach to Big Bay Hut.

Noticing a couple of buoy's tied to some sticks back from the beach I followed them over the sand dunes, through a forest of flax and finally found the hut a few hundred yards back from the ocean. It felt really good to make a fire, get dry, and change clothes. Pretty exciting day of tramping. I now know the difference in New Zealand between a track, (a well maintained walking trail) and a route, (general directions with next to zero maintenance, an overgrown deer track). The last time any work was done to clear the route to Big Bay was over five years ago.

Martin's Bay

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

I somehow managed to get a ticket on a backload flight from Te Anau in to Martin's Bay Lodge. Only cost me $125 rather than the $1,000 if I'd chartered it myself!! I kissed Hedda goodbye on the grassy runway, strapped my board down the middle between the six seats and then we took off over Lake Te Anau. The Pilot kept us at a low altitude to try and avoid the worst of the turbulent weather. A mix of dark clouds and blue sky hovered over the mountains. We followed the road to Milford up the Eglington Valley. The pilot pointed out some areas of the river that are being overtaken by Didymo, an invasive algae someone introduced to New Zealand about 4 years ago. It is devastating to be seen from above, Once crystal clear waters are infected with brown colored algae that looks like dirty toilet paper.

We soon crossed the Divide and were on the West Coast side of the mountains, heading up the Hollyford Valley. Stunning snow capped peaks rise straight up on both sides of Lake Mackerrow. The lake is about 15 miles long stretching towards the Tasman sea. Dolphins actually swim up the lake and work together as a team to herd trout for a special feast at the head of the lake. The pilot flew us straight out over the sea at Martin's Bay which was whipped up from strong northerly winds and circled back to the landing strip. I tried to keep my salami and cheese sandwich lunch down. Although the grassy landing strip didn't look very long, he landed smoothly and rolled to a stop using up only about half of its entire length. I later found out that this bush pilot, Shaun, once circled above Martin's Bay on a socked in cloudy day for over half an hour before diving straight down through a hole that opened up in the clouds, rushed his passengers onboard and then shot straight back up before that same hole could close back up.

After unloading my gear and getting ready for the sandflies I hiked the 2 hours to the hut at the mouth of Martin's Bay. No one there so I grabbed a sandwich and headed up the track to Long Reef. There's a seal colony there with a population of a few hundred. It's actually one of New Zealands largest. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon so I spent it lazing on the rocks giving the seals plenty of space. Later on I poked around in some great tide pools. The rivermouth looks to have some potential with a shallow sandbar built up in the mouth. Unfortunately, the waves were pretty small. Back at the hut that night I ended up meeting a couple of local guys who went out on the reef for a few hours and came back with half a dozen Paua (NZ Abalone), more mussels than we could eat and a few fish. Lucky for me they shared their catch that night along with some great stories of life on the South Island.

Catlin's - South Island - New Zealand

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Woke up to onshores at the little bay we'd camped at. Hedda and I stayed in the tent until the sun nearly had us sweating. Getting up and having a look at the surf I could see that the swell had dropped a bit and the wind was coming straight into the bay from the north. A neighbor of ours camping mentioned there might be a wave around the corner working and would we like to follow him around to see if it was? Kiwi hospitality at it's finest. We drove off down the dirt track, up and over a few hills, through a couple of gates entering a farmer's property, and finally through a couple of sheep fields to find a left firing down a point. Great waves all day!

A Bay somewhere in the Catlin's

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I heard about this spot from a guy up the coast in Oamaru. In New Zealand the locals are so incredibly cool. You occasionally read in the news about stories of locals beating people up for surfing "their spot" or stink eye's. They've never heard about it in NZ. I guess they've got so many waves and so few people they don't need to worry about crowds. This little bay had great little barrels in an amazing setting. There is no way I would've found the dirt track that leads to it if I hadn't been told about it from that guy. We camped here for a few days on a grassy paddock overlooking a creek that fed the sandbanks.

Best Fush and Chups Ever!!!

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The lady that filled our gas tank sent us over to this takeaway that had the finest fish and chips in NZ. Award winning with a certificate from Crisco to prove it. Tasty lunch for Hedda and I!

Dunedin - South Island, New Zealand

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Paddling out for my first surf here, I saw yellow eared penguins walking between their burrows on the hillside and out to the surf. It was pretty cool to see these guys in the wild. In Oamaru, Hedda and I had stood in the rain for almost an hour, looking down a 100 foot cliff with 20 other tourists just trying to catch a glimpse of the same penguins. I was virtually alone with them just a few feet away, watching them waddle into the surf next to me. Here I was, just another silly looking creature dressed in black, flopping around in the surf.

Once outside waiting for the next set, I saw a fur seal come flying down the line on the wave of the afternoon. I was ducking under the lip with him just a few feet away riding the wave. Fun. Kind of... After the wave finished he poked his head out of the water about ten feet away to announce his presence. He stared me down pretty good to let me know who was boss out here. I asked one of the local guys who was out if he was a regular and he told me yeah, the seal name is Jerry. Hi Jerry, nice to meet ya. The wild life here is amazing.

Summer in New Zealand

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

It's summer in the southern hemisphere, but you wouldn't know it in Dunedin. Listed below are a few of the item's I've had to pick up here.

2 pairs of wool socks
Long sleeve flannel shirt
Thermal underwear - bottoms and tops
Mitts
Short sleeve .5mm neoprene shirt to wear under my fullsuit - I'm still freezing out there!

We've been staying in a campground, (hot showers) and playing with penguins and fur seals. Surf has been pretty good on a couple of days.

South Island - New Zealand

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We picked up a little Subaru station wagon in Methven and hit the coast as soon as we could. Banks peninsula was our first stop. We based ourselves in the little harbor town of Akaroa for a few days eating fish and chips and enjoying the amazing views of the bays that circle the peninsula. The photo here is of one of the 12 bays that circle the peninsula picking up different swell angles and work in different winds. This place seemed to like the combination this day.

Summercloud Bay, South Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The company Ocean and Earth were kind enough to repair the zippers on my boardbag free of charge which gave me an excuse to roll down the south coast for a couple days of surf. They're warehouses are located at Sussex Inlet just down the road from Wreck Bay. The first day was good with consistent head-high waves peaking and pealing off perfectly across the reef. The nor-east breeze was light and the grommet bodyboarders were getting barrels on every little wave that came through. It was kind of strange for me to surf with only bodyboarders. They were pretty laid back for kids but still it was kinda strange to be the only one standing up. I surfed into the dark and was out by myself for the last hour of light once the kids left to get back for dinner. The sun sets in the southern corner of the bay to the south which means the waves were a beautiful back-lit green for the last hour. On the way in I stepped right onto an urchin at sunset. Plucked out some nice pieces in the van that night with the tweezer's. Camped right there in the Park with just Kangaroo's for company. Incredibly dark as there is nothing around. The next day I had breakfast with the local dog walking crew down at Manyana beach and listened to all the local gossip. Then I headed back for another long session at Black Rock, or is it Summercloud? What about Aussie Pipe? So many names for this spot. The surf was even bigger the second day and the nor-easters were stronger cleaning the swell up even more. It was a little bit more crowded but still plenty of waves for me and my bodyboarding buddies. There were even a couple of guys coming in with surfboards as I was leaving... Great waves for a 24 hour period.

Treachery, Central Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Great 2 days surfing this beachbreak. Dave and I had it nearly to ourselves 12 years ago. While it's gotten more popular it's still relatively empty and the waves are great. Wedgy, unpredictable barrels down towards the middle of the beach and a more distinct peak up near the headland. Crystal clear waters, and this peak to myself. Can't really complain...

Lennox Head, North Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I wasn't really expecting much surf on the east coast of Oz at this time of the year, but have been really lucky. Leaving Brad and Linda on the Gold Coast, (along with some of the most crowded line-up I've ever seen at D-bah) we stopped first at Lennox. I raced down the grassy headland and got the last couple of hours light with overhead, offshore walls running down the point. It was really cool to surf there again nearly 12 years since traveling through with Rich and Dave. I even lucked into one of those Greenough barrels that comes through across the inside, sticking my arm in the wall of the wave to stall and wait for it. Yep, I also got cut up on both feet and one finger got slashed pretty good. Some things never change and the rocks at Lennox are legendary for scraping bark from ya!

Main Beach, North Stradbroke Island - QLD

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

What a great few days of surf!. Main Beach has to be one of the funnest beachbreaks I've ever surfed. Lines of swell coming in from the north east wrap around a headland and form excellent peaky punchy waves. The surf was really consistent as well keeping the weekend crowd pretty happy. The waves sometimes grow as they reel off down the line almost breaking parallel to the beach. With the consistent swell and nor-east wind blowing offshore all three days we were there, Brad and I didn't dry off the entire weekend, surfing pretty much non-stop.

Broken Head - Northern NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

After leaving Angourie, one of the most beautiful, tranquil beaches I've ever come across, we headed north up to Lennox Head where we had tea and biscuits with Gran and John who live up on the hill overlooking the point. Rich and I had spent a lot of time here years ago, so it was great to catch up on all of the local news. Apparently the weather is going back to how it was 20-30 years ago with with more tropical rain in the afternoon, wild hail storms that drop hail the size of tennis balls and more swell. The point pumped all winter long this year seeing some of the best surf in local recent memory.

We camped out that night in pouring rain at Broken Head. We cooked up a nice meal in the van and got cozy for the night. The van keeping us warm and dry. I woke up quite early and decided to check the surf. The storm had passed but left a ragged ocean in it's wake. Not too much swell out there and the waves that did come in were pretty torn up from the night's winds. I walked around the point and saw this beautiful sunrise coming up out of the Pacific. I've been taking quite a few early morning walks recently and always finding something special. If not surf, then a magical sunrise, or some funny looking native animals running for cover in the bush as the day gets started.

Angourie Back Beach - Northern NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

How much fun can you have surfing? I think this photos says it all. A few people out sharing a perfect little peak on a sunny offshore afternoon. We spent a few days camping in the National Park at Angourie and had perfect weather and waves. The wind was coming from the north so I only surfed the point one morning when it was calm. The back beach was offshore nearly the entire time and had these perfect 3-4 foot A-frame peaks running down the beach. So much fun on the twinny.

Tuncurry - NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The surf has been pretty small the past few days but I've still been managing to get out there for some small but fun beachbreak surfs. We started up the coast and stayed in Catherine Hill Bay our first night. Staying here reminded me of good ol' Simon, our larrikin Aussie mate who caused all kinds of trouble in California in the early 90's before essentially getting deported from the US back to Lennox Head. He had always told Rich and I how good some of these spots could get. Surf was fun but small. Perfect offshores and some of the friendliest older locals you could ever meet. I was even invited back to surf with them any time. Nice little shorey wave. The locals even let me know about one of the points around the corner that most people don't ever get too. The next day we headed up to Boomerang Beach where there was a really nice set up in the southern end of the beach. Swells were refracting off the headland making for some really nice wedgy peaks that were protected from the afternoon southerlies. Head high and only few school kids out. Perfect little twinny waves... Later that day we made our way up to Tuncurry. The northern breakwall here is really good. It set's up a bit like D-bah with a rebound off the wall creating really peaky, punchy waves. Fun surf till dark, but a little crowded after the solo session at Boomerang. Heading to Hat Head National Park this afternoon. Hope the swell picks up.

Dreamride

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I've got to find a way to ship one of these babies home. Load it up with boards and still room to sleep in. Check out those rims too!!! Long Beach to Lowers in 15 minutes.

The Farm - South Coast, NSW

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Nick and I had a late start driving south from Sydney and arrived late somewhere near Wollongong. Too late for a caravan park to still be open so we camped out in the beach carpark and woke up to howling north winds blowing the surf to bits. We started cruising down the coast and ended up at the Farm, just south of Shellharbour. This beautiful beach is tucked up in this little bay, protected from the winds. We had a really fun surf in the peaky head-high waves. Crystal clear water that is getting much warmer as we head north. There are so many twist and turns on the aussie coastline that you're guaranteed clean conditions somewhere. Just have to keep looking to find it. We ended up camping at the state park here surfing heaps, BBQ'ing some salmon and having a roaring fire to keep warm. Still spring here.

Bell's Beach - Victoria

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Happy 36th Birthday!

Three days of pumping surf at Bell's, Winkipop and Bird Rock October 3rd, 4th and 5th. What more could a surfer ask for for his 36th birthday? After the wild surf down south this was heaven. Perfect ruler-edged lines of overhead swell with all day offshores.

Johanna - Victoria

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I've been getting hammered down here. Nearly all my sessions I've surfed alone. I guess I should learn something from that. Follow the locals... The thing is, offshore, onshore, high tide, low tide, tiny or fricking huge, if that's what it looks like when we happen to be passing through that's what I'm going to end up surfing. Traveling up and down the coast is a crap shoot where you hope you end up at the right place at the right time. Without any kind of local knowledge you wake up, assess the conditions and try to make the right call on where to search for the day.
On this day at Johanna I got absolutely slaughtered. I'd started the morning looking at some of the reefs in the area, but the swell wasn't really clean enough for any of them to be working. The offshores were cleaning it up though, so in the afternoon I thought I'd have a chance at Johanna. It looked absolutely perfect from the lookout. Offshore, empty, clean and green back lit barrels. I grabbed one of my bigger boards and headed out. After 30 minutes of non-stop paddling and catching only one wave on the inside I pulled out. I'd been wondering where all the other surfers were. I guess they knew better and were up at Bells actually riding waves rather than getting drilled into the sand like me....

Cactus - South Australia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Ummm... Yeah, there's waves out there in the desert. I surfed mid-afternoon on this day, (trying to avoid the evening feeding hour), and believe me it wasn't as good as this photo makes it look. The wind is really temperamental here in S.A. I still had some solid, clean overhead walls to myself. Somewhat reminiscent of Silverstrand even though this is over reef and breaks in exactly the same spot every time. Very deep channel I'm guessing. When I was heading out this local guy, (I guess he's a local since he lives there half the year in a caravan) started to have a yarn with me about the place. After a few minutes of talking and looking at the waves, I thanked him for for the conversation, and headed out to surf. When I got back in he was laughing at me saying, "Oh that's good you survived!! I forgot to tell you about the 100 bronze whalers that live in the channel just next to the wave. No one's been surfing that spot since a couple of guys got taken there a few years back." They've got a funny sense of humour over here in South Australia. At least it wasn't 100 Great White's...

Streaky Bay - South Australia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

There's been plenty of swell the past few days but the winds have been howling all directions and I haven't found the spot with the right combinations of swell, wind and tide. Looking down at a left point with no one out I decided I had to do something. One of the local guys pulled up while I was checking it and he told me the wind might lighten up or turn a little more from the south which would be a good thing for this spot. He said he'd probably see me out there in a little while. I thought that was encouraging so I suited up and ran down some stairs to the rocky beach below.

It wasn't perfect but it was overhead and empty. I asked Hedda to keep an eye on me since this is a notoriously sharky spot and no one else was in the water. I'm not sure what she could've done if I actually was attacked but it felt better all the same. The paddle out was nice and easy through a channel just to the south. I did see a pretty big shadow somewhere in that deep water so I kept pretty close to the reef. I ended up catching a few waves before getting kinda spooked out of the water. The winds came up really hard onshore and I was pretty much just duck-diving most of the sets. For some reason I wasn't real comfortable sitting waaay outside to wait for the bomb sets.

This place is called "The Granites", and I found out why when coming in. The whitewater surges onto these huge granite rocks. When making my way in I ended up in one of the channels between the waves and the rocks where the water was well over my head. The rocks were totally smooth which was a good thing, but it also meant there was nothing to grab onto! I got lucky and without getting hit by a wave, was lifted up in a surge and onto a rock where I ran before the next wave hit.

Flatrock - Coffin Bay, South Australia

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I checked this spot early in the morning after driving in circles, nearly running down a HUGE black snake of some sort and running up the dirt track so I wouldn't get the van stuck in the sand. The tide was coming up and this shallow sucky reef wave was just beginning to work when I snapped this photo. I started to get my wetsuit on and then the wind started howling cross-shore. Not too much luck this day for surf. The National Park was beautiful though. I'd love to go back with a 4X4 to do some exploring sometime.

Smashing Roo's

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

A word of advice for those of you who haven't driven in Australia at dusk. It's bloody dangerous!!!! I know you're probably thinking about all of the mad footy players, cricketer's and other freaks that inhabit this red continent but I mean the wildlife. Hedda and I were driving into Coffin Bay National Park the other day and nearly had heart attacks at every turn. I was creeping down the road. I mean I'm driving a slow little camper van going about 2mph and families of kangaroo's are hopping right into the road in front of me. We only drove a few miles but in that time we almost ran over two families of roos, assorted wallabies, more rabbits than I can count, a couple of snakes and probably an Emu or two. Once we arrived to the campground Hedda walked out into the darkness to scope out the best campsite. Armed with only a headlamp with low batteries she came face to face with a Big Red Roo that easily towered over her. She kept her cool and calmly hopped back to the van to tell me we were just fine where we were.

Darwin at Dusk

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

We've been in Australia less than 24 hrs and Hedda
is already getting attacked by cross-dressing footy
players. It's gonna be interesting driving straight
through the guts of this place.

We're off to Australia tonight

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I still can't believe I was able to spend the past five months here in Indonesia. What a dream. Hedda thought we'd be here for two months at the most. I didn't want to break it to her then that it was going to be a lot longer than that. Still, our marriage has survived, I've surfed some of the best waves of my life, and now I've even got her considering a trip to the outback surf destination of Cactus in South Australia. I really got lucky with Hedda... Check Hedda's blog for a Best of Asia review. Above is one last look at the Bukit.

Dengue Hospital 2

, originally uploaded by ladyhedda.

Waking the next day at 4:30am to the mullah's morning calls I knew I had to contact Hedda and let her know where I was. The 5 or 6 teenage girl nurses were basically useless. It wasn't till after a few days had passed that I realized they were giving me sleeping pills in the morning. No wonder I felt so completely out of it!!!! At one point during the day I woke to discover my IV line was blood red. Thought that was kind of strange... The nurses had been coming in to monitor the level of the IV bag and had been replacing it when it got low. I was knocked out. Probably due to the daily dose of sleeping pills I'd been given that morning, so I hadn't noticed the drip. I was blown away once I realized that instead of receiving the nourishing, hydrating fluids from the IV, my blood was actually being pumped out of my body and was filling the IV bag!! There being no call button for the nurses at this hospital, I grabbed a flip flop from the ground and started whacking the wall trying to get someones attention. Eventually a couple of nurses came in and nonchalantly took the IV needle out of my hand. No worries, this happens here all the time I thought. I decided I had to call Hedda right then. I explained to the one male nurse that I needed to make an international phone call. There was no question of doing this from the hospital since they didn't have a working phone line. I got on the back of his motorbike and we rode over to the Telkom office a couple of miles away. This was one of the most difficult phone calls I've ever had to make. To call the one you love half a world away to tell her you have contracted some scary tropical fever is not easy. I really didn't want her to worry about me. I also began to realize just how serious my situation was. Hedda was incredible. She stayed calm, organized the insurance and began to chart her own flight changes to come to me. After finishing the phone call to Hedda I actually felt much better knowing I wasn't completely alone on that island out there. The photo above is of the Hospital in Medan where I eventually met up with Hedda after a week in the Clinic on Simuelue.

Dengue Hospital

, originally uploaded by ladyhedda.

That first night in the hospital was hell. I was still alternating between sweating and shivering under the blankets and was suffering from a major headache as well as pain throughout my body. I was woken at 4:30am. My room was about 50 feet from the hospital mosque so, five times daily I had to endure listening to the call to prayer. Aaarrrggghhhhh!!! Once the sun came up I had my first good look at the room I was in. On the positive side of things, my bed wasn't bad and the sheets seemed relatively clean. That's about it on the positive side. On the other side of things...... A/C was not working no matter how many people came in and fidgeted with the remote control for it. No fan either. The temperature hung right around 90 degrees Fahrenheit day and night. My room was in the corner of the building with two sets of windows so I had plenty of natural light. Now I know you might think this is a good thing but unfortunately because there were so many curious Indonesians constantly poking their head's into my room to stare at the sick foreigner it wasn't. The walls were absolutely filthy. On my left side the wall had fingerprints of blood sliding down it along with some sprays and splatters of blood that had never been cleaned up. Unbelievable!!! The toilet was a typical squat situation which I nearly fell into that first morning and was filled with mosquitoes. There was a TV with Indonesian language channels but at that moment I couldn't move let alone try to read or watch TV. Dr Leo drifted in at some time during the day to tell me his first diagnosis of Malaria was incorrect. I actually had Typhoid. Loads of anti-biotics and other pills were given to me. I later discovered the nurses were mistakenly giving me sleeping pills during the daytime. Huh??? Who knows what else I took... Some involuntary moaning slipped out as I lay there drifting in and out of sleep/consciousness, hallucinating about tall dark figures striding towards me whenever I closed my eyes.

Dengue Fever

Originally uploaded by m_hagen

The call to prayer at the mosque across the street let me know dawn was not far off. I hadn't slept all night, racked with body aches and sweating like crazy. I knew right away that morning I was in trouble.... The moaning call to prayer actually sounded almost as shitty as I felt. As soon as I heard some life waking up downstairs I grabbed the railing to the stairs and made my way down to let Mama know I wasn't well. A'an from the Losmen drove me straight to the hospital. The two main buildings were shut down from the recent earthquakes so the reception had moved into one of the smaller buildings. The nurse unwrapped a sterile needle, they took some blood, and told me to come back later. A'an took me back to the Baroqah Losmen where I lay down, alternating between sweating and shivering in the 90 degree heat of the afternoon. I didn't take any meds since I didn't know what I had at this point. It was a very long and painful afternoon at the hotel. Later that evening, A'an drove me back over to the hospital. After waiting a few minutes for Dr. Leo to finish playing badminton, he came over to give me his initial diagnosis of Malaria. Wasn't too happy to hear that.... He said hopefully it's not Falciparum which people can die from. Um yeah, I said let's hope it's not that. You might not be able to play much badminton the next couple of weeks if it is. Back into the emergency room so they could draw more blood for more tests and then they hooked me up to the damn IV drip. They laid me down in a room an hour later at about 11 pm after giving me a Panadol for the pain and fever. Great! Give me some damn morphine!!!

Dengue Fever

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The call to prayer at the mosque across the street let me know dawn was not far off. I hadn't slept all night, racked with body aches and sweating like crazy. I knew right away that morning I was in trouble.... The moaning call to prayer actually sounded almost as shitty as I felt. As soon as I heard some life waking up downstairs I grabbed the railing to the stairs and made my way down to let Mama know I wasn't well. A'an from the Losmen drove me straight to the hospital. The two main buildings were shut down from the recent earthquakes so the reception had moved into one of the smaller buildings. The nurse unwrapped a sterile needle, they took some blood, and told me to come back later. A'an took me back to the Baroqah Losmen where I lay down, alternating between sweating and shivering in the 90 degree heat of the afternoon. I didn't take any meds since I didn't know what I had at this point. It was a very long and painful afternoon at the hotel. Later that evening, A'an drove me back over to the hospital. After waiting a few minutes for Dr. Leo to finish playing badminton, he came over to give me his initial diagnosis of Malaria. Wasn't too happy to hear that.... He said hopefully it's not Falciparum which people can die from. Um yeah, I said let's hope it's not that. You might not be able to play much badminton the next couple of weeks if it is. Back into the emergency room so they could draw more blood for more tests and then they hooked me up to the damn IV drip. They laid me down in a room an hour later at about 11 pm after giving me a Panadol for the pain and fever. Great! Give me some damn morphine!!!

Somewhere up north - part 2

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The next day I went back to Matanorong first thing in the morning and it was clean and overhead. I surfed for hours and hours this day. Spit out of two barrels this day, once in the morning and once again right at sunset. What the wave lacks in size and length it more than makes up for in intensity. The reef set up feels more Tahitian in the way it draws water off the reef as a set approaches. Lots of barrels..... Even on a head high wave you'll get tubed easily here.

Another day, outside of the bay on the exposed south coast, I took a two hour hike to have a look around the corner. Along the beach ten foot swells exploded onto dry reefs lifted 6 feet out of the water from the recent earthquakes. Incredible beauty in the waves power. I climbed a small cliff and found a local path cut through the jungle. Every hundred yards or so a clearing with coconut husks in a pile would appear. Dense jungle for another 45 minutes. I could've used a machete to cut through it was so thick. I eventually arrived on a clifftop overlooking a bay. I scrambled down some loose volcanic rocks, sliding on my ass half-way down and successfully slicing open my right heel and the one of my fingers on my left hand. At least I didn't ding my board.... I decided now would be a good time for lunch. I cut my papaya in half and salvaged some smashed bananas from my backpack and looked out at a left breaking into a gorgeous sandy bay with no roads, no villages, no people along the southern tip of a beautiful island somewhere in Indonesia.

An Island somewhere up north....

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This island is pretty amazing. The entire time I was healthy and surfing the only surfers I met were either staying at the surf camp or passing through on a boat trip. There's only three guys at the camp so that makes for a crowd of four if we all decide to surf at the same time. The island is about half the size of Nias and I surfed alone most days at the main wave on the island. The guys on the two boat trips I saw, land by plane from Medan, have lunch at Baroqah, (if they were brave enough to attempt the local cuisine) then jump straight on a boat for ten days. How sad it is they have almost no interest in the local people and how they live. Air conditioning and DVD's on a boat. What a ridiculous excuse for a surf trip. Where's the sense of adventure in a trip like that???? Anyways, I'm getting off the subject. I've been renting a motorbike from Bapak Hamdan and exploring the southern reaches of the island in search of waves. Luckily on my first day some local kids showed me around some of the more obvious spots. As well as the best wave I've surfed so far, Matanorong. What an ass-numbing day that was. Holding onto my board with one hand and the back of a banana seat with the other is a helluva way to get to the surf. We must've ridden over 50 miles that day checking the place out. Of course at the end of the day we headed back to Matanorong - the first spot we'd looked at. The surf was really clean, but small. Head-high peelers ending up on fingers of dry reef. Still really fun and the local kids were stoked to watch someone surfing their spot.

Aceh Sudoku

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Last night, after dinner, one of the teenage boys who works at the Baroqah Losmen came over to watch me sweat over my Sudoku. He seemed pretty interested so once I finished the puzzle I was working on I started teaching him how it works. He did not speak a single word of English... Pretty damn difficult to explain Sudoku in Bahasa Indonesian when I can barely order a coffee in a cafe. He had been watching me finish the last puzzle quite intensely so I set him loose on the next puzzle more or less on his own just saying,"tidak or ya", when he asked where a number should go. You wouldn't believe how excited he was when he finished it. Another Sudoku addict.

My God!!!

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

All the kids on Simeulue keep calling me "My God." No matter how many times I try to correct them by saying, "No it's Mi-chael", they just can't get it right. That's just how they pronounce it. So, I gave up and am going to assume the role they have given me.

Nias footage from last year

I´ve finally been able to upload a couple of videos. Go easy on me. I´m still too lame to figure out how to show video directly on the blog so you´ll have to click on the link provided to see me nearly get my head taken off last year. Hedda, help.....

http://youtube.com/user/twinfintravels

Lagundri Bay - Nias

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

After four days of rain, onshores and not much surf the swell came up this morning. I went out and caught a few early but it was still pretty bumpy from the outer water winds. It was looking better later in the afternoon when the wind switched to a stronger offshore and started to smooth the swell out into some straighter lines. My first wave in the afternoon was about 8' on the face. Started with a nice clean drop to a mid-face cutback before pulling into a nice long tube. Actually came out clean with a little puff of spit. Stoked! What a way to start a session! I actually considered going in after that one wave it was sooooo good. I then caught a couple of pretty average waves and then the crowd started to fill in. After watching a couple of sets roll through and not being in position for any of the waves I made a classic mistake.... Paddled for the first wave of the set. I was a little too deep so I held up and didn't drop in. Before turning around I could sense something monstrous approaching from the outside. The swell was building and a solid 12'+ wave was heaving onto the reef just in front of me. I didn't even consider duckdiving. I pushed my board away from me thankful for the long leash I'd decided to use, and dove for the bottom. The lip of the wave broke about 10 feet in front of me so I took the full impact right on the head. The initial impact drove me straight to the reef in the prayer position, (ironic huh) scratching the tops of my feet. Down for awhile I started scratching for the surface only to be hit from a second explosion and sent back to the bottom for some more prayer time. Eventually I found my leash, orientated myself and made it to the surface, only to take a quick 1/2 breath before the next wave mowed me down. Fortunately, by this time I had been washed through pretty far to the inside, so the impact wasn't too bad. Nearly a two wave hold down though. That's never fun! Once safely in the channel I checked out my wounds and found them to be pretty minor, then I thought,'No way I'm going in like that. Gotta catch one in.' By now the crowd was pretty well filled in. I kept looking for my wave but just couldn't find the right one at the right time. People paddling too deep, pulling back and trying to jockey for position. The swell was on the rise still and I was determined to redeem myself for the earlier destruction. A good sized set was approaching and Aussie Glen whose been visiting since the mid-eighties was stroking for it from waaay outside. I turned for it thinking I was in a better position for it and started paddling hard. Just before getting to my feet I looked back to see Glen still there. I slowed up so I wouldn't crumble the lip on him and at just that moment he pulled back and yelled for me to go. Well as you all know, if someone calls you into a wave you can't hold back. I put my head down and took a couple of hard stokes but it was too little too late. Didn't even try to get to my feet. Pushed the board aside and got launched standing straight up with the lip on a solid 10' low tide dredger. After the wash cycle I paddled to the beach with my tail between my legs. Mother nature showed me who was boss today.

Poor Man's Boat Trip

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I met up with Aaron, Dennis and their friends Evan and Tony on Nias. I've been wanting to check out the Banyaks and Simeulue for ages and was hoping to pull together a crew in Nias to share the costs of a boat with. After some initial hesitation the boys were convinced and I started to organize it. I spoke with Uni, the guy I stayed with here in 1999, and he called up his friend Harefa who owns a fishing boat. I took a bemo in to Teluk Dalam and checked out the boat. One of the guys was not impressed and wanted out. Back at Sorake his friends said they were going with or without him. So, he was in, reluctantly. After three more days of bargaining we settled on a price and itinerary with Harefa. Seven days at 1.2 million Rupiah per day. That works out to about $25 per person per day. The next day I was back on the bemo to Teluk Dalam to do the shopping. Teluk Dalam gets a pretty bad rap from most surfers that pass through there but to be fair it's not that bad. The smell of durian permeates the markets and the open sewage on the streets is pretty nasty but, the locals are friendly. I loved cruising through the market, bargaining with the ladies and loading everything onto the bike to take back to Harefa's place. We were up early the next morning and once again on a bemo to Teluk Dalam. The boys and I ran around doing some last minute shopping and loaded up the boat. We had to carry everything along a sketchy, broken, rotted wood plank dock, then cross a boat loaded with squealing pigs to get to Harefa's boat. Evan helped carry some live bacon on a stick off the pig boat that was docked next to ours. The locals loved it. The pigs kept screaming. The pigs just wouldn't quiet down. I swear you could see in their eye's that they knew where they were headed. I called into Mom and Dad to let them know where I was headed then finished loading the boat. The 35 foot Indonesian fishing boat with 20 surfboards, gear and food for five hungry boys and three crew seemed to look fine. Everbody was stoked to be starting out on this adventure. Once we got underway heading out to sea the boys started settling in and finding their own comfortable piece of the boat. Tony was on the bow of the boat downing beers and planning how to best use his daily ration of Vodka. Evan and Aaron laying down in the center of the boat next to the banana's cuddling. Aaron actually was hugging his surfboard ready to abandon ship at the first sign of trouble. Dennis and I were sitting central in the middle of it all keeping in the shade. We'd been motoring a couple of hours and everybody seemed pretty happy, even with a bit of rain and wind hitting us. We stayed pretty dry under the tarps and stretched out. Then Harefa called me over. One of the pistons had cracked and our seven day trip was over after only two hours. We limped slowly back to Lagundri which luckily was nearby. After talking to the boys we decided not to wait for another part or to get another boat. The good news is that I'm writing this four days later and it's been raining non stop since I got off the boat. I was pretty happy with Captain Harefa and would definitely head out with him another time. He knew the storm was coming and didn't want to take any chances. Good man. Next time I'll try to get a better weather forecast before getting on the boat....

Bawomataluo

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The surf at Lagundri the past week has been flawless. Overhead everyday and up to 2X overhead during the peak of the swell with excellent wind conditions. It's raining and onshore today and for once, I actually don't mind. A day of rest.

Garido from Guam, Anna, Maya and Sonia from the Czech Republic and I took a day trip up to Bawomataluo, a traditional Niassan village perched atop a mountain overlooking the bay at Lagundri. A steep stone staircase leads you from the road to the village. From the base of the stairs you see only blue sky and puffy white clouds above. This is meant to give the impression of a stairway to the Gods. There are more than 300 traditional houses arranged along a cross section of wide cobblestone avenues. No motorbikes. The design is distinctly nautical. Some scholars say the concept arose from villagers watching the Dutch ships pass by on their way to the Spice Islands in the east. The homes are supported by massive teak wood beams and throughout the house, no nails or bindings are used. All the pieces are either slotted together or are joined by hand hewn wooden plugs. Many homes have carved wooden crests to express the families status within the village. The tall roofs in imitation of sails are traditionally thatched or as is more common today, made of corrugated steel. It's amazing to have the sensation of standing in a harbour surrounded by ships when you're actually at an elavation of 1,200 feet in the hills, miles from the ocean. We were lucky enough to be invited into a home by a guy named Wilson. He was incredibly hospitable and really excited to share his home with us. Tea was brought out while we asked each other the usual questions in halting Bahasa. (I gotta learn more of this language.) Everyone was gathered in the main room when Anna and one of WIlson's sister's found out that they had both recently completed their thesis' on very similiar subjects about Nias island ancient artforms. They were both so excited they chatted for ages and swapped emails to keep in touch. What a coincidence??? The one house we were invited into....The 60' King's residence with the stone sacrifice tables was impressive as well. With the massive teak wood supports, the building looked solid. Wilson told me none of the traditional wooded structures were affected by any of the recent devastating earthquakes.
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Heading to Sumatra

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

I'm off to Medan (Sumatra) today, and then onto Nias and the surrounding islands. I'm not sure how long I'll spend there, but I am sure that I'll not have any internet access!

Check back in a couple of weeks, or maybe a month, or maybe 2 months..

Bali for a Day

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Hedda and I were really sad to be leaving Sumba. The unique culture, people and raw nature were incredible. We both want to go back. Of course we were also excited to be heading back to Bali, even if it was only for one day. We arrived around noonish and had loads to get done in preparation for Rinjani. E-mails, shopping and other errands kept us running around for a few hours. I of course, had it in the back of my mind that a sunset surf on the Bukit would be just the thing to do before going for the summit of Rinjani. So after seeing to my most important responsibilities and then making sure my Honey was comfortably set in front of a Hi-speed connection, (by indo standards), I ran back to the Palm Gardens, quickly negotiated a motorbike for 25,000rp and was soon speeding out to the surf. Not wanting to miss a single set, I was riding a little faster than normal, passing bemo's and pulling those outrageous U-turns in front of tour buses, chicken salesmen and everybody else. Passing the Nirmala market, I knew I was getting close to the Police checkpoint. I didn't want to waste time there digging out my International Driver's License, so I pulled right up on the tail of a speeding Kijang and hung there drafting it, trying to breathe through the dust and not get hit by any of the stones it was kicking up in it's wake. Luckily made it past the cops and then zipped out to Padang to get the first look at the size of the swell. Padang was just starting to break but with the full moon low tide I didn't want anything to do with it. In fact the only people out were two bodyboarders pulling into some green backlit pits before getting nailed on the dry reef end section. I kept riding down to Ulu's where the racetrack was delivering beautiful 6 foot green tubes running way past the cave. Only about 20 guys outwith a handful surfing the peak. I surfed into dark and had a handful of truly memorable classic Ulu rides. It felt great riding back to Kuta, salt drying on my eyebrows and wet boardshorts. Surfed out and ready for Rinjani.

Sumba

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

This was a good week at a really amazing bay. Really fun rights breaking over a few sections of reef and peeling into this bay. One of the days when the swell was up, the reef outside began to show some true potential and opened up with some almond shaped tubes reminicent of pre-earthquake Nias. Typically it was a bowly takeoff into long carving walls through to an unpredictable inside suckout over sometimes dry reef. You´d either get a nice round barrel or slammed and hit the reef guaranteed.

This is one of the most pristine beach enviornments I´ve ever seen with incredible wildlife. Crystal clear waters allow you to see fish while riding waves. One afternoon Hedda and I saw three giant sea eagles fighting over the territory of the bay. Screaming and slashing one another 30 feet above our heads. Walking out to the surf I´d see young boys riding bareback on horses along the sand. Heading over to help their fathers bring in the days catch. Sumba is really wild.

Sumba Ikat

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Not too many internet connections here in the East of Indonesia. We'll most likely be out of communication for another couple of weeks. Hedda and I just arrived in Waingapu and are busy organizing ourselves for the next couple of weeks here. We've heard travel can be quite challenging in Sumba so we're stocking up on Nescafe, peanuts and toilet paper. Tomorrow we're chartering a bemo to get to Tarimbang. The only other option is hitching a ride on a lorry that drops you off about 3-4 km's from the beach. I'm not really interested in throwing my board bag on my head Sherpa style and trekking for an hour to get to the beach. No question whether the charter's worth the extra expense. Low tide mornings and a 2 meter swell is in the forecast so I'm pretty stoked being so close to Miller's Rights. Waingapu is pretty nice for a medium sized Indonesian town. Some really beautiful Sumba Ikat is available in the shops here. They use natural dyes to color the yarn which make the colors are so rich. The people are very friendly with a natural curiosity. Of course the rickshaw drivers still ride you around the block saying they know where the Internet cafe when they don't. It's kinda cool that they have sound systems set up on their bikes. You can get down to some Indo techno while cruising the boulevard.