In The Mix Behind the scenes of Eat, Sleep, Surf.
In: In The Mix 0 Comments Tue 17th Aug '10
Tags: eat sleep surf , Nias
By now I hope you know that Rian and Dylan peddled their way across Indonesia and made an epic documentary style movie about the whole event called Eat, Sleep, Surf.
Over the coming weeks we will be releasing some exclusive diary entries from the pair with some behind the scene images to give you an even more in depth look into one of the greatest surf trips to be taken on for some time.
This week we jump in at day 16 of the journey. The pair are traveling from Sibolga in northern Sumatra to the wave rich island of Nias.
Day 16 - Lake Toba to
Balige
After settling our final bill we had the difficult tasks of
getting all of our gear on the hourly ferry. By the time we arrived back on the
mainland it was already 10.30 am and was indeed a very late start to the day.
The plan for the next few days was getting to Sibolga, the entry port to Palau
Nias and the legendary break of Nias, but this was about 200km away.
We soon pushed ahead and began another day of cycling.
Having learnt from our previous mistakes we weren't taking any chances and
stocked up on snacks and water to keep us going. Straight into the hill climb
we were making our way around the eastern side of Lake Toba, an ancient
volcanic lake 110km long, in the highlands of Sumatra.
A quick noodle lunch and we were off again looking for the town of Balige where
we would sleep for the night. As we entered the town, Dylan and I both agreed
that after 16 days of traveling throughout this country we were both tired of
the "Hello Misters" and interested stares. Although flattering, it soon became
a bit of an annoyance. I jumped into I-pod mode and let the beats take me
through.
However Dylan once again was slowly lagging behind.
Something was up - this was not like him at all. We found our accommodation for
the night where Dylan decided to head for bed at the early hour of 5 pm.
Day 17 Balige to
Tarutung
This morning was a struggle, Dylan slowly made his way to his bike before
realizing he had a slow leak in his rear tire, resulting in a tire change after
his bike was already packed. This only added to the frustration that he would
encounter today. On a lighter note, we were contacted by ABC Coast radio back
in Australia. They had heard of our adventure a gave us an interview which was
broadcast on their morning show. It was great to think we were spreading the
word of our project which we would hope would help ensure some success from our
final product - an adventure documentary!
We made our way on the only road out of town and were heading for Turatung, the
last stop before Sibolga and surfing. We climbed the winding mountain range
before stopping for an early lunch. By 11.30am we were back on the road and
about to encounter a very, very long downhill - Perfect. By the time we made
our 20 km decent I could see that Dylan was in some discomfort and needed a
bed. We found a hotel named ‘Bali Hotel', on the outskirts of town. We booked
in, took our gear up to the room, and Dylan crashed. He was in bed by 2 pm. I
encouraged him to have a shower and keep drinking, but even the thought of
moving seemed to make him struggle. I quickly washed myself and read our
symptoms booklet which our Australian doctor had given us. With his strong
fatigue and fever the signs pointed to an infection or the big M word - Malaria!
Dylan decided it would be best if I found a local doctor. As I made my way
downstairs with translation book in hand, I soon discovered there was an entire
hospital across the road. After locating the only English speaking doctor, he
asked for Dylan to see him immediately.
I ran back and collected Dylan. We made our way across and sat him on
the rusted leather table. The doctors test included a thermometer, flashlight
to the back of the throat and a series of questions. As we seemed to be the
only westerners this hospital had ever seen, every nurse was in the room
watching as Dylan was poked and prodded. We showed him our medical kit which
included several antibiotics. He ruled malaria out of the question as his
temperature was not high enough. Then the out of left field, he said "Swine
Flu" Oh no!
After speaking with Katie and our Australian doctor in the proceeding minutes
we soon discovered that the Indonesian climate is unlikely to help Swine Flu
manifest and the medical staff were in fact just nervous or scared. It was very
unlikely. But in any case we needed to make sure as safety and health are
always our number one priority. The doctor was required to report it to the
authorities, which we still don't quite know what it entails. We walked home, collected
some water and headed to bed. As
Dylan struggled to sleep whilst getting the shivers, I ran to the pharmacy and
bought a personal thermometer which I hoped to use to help monitor his
condition. I waited outside and read up on many of the possible conditions his
symptoms were showing. All of a sudden he popped his head out and stated, "Two
more symptoms to add - vomiting and diarrhea". Shit!
After discussing several emergency escape options should his condition worsen
over night, we settled in and got some sleep.
Day 18 - Tarutung to
Sibolga - Dylan sick I woke this morning to find Dylan was still in some
discomfort and not well. I left the decision up to him with what he wanted to
do. He thought it would be best that we get to Sibolga, a much larger town, and
make base there. There was an airport and more facilities to help just in case
Dylan should get any worse.
I loaded up the car and managed to cram everything in. We then made our way
down the winding mountainous road. Its unfortunate Dylan was unwell as it would
have been a beautiful road to cycle. Nether-the-less I needed to get Dylan to
Sibolga. After arriving in town we headed straight for the only hotel we knew
of according to the Lonely Planet guide book.
An expensive cost, but worth it in order to get Dylan comfortable and rested.
It included a Television which was a first for us, we hadn't seen any
television in almost 3 weeks - it was a strange feeling. We spent the rest of
the day resting, eating and keeping up fluids. It was obvious that a good
recovery was needed.
Day 19 - Sibolga and
Rest
We spent most of today relaxing. Dylan was on the mend and it was important for
him to keep fluids up and rest. We met an Australian yachtie named Glen who was
traveling on his catamaran. He'd seen Ski Lanka, Thailand and was now surfing
Indonesia. We had in fact seen him 3 weeks earlier off the coast of Aceh.
After having a beer and swapping stories, we worked out that he was doing the
same route as us and would be following us over the same time period. If this
works out we could be following each other for the next 2 months.
Day 20 NIAS!!!
Dylan was on the road to recovery and we decided to push on with our adventure
and make our way over to Nias where we had organized a surf camp at Lagundri Bay,
a world famous surf break known for its BIG, HEAVY and FAST right hand wave.
We organized
our tickets for the fast ferry which took us a short 3 hours before meeting up
with the surf camps driver who picked us up and drove us to the south of the
island where we met with Timmy, the owner and operator of the Keyhole Surf
Camp.
After some quick introductions we were straight up onto the
balcony overlooking the wave which was only a few meters away. The swell had
just arrived and it was pumping. This was the largest swell I had ever seen. We
were in for an amazing few days.
Timmy Wau is without a doubt the coolest guy in Lagundri.
Ha. He runs and operates the Keyhole Surf Camp, the only surf camp in Lagundri.
He has been surfing Lagundri since he was 12 yrs old in the 70's. He has since
traveled much of Indonesia expanding his knowledge of surf charters and
catering to the western surfers. He has been through the Tsunami and Nias
earthquake and still has plans for the future of expanding and building up Lagundri
Bay, not only as a surfing destination, but a tourist destination. Check out
his place for the best surfing holiday ever - www.niaskeyholesurfcamp.com
Remember if your still yet to see the actual movie head over to eatsleepsurf.com and grab yourself a copy.
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