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.