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.