Scribbles Abroad

Surfing The World

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loves to surf, loves Hawaii.

  • Moroccan Love

    I visited Morocco three years ago and it was till that time, the best surf trip of my life.  It was the mix of epic waves and the Moroccan people we encountered that truly enchanted our trip.  The endless perfect right hand point breaks complimented with the open armed hospitality of the Moroccans will make any Western surfers perception of a Muslim country quickly spin towards the positive.  Getting back to Morocco has always been on the forefront of my mind and getting the chance to return on our around the world trip seemed destined.  Considered the Western pillar of Islam, Morocco is part Africa part Europe.  To other places of the world I have visited I would most likely make a geographical connection to Baja California, rugged desert on the coast with the occasional big city every few hundred kilometers.

    My First Moroccan Surf Trip in 2006.  L to R: Fiz, Magic, Younez, Donny, Me

    My last trip to Morocco was with Donny Boy Beaucage and a bunch of Moroccans we met along the way.  It was a non-stop journey of laughs, hunting, and scoring.  The three Moroccans that were with us the most were Tarik “Magic Johnson (he looked just like him)”, Younes Fizazi, and Younes Zniber.  The connection made between us all would/will remain unbreakable.

    Half way through our journey around the world, while we were in Thailand, I felt that hesitation in the desire to check my emails as if I knew I would open my inbox to bad news.  When I finally did open my inbox I had a bunch of emails from Morocco but none of them were from the person I hoped to hear from the most.  The emails from my other good friends alerted me that my best Moroccan friend Younes Zniber had passed the day before in an avalanche while snowboarding in the back country in Morocco.  It was hard for me to fathom, I didn’t even know there was good snowboarding in Morocco.  Younes was good at it and rode with the similar smooth style of his surfing.  He loved snowboarding almost as much as surfing and wanted to take me since I used to live up in Tahoe and in the Rockies.  While doing what he loved, hooting in excitement as the slope gave way, Younes glided with grace into the next realm.

    Younes with his trademark hat-style

    Stylish and smooth in critical sections

    Style Bandit in the Jilaba on the slopes.

    The news hit me hard, because a man that I saw as almost immortal was shown to be very much mortal by forces greater than us.  It really made me more aware of the risks I take while searching for the next adrenaline rush.  But most of all it made me realize how powerful an individual can be on a group of others.  Throughout our whole trip in Morocco, Younese Znibers presence was felt.  People are still mourning but people are also now moving towards the next phase of realization.  They are happy to talk about the stories of his life and everyone that was influenced by him opened their arms to us as though we were an extension of him.  He had more best friends than anyone I knew and it was humbling to realize that I was considered to be one of his good friends even though it may not have been one of his best.  The rest of the community of his family and friends took us in as kin and opened their hearts to share in the pain in his passing and even better, the joy of Youness life.  Tears of happiness linger with smiles, I miss you brother.

    Here is Younes ripping with style during his last surf at ………..

    We stepped into his shoes and lived in his place in Bouznika.  I felt it would be kind of creepy at first but it was actually quite comfortable.  Younes had been through a lot in his life, lived all over the world, traveled to exotic places, been married once, and after all that had settled right back here in Morocco.  From the place where he lived there were 7 GOOD surf spots within walking distance and 1 of them is his secret we (or maybe just a few of us) now call Znibers.  A fickle but epic right-hand barrel that works only on certain tides with certain winds, don’t bother looking, you won’t find it.  On our first session there I scored one of those unbelievable not possible dream barrels.  Everyone had already caught a wave and mine was the last in the set.  Dropping in backdoor behind the peak and weaving for 40 meters through a cavernous passage only to pop out to the amazement of everyone (all 5 of us, all good friends, me included).  It felt like a gift from Younes and I took it as something spiritual.

    Living close to the ocean allowed Younes to observe the winds and to know which of the seven waves to hit.  There was never a crowd at any of the spots we surfed yet we were right between the two populace centers of Casablanca and Rabat.  He had his life wired living in his paradise with his beautiful lady.  He lived his life to the fullest and realized that his paradise was right back where he started.  In his home country of Morocco, a few kilometers from the house he grew up in, he found his solace.  He knew how to appreciate what he had and knew that each day deserved appreciation.  Evidenced throughout his life with his living life to the fullest approach.

    We also were given the opportunity to stay with the other Younes. Younes Fizazi.  THE FIZ.  Zniber had offered to host us and even give us some work if we came and stayed with him in Morocco, but since he was now gone we had to rethink our visit.  “Hem du Allah” (Thanks to God) The Fiz adamantly requested that we still come to Morocco and that the invitation for  a place to stay was open at his place in Casablanca.  Fiz’s place is unreal, it was a huge, mansion like, beautiful condominium in Casablanca.  All I could think was, “Fiz is a baller!”.  When I met him on the surf trip he was in surf trip mode, dirty clothes, no showers, naughty words, stink, etc.  I did not see the elegance and panache he usually rolled with in the cities.  Since I had last been to Morocco, Fiz had gotten married.  His wife Maha is absolutely beautiful and has a heart of gold.  Fiz hosted a great party with his new Wife Maha where we got to see a bunch of my friends from the last trip.  The spread of food prepared by Hafida, their part-time help, rivaled any Thanksgiving table.  The food was superb and the night was a riot ending in a round of shakefaces.

    The Fiz, Magic, and Me

    We were in Morocco during a very Holy time.  It was the Aid Mabrouk (Big Holiday), which celebrates the story of Abraham when Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son to God in order to show his loyalty and faith.  When Abraham, through much consternation, brought the knife to his sons neck, God exchanged his son for a ram.  His son was safe, the ram not so.  Abraham had proven his loyalty and God had shown his benevolence by sparing the son of Abraham.  I found it eye-opening although slightly obvious that the Old Testament is the same in the faiths of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  In Muslim culture this day is celebrated by, every household that can afford it, a ram being sacrificed at your home.  We spent this day at Mahas families home where they sacrificed two rams.  1/3 of your ram is supposed to be given to the less fortunate.  Mahas family gave 1 whole ram plus much of the other one to the less fortunate as well.  The sacrifice is quite gory to the sensitive.  A healthy ram is slit by the throat in one motion which is supposed to bring immediate death.  As it bleeds upon the ground the rams nervous system sends its final tremors throughout the body.  In the case of the ram we watched get sacrificed, the nerve twitches were translated into the ram attempting to run lying down headless.  It was gnarly.  After the sacrifice is over and the twitching has subsided, the butcher guts the animal and then skins it.  He then hangs the carcass and moves on to the next house.  If you drive around the country on this day you will see butchers with bloody butchers outfits on, big sharp knifes in their hands, and big smiles on their faces.  The butchers make good money this day.

    Another activity that pops up on this day is the roasting of the ram heads.  All over the streets, especially the less fortunate areas (the ghettos), the people set up makeshift barbecues and begin roasting ram heads for you.

    The day is also an opportunity to go around visiting relatives, with the most common meeting place being the grandfathers house.  At Mahas house we asked whether we could wear traditional Moroccan outfits in order to celebrate properly with the people.  We were given authentic outfits that made us fit right in.  They were called jilabas, I think.  Donning the jilabas we went to visit Fiz’s family.  This truly Moroccan style house was one storied and open in order to accommodate large groups of visitors.  We had tea and cookies with his family and really enjoyed meeting them, especially his grandmother.

    Unfortunately during this time I was also suffering from the worst toothache of my life.  It was a non-stop pain that I thought would go away but wouldn’t.  I visited the dentist and his office was immaculate.  I was scared of the horror stories of doctors abroad but the dentists I visited were better than ours in the states!  His x-ray machine and process (my worst nightmare, I almost always gag) was quick, painless, and immediate.  We saw right away what the problem was.  I had an infection in my molar and would need a root canal.  I’d never had one and I figured I should wait till I got home so the doctor prescribed me some anti-biotics and asked me why when I got the crown the dentist had not also given me a root canal.  He was shocked because roughly 90% of all crowns will need a root canal within 12-18 months after getting the crown therefore it is silly not to get a root canal at the same time.  In Morocco they almost always do the two procedures one after the other.  You can infer what I’m trying to say about our medical system in the US.  The cost of my consultation and x-rays?  $20 USD.  I am guessing the same thing in the states would have run me at least $150 USD or more?

    This time of year provides some of the most consistent surf of the year.  Storms far away from the Northwest create large swells that once reaching Morocco are finely groomed into often perfect swells.  One place that receives these swells the best is **@#$@@.  Although the spot is no longer secret, out of respect for the locals and my friends I won’t divulge too much.  The conditions were perfect for this spot and when we arrived we couldn’t put our wetsuits on quick enough.  The following surf session was perhaps the best one in my life!  This wave was at that time, better than Jeffreys Bay.  J-bay is way more consistent and the actual wave is similar, but the one in Morocco was so much more powerful, hollow, and overall more scary.  I sat way up the peak away from the pack on the inside to the locals delight.  The surf was 6-8 foot Hawaiian, triple overhead so I was riding my 6’6″.  To run you through the wave, it went like this.  Giant swell approaching, paddle up the point to get into position, turn and paddle ass off.  Then drop in, sweeping bottom turn, then run like hell.  Set up for first barrel, get stand up tube for 5 seconds as you roll through the main pack watching you, come out and do 2-3 turns, then run a bit again in order to set up next tube.  Get slotted in smaller but still big barrel.  Come out, do 2 turns, then get ready because wave gets bigger again and bowls up on the inside shelf.  Get thick throaty barrel and then come out in front of the amphitheater (the community has built a concrete sitting area like an arena that faces the wave, the last barrel section is right in front of it).  Keep riding wave with a multitude of roundhouses and kick off with burning legs and smiles from ear to ear.  The whole wave lasts on average about a minute.

    This occurred 5 times for me and it happened so quickly that it really emphasizes seizing the moment.  As the tide got too fat the wave completely turned off and almost everyone left.  I paddled in to take a quick break.  As I was walking up the cliff the lineup looked lonely.  Everyone was out of the water and leaving the parking lot.  They had given up or were content with their days take.  But the ocean winked at us and sent in some more fun waves.  The swell had dropped so Louise, Fiz and I grabbed our shortboards and shared the evening session alone with one other traveling Aussie!  One of (if not the best) waves in Morocco and here we are surfing it alone.  The wave on a fat tide goes like this……Easy take off, sweeping bottoms turn, snap, run, snap, run, roundhouse, etc……..till the inside barrel section.  The barrel on the fat tide is right in front of the amphitheater and is just as heavy as during the low-tide.  Get out of that one, its a bit harder, and you have another 100 meters of open face on a wave that gets bigger as it goes.

    The days surfing was unforgettable and we never scored that place again.  It went down as the best session of my life.  This wave was one of Younes Znibers favorite spots and was also the last place he surfed before passing away.  During his last session there were photographers in the water and as you can see, he scored it too.

    1 year since his passing we are all still trying to emulate his style with little luck.  Rest in Peace Brother.

  • Amsterdam

    Kahi and I were on the plane headed to Portugal enjoying our personal movie players.  While I was watching some cheesy romantic comedy, Kahi was jamming to a concert of The Arctic Monkeys.  We were jonesing to see a show and thought it would be sick if they were playing in Europe because maybe we could get a cheap flight to wherever they were playing.

    Kahi searched online to see where they were playing next and to our amazement they were scheduled to play in a couple weeks at the Heineken Music Hall in AMSTERDAM!  No further convincing needed.  We bought our tickets and were on our way.

    Hostels and backpackers in Amsterdam ran around 20 Euro or $30 per night, so we opted to couch-surf.  Kahi must have sent out over 50 different requests but most of them came back with a negative response.  Luckily a nice girl named Mirna offered us her couch to crash on for a few days.

    I wasn’t sure what to expect of Amsterdam.  All I really knew about the place was that marijuana is legal and that there were more bikes than people in the city.  Kahi and I were both really excited to check out the city and to sample their glorified greens.

    Check out this awesome parking garage for bikes


    Just one of the many alleyways to wander down while cruising around the city

    It’s the van from our Portugal road trip!  But not really.


    Amsterdam’s awesome recycling system and how they empty the bins.

    Amsterdam itself if a really cool city.  The country of Holland is mostly below sea level and they have created a network of canals to keep the city above water.  Kahi and I spent our time exploring the city on foot for the first day but its kind of a must to rent a bike and ride it around the city, so thats exactly what we did.

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    Canals!

    No comment necessary…

    It was much easier to navigate the city on foot.  On bike it seemed like every 10 minutes we were pulling over to look at the map.  Riding a bike in Amsterdam isn’t like going out for a nice leisurely bike ride.  It’s intense.  You need to be quick and decisive, no time for hesitation or you may crash.  I prefer to walk.  The city isn’t that big and biking was rather stressful.

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    Us getting lost 😦  booo!

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    The coffee shop experience was interesting.  They hand you a menu listing all their goods and how much it cost.  You can order pre rolled with or without tobacco or just a gram or two of the greens.    I was expecting something more like a candy store with jars filled with different strains nicely displayed behind a glass counter.  Not quite what I was expecting but still pretty cool.

    One of the many local coffee shops

    Kahi and I having a good time in one of the coffee shops

    After paying a short visit to a coffee shop we went for a stroll around town.  We were weaving up and down the small alleyways and when all of a sudden I looked up and saw boobs.  I assumed the little red lights above the doorways and the boobs meant we were in the red light district.  Girls of all shapes and sizes from every fantasy you could imagine sat in display cases waiting for their next customer.  It was crazy!

    The Dutch have a holiday tradition where this old guy with a white beard named Sinterklaas dressed in red and white arrives on a boat.  He passes out candy and pepernoten (a yummy cookie similar to gingerbread) to all the good boys and girls.  He is accompanied by these guys named the black petes who are his helpers.  Sounds a heck of a lot similar to our Santa Clause and his elves don’t you think?  Anyway he arrived while we were in the area and it was interesting to see the buzz that he created.  Especially for the kiddies.


    Sinterklaas with one of his black petes.  Why black you may ask.  Well, it’s a bit of a controversy but its tradition.

    The night of the concert we met up with our boy Roy, our neighbor in J-Bay. The venue the Heineken Music Hall claims to have the best sound system in Europe so we were really looking forward to the show.  It was a sold out concert and the place was packed.  The music was unreal and the show itself was unforgettable.  I can’t wait till they come to Hawaii so we can watch them again.

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    Roy and I before the concert

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    Kahi, Roy and I getting pumped for the show

    10,000 people, great music, and lots of beer!

    The Arctic Monkeys, these guys rock!

    Roy, Kahi and I

    The aftermath

    Shaka braddah!

    One night we met up with our buddy Rainbow that we met in the Philippines at Cloud 9.  He took us to this little bar and it just so happens that they were having a 70’s party that night.  Our couch surfing host also met us at the bar.  We were having a good time have a few drinks, talking story and munching on the free snack plate they gave us.  One of the employees of the bar was this big guy dressed up in a fro, a bad aloha shirt, and a fur coat.  He was dancing around and was definitely the life of the party.  He brought out a brownie cut into four pieces and we each had a slice.  It was really good.   Kahi and I assumed it was a “special” brownie and it was.  All of a sudden our couch surfing host got up, said she had to make a phone call and left.  She never came back.  When we arrived back at the house we realized she had no idea it was a “special” brownie and she though that someone had slipped something in her drink.  Not a good situation.  We tried to explain that it was a “special” brownie but she wasn’t fully convinced.  Anyway she felt fine in the morning and everything was okay.


    The “special” brownie…

    If you were in Amsterdam and this guy gave you a delicious brownie, would you be suspicious?


    The next day we were off to Belgium to check out Roy’s home town, drink lots of beer and eat tons of chocolate.  Roy took us to his family’s business which was a frying house.  These are everywhere in Belgium.  It’s like a fast food restaurant where you can get Belgium fries (not french fries) plus anything else you can imagine fried.  We ordered fries smothered in something like beef stew.  It was really good but very heavy.  Not something you can eat everyday but it was a nice treat.

    That night Roy took us out to drink some Belgium beers.  These beers are no joke at an average 10% alcohol, just two or three of these is all you need.  Roy brought along one of his drinking buddies who was at least six inches taller and 50 lb. heavier than Kahi.  In other words this guy could drink.  We went to a restaurant where they had over 500 different beers on their menu.  Kahi had sampled around 4 of Belgium’s best when Roy’s buddy began challenging him one more, one more, one more.  Kahi finally said no more, but the next round had already been ordered.   When the beers were poured they looked at each other square in the eye and chugging their beers.  Even after he stopped Kahi kept chugging and after that he was allboss.  He began going cross-eyed and it was time to go home.  Needless to say he passed out with a trash can next to the bed.  He never needed it but just in case.

    The next day was the day of Sinterklaas’s arrival.  There’s a three-hour show about the whole thing on TV.  When he was a kid, Roy would record the whole show then watch it over and over for about a month.  We watched the show during breakfast and while Kahi recovered from his hangover.

    Later that day we caught a train to Utrecht, where Kahi’s mother’s nanny now lives.  Diny and her husband Leo live in the country side just outside of Utrech.  They treated us to a delicious home cooked meal while we talked story.

    Diny, Kahi and I eating a delicious home cooked meal.  One of Diny and Leo’s many cats.

    Not only does Diny love to drink wine.  She love to make it too!  Diny , Kahi, Leo and I in her mini winery.

    Our time with Diny and Leo was too short and we would have liked to spend more time with them.  On our way to the airport they gave us a little tour of Holland.  They showed us the man-made island that the Dutch created, some of the windmills, and a few of the cool building.

    Our time in Holland was short but rewarding.  We not only got to check out Amsterdam, but we got to go to a super sick Arctic Monkey’s concert, visit Roy in Belgium, and meet up with family friends.  It was really nice to visit Amsterdam but we were glad that we got to see more of the country.

  • Pocho Road Trip

    Our mates from New Zealand, Kyle and Nat were driving around Europe and happened to be in Portugal at the same time as us.  They invited us to go on a road trip down south with them and we happily obliged.

    Meeting up with them was easy, we told them a place, they plugged it into the Garmin and they told us to look for the huge red van.  When we pulled up to the surf spot we saw their van sticking out like a sore thumb.  It was an old Royal Mail van from England, the vehicle was hideous but beautiful at the same time.  Quite the contradiction.  The drivers seat was on the opposite side so Kyle had to adjust to driving on the curb side everywhere we went.

    Rui invited them to stay at his house for  few days with us so that we could prepare for the journey and score some local surf in the area.
    A few days later after scoring fun waves at the local breaks we took off.  The weather was really shitty and the surf was forecasted to be huge and windy.  This made the outlook for potential waves be very dismal for the beginning of the trip.  Our best option would be to book it all the way down to the South.  But we decided to check some stuff out on the way, plus I had to get my passport renewed at the embassy in Lisbon.


    While Nat and Kyle drove, we slept in the back.  There weren’t any windows in the back so it was like riding like a horse with blinders.

    Lisbon is a beautiful city but every park we went into had dog and human shit everywhere.  There are very few public toilets so people just shit in the bushes and their toilet paper is flowing in the wind like freshly fallen leafs. The embassy allowed everyone in but we had to leave all electronics at the front.  The security is pretty darn tight with guys with guns that don’t say hello.  Once inside the process was simple.  I should have taken my pics prior to going in because I got gouged at the machine in the embassy.  My new passport was ready for pickup 5 days later and I hate my picture, it makes me look so fat.

    Breakfast wine.  All the locals were doing it so I figured I’d give it a try.

    Kyle walks funny, but we try not to tease him.
    After Lisbon we headed inland to the church of bones.  Something like 3000 skeletons make up this church.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking

    The saying above says something to the extent of “our bones await yours.”

    We were supposed to be on a surf trip but the surf was so unruly, the wind was howling, and none of us wanted a piece of it.  We searched all of Ericera to no avail.  But we did find a spot in Arifana.

    On the map it looks like a nubbin sticking off the coastline.  Its a right point break that is sheltered from the strong Northerly winds and the Northwest swell was refracting nicely into the bay.  When Louise and I paddled out it was about 6-8  foot Hawaiian (triple overhead).  There was only one guy out but a few others were paddling out with us.  The peak was slightly shifty but once you got a wave it was a non-stop adrenaline rush.  First you got to do one turn and set up for the barrel.  Then you needed to watch out for the giant rock that is a constant impediment.  It is easy to hit and if you don’t keep your eye out for the rock, your day (maybe life) will be ruined.  The rest of the pack decided to surf past the rock.  I came just short of nailing it twice and after the tide sucked out too far and the rock grew to building size I figured it was time to call it a day.  On the entire western coast of Portugal I think that was the only wave working.  I couldn’t believe that there was only one other guy I was sharing the peak with.  But after speaking with other locals, they said that rock scares the shit out of them.  Me too.

    In the middle of the pic is the rock.

    This is a pic of Arifana at high tide, wave doesn’t work, but creates a cool splash on the harbor wall.

    That night at the campsite in Sagres, a guy walked by me while I was washing the dishes with a Telluride jacket.  I stopped him and asked him if he had ever been there.  I spent a season in Telluride snowboarding my brains out, working at a fancy restaurant and teaching snowboarding.  The guy happened to have been there for a few seasons but just after me.  Coincidentally, Kyle was in Telluride with me and stayed a few additional seasons.  Then I asked him what he did at Telluride and he said he worked snowboard park.  Thats what Kyle did.  I then asked him if he knew Kyle and he said yes, I then said, “well this is your lucky day, go over to that big red van over there and pop your head in.”  The following reunion was a huge “WHAT THE HELL!”  The guy  (I forget his name) and Kyle were good mates while in Telluride and it was good for them to catch up.  How awesome was that, the guy was from Bulgaria, Kyle from New Zealand, meet up in Portugal.  They met in Telluride Colorado and it all worked out because (me) from Hawaii, who also used to work in Telluride happened to see his sweatshirt while washing dishes.  How Cosmic. The guy was on a surf trip with about 6 other Bulgarians doing an article for an outdoor magazine back in Bulgaria.

    Our campsite in Sagres

    Here’s Kyle getting a skate on.

    This is the light we invented, just a candle in a water bottle. But it works great keeping the wind from blowing out the candle.

    The rest of our road trip was spent in Algarve (the South).  This part of Portugal is my favourite part.  Its dry, warm, and the surf is pretty epic.  It is also the place where the locals are pretty much dicks.  I guess I am generalizing, its pretty funny how a few bad incidents can cause such generalizations and although you can try to consciously be aware of your incongruent observation, the final result remains.  We surfed all over jumping from the West Coast to the South Coast, because the Algarve is both with the Southwestern tip being Sagres.  The roads are narrow and seem to be one laned but the roads go both ways, as I am sure some of the bodyboarders in the area do too.

    Kicking it at fly beach with all the hippies.  The hippies were running around naked, it was pretty cool, but everyone was just shitting everywhere and there was a major fly problem.

    This is the bay at Fly bay.  Pretty fun waves.

    This is Zavial on a smaller day.  From here it just got bigger and bigger.

    The best beer in Portugal comes in some giant bottles, The Super Bock.

    The local fisherman fish from the top of the cliffs.

    The comedy in the water happened initially at a spot called Zavial.  The night before the Bulgarian guys we met at the camping grounds told us that they scored some fun waves in Zavial but that the bodyboarders threatened to kick their asses for shooting photos.  They seemed to think it was a secret spot.  As you can see from the pics, it definetly is not.  The Bulgarians told us to go.  Shows you, when you are a local and you harass a traveling surfer, you only further your troubles.  If a local comes up to you and welcomes you and then explains that they are trying to keep it on the down low you will respect him and probably keep your mouth shut.  But if you harass a traveling surfer who probably came a far way and you just be an overall ass, that guy is probably gonna go back and tell others about your spot and that you are an asshole.  At that point, your spot is exposed, and people know the locals are dicks and therefore paddle out to your spot already with apprehension and attitude.  Furthering the cycle of bad vibes.  But we didn’t let it bother us.  It all comes down to the saying, “respect begets respect”.  Since we were shown no respect we showed no respect.  At first we tried to be nice and say hello and stuff, but only received stares.

    So we went to surf early morning Zavial and it looked really fun and I decided to take out the Alaia.  There was a pack of bodyboarders on the peak and I couldn’t manage to fanagle into the pack and I didn’t want to paddle outside of them.  So I patiently waited but I couldn’t catch anything and was getting a bit frustrated.  Anyways I began hassling a little and one of the bodyboarders got all agro on me and I laughed at him.  He didn’t like that and paddled out to his buddies and told them I laughed at him.  I was pretty much blackballed at that point.  But then the waves changed and I started scoring a bunch of wedges on the Alaia.  After a few I called it a session and went in.  Kyle got some fun ones too but didn’t piss off the locals.  I on the other hand kind of have a knack at doing that.

    coming out of a little one.

    fun cold waves

    Rui (WHO HAPPENS TO BE THE COOLEST BODYBOARDER I HAVE EVER MET, sorry RUI to bag on your fellow boogers at Zavial) had decided to drive down that day to meet up with us for the afternoon session at Zavial.  As we paddled out we saw Rui out in the pack with the dickheads, (not all of them were dickheads).  He knew all the guys at the peak and when Louise and I paddled out Rui came over to say whats up and we caught up on the past week.  When Rui went back to the pack they asked him, “You know that Mexican?”  He just laughed and told them I was one HAWAIIAN.  Actually Haolepino (half haole half filipino).  My mustasche was in full swing and I was looking very banditotoish.  Can’t blame them for their ethnic stereotype.  The rest of the day was great (for us), no fights between us and the bodyboarders, and the waves were going off.  The bodyboarder dickheads picked a fight with a surfer and sent him all the way to the beach and Kyle shot some picks of , Louise and I were trading off on the fish and the 6’3″ while the drama was in full swing scoring perfect waves.

    This poor bloke.  Three dickdraggers wanting to yell at him.  It was a spectacle and allowed us out in the water to catch more waves.

    Pissed off dick-dragger.  This seemed to be one of the loudest guys out there, really getting in everyones face.  He was trying to rally up his troops on the hill to go kick some ass.  He was a big dickhead and now he is famous!  He made it to eatdrinksurf.com.

    The Kailua Layback.  Phildo would like to claim it as his.

    For the session in the afternoon we were watching up on the rocks when a dog came running by and accidentilly knocked a few pebbles off the ledge.  Lucky for everyone on the cliff, the locals were down below.  A pebble almost hit one of them and they went absolutely agro.  They came running around the point and up the cliff on a war rampage yelling incoherently in portuguese.  They pointed out three english guys and were cursing at them to leave and then they started speaking english blaming them for throwing rocks at them.  The english guys tried to explain it was a dog but to no avail.  They pushed one of the english guys who had a bum leg and we were standing on a cliff, it was really dangerous.

    This is the cliff you check the surf from.

    Thats when Kyle and I stepped in.  We told them to fuck off and we kinda just laid into them but they came right back at us.  At one point one of the guys pushed Kyle and Kyle let him fucken have it with a shove back.  At that point I thought it was about to turn to blows but luckily (somewhat, would have been kinda fun to fight) nothing happened.  The leader of the pack took Kyles aggression as a warning and just told us that it was dangerous for us to stand up above them because rocks could come down and hit them.  We said we understood but it wasn’t the english guys nor us who threw rocks down on them.  It was a fucken dog.  The guy extended his hand to shake and peace was made.  I’m glad in the end nothing happened because had a fight gone down, either way it went, we wouldn’t have gotten to surf there again that afternoon and it was starting to pump.
    Kyle was fired up but not to surf.  He was in kicking ass mode.  Louise and I paddled out and the surf began getting bigger and bigger.

    After that surf it was the end of our road trip.  Nat and Kyle were going to drive all the way back to London in around a week and a half in a car that went only 80km/hour.  They would be doing a lot of driving.  We on the other hand were going back with Rui.  Rui is truly a BRUI (Brother Rui).  Can’t wait to see him in Hawaii.

    Ruis epic VW to the right, on our way back to Figuera 7hours to go.


  • Portugual

    It was hard to say good-bye to South Africa but the surf season was winding down and we had spent almost 4 months exploring the country and its neighbors.   It was defiantly time to move on to our next destination, Portugal.

    Some time during our trip Kahi got an offer through one of his credit cards to sign up for a Priority Pass.  This pass gives us access to many of the lounges in airports all around the world.  Since we’ve been spending a lot of time in airports lately it’s been a wonderful investment.  Access to these lounges have not only increased our comfort level but have made a big difference in our view of airports all together.  8 hour layover, no problem.  Flight delayed, no biggie.  These lounges are usually equipped with internet, showers, offer a variety of snacks ranging from cheese and crackers to prosciutto sandwiches, and best of all a fully stocked open bar.  After lugging our surfboards and other bags to the airport and going through the dreaded check in process it’s so nice to have a place to unwind.  I do have to admit that we almost missed one of our fights because we were a little too comfortable.


    This is what happens when you have one too many free beers from the lounge

    Our original plan was to spend around three months in Europe traveling through France, Spain, and Portugal.  Lets face it, Europe is expensive and we were in a little bit of a time crunch (Noel, Kahi’s sister, is getting married)  so we decided to skip France and Spain.  Save it for later in our lives when we have more money.

    Couldn’t skip Portugal though, we were looking forward to meeting up with our friend, Rui or as we like to now call him, BRUI.  While Kahi and I were in the Philippines surfing Cloud 9, Rui was our neighbor at the surf camp .  After mentioning to him that we were headed to Portugal he invited us to stay with him.  It was such a great opportunity that we couldn’t pass up the offer.

    Rui, Kahi, and I having a few drinks in the Philippines

    When arriving at the airport it can be difficult to figure out what the best way is to get into the city or to our accommodation.  Each country is different.  Some have subways that pick you up right from the airport, but some times you need to catch a bus somewhere then take a train, other times you need ride a shuttle into town or hire a taxi.  It’s usually a little confusing and can be stressful especially if you don’t speak their language and are carrying surfboards.  Rui made this very easy for us.  He told us which bus to catch and which train to transfer to, then picked us up right from the train station.

    The bus stop at the airport and the Lisbon train station

    A sick mural at the Coimbra train station

    Rui lives in a small farm town just outside the city Coimbra.  It was nice to catch up with him and to get the opportunity to experience real Portugal with him .  Having a local show you around is the best way to experience a country.  They know best.

    The breakfast feast Rui prepared for us almost every morning 🙂
    Rui took us on a tour of his local surf breaks.  Some of them weren’t working but it was still awesome to check out the spots.  We surfed a break that they called the J-bay of Portugal.  At the moment it wasn’t working like J-Bay but we could see how it could with the right conditions.  Another spot was next to a jetty with a strong current and huge dredging barrels.  It looked like a board breaker to me so I went for a jog along the beach.  The nice board walk ended and I ran down by the water.  Didn’t know it was a nude beach and saw way too many portuguese sausages.  haha!  Traumatizing. 

    Rui’ s the proud owner of the ultimate surf car.  A yellow VW Westfalia.

    Portugal’s J-Bay, well so they say.

    A few of Rui’s local breaks.  The conditions weren’t perfect but it was till nice to check out the different spots.

    Our friends Nat and Kyle from New Zealand also happened to be in Portugal at the time.  They drove from London in a big red van that was converted into a camper.  The thing was sweet!  Perfect for a long road trip and equipped with everything you needed.   They drove to Coimbra to kick it with us for a while.

    Kahi, me, Nat, Rui and Kyle kickin’ it at Rui’s

    One day we piled into Rui’s super sick yellow Westfalia and he took us on a tour of Coimbra.  First he took us to the Montimo??r Castle near his house.  It sat on a hill surrounded by rice patties and farm lands.  Very beautiful and majestic.  Inside the tall stone walls bordered lush green gardens and an old church.  Nat though it was a perfect place for her dream wedding and I could see her planning  everything as she walked through the gardens.

     

    Nat planing her wedding

    The overlooked the surrounding village and rice patties.  The view was spectacular.

    Castle gardens

    Next he took us into the heart of Coimbra to his alma-mater, The University of Coimbra.  Tons and tons of history here at one of Europe’s oldest universities.  The roads were narrow, windy and made out of cobble stone.  The buildings were tall, narrow, and built right next to each other.  When I thought of Portugal before I got there, this is what I imagined.

    Apparently a student wasn’t very fond of this statue.

    Narrow streets and walk ways

    A beautiful and old Catholic Church

    Self cleaning public toilet.  It’s like a vending machine.  You put the money in, the door opens, you do your thing, the door opens and closes behind you.  After the door closes the inside is completely sprayed down.  It’s great as long as you do nt take too long or the door will open and all of Coimbra will be see you pooping.  Amazing and weird.

    Check out the guy on the rights super cool hairdo.  Very creative.

    Rui’s mom prepared for us a Portuguese specialty called feijoada.  It has beans, tomatoes, cabbage, blood sausage, some other type of sausage, and pork spare ribs.  I think this is what our Portuguese Bean Soup in Hawaii has derived from.   Think about it.  The beans, the cabbage, the sausage.  No noodles but hey its pretty much the same stuff.  It was yummy!!!  I’ve never really had blood sausage but it was a-okay. It’s one of those things that if you’re not use to eating, it’s better to not know what it is and to just give it a try.  That way you don’t have any predetermined negative judgements towards the food.  You just eat it, if you like it you like it, if you don’t you don’t.

    Kahi and Kyle looking forward to eating feijoada, all that cabbage and beans promised for a very competitive gave of fart tennis.

    Fo-real kine Portuguese sausage, they call it chorizo, but in Hawaii we call it Portuguese sausage.  Same same but different.

    Some yummy Portuguese pastries.  Very very sweet.

    One day while we were surfing we ran into a guy that we met in Jeffery’s Bay.  His name is Goncalo and he is a travel writer.  It seems like he has traveled to almost every country in the world and has so many amazing stories.  He drove us around Fig. de Foz after our surf and showed us around town.  It was nice to drive up into the mountains and see the town from a bird’s eye view.

    View from the top of the mountains

    Intermarche!!!  The grocery we shopped at in Portugal.  Gotta love it.   The name has something to do with the three musketeers. 

    Off to Amsterdam for the Arctic Monkey’s Concert, hehehe!!!

  • The final march back to Cape Town

    Guess which one is our car.

    We were just floating, landing where the wind would take us.  Its been a consistent theme of our travels.  Stressing on making deadlines or meetings results in the missing of intricacies on the way.  So the rest of our trip across South Africa was spent landing where we wanted at the moment, meeting up with whom happened to be around, and seeing everything that crossed within our vision.

    Our car had no stereo so much of our time was spent singing our own songs singing to the beats made by the surfboard bags and ropes banging on the roof of our sports car.

    The first gush of wind left us in Mossel Bay where we met up with Pierre our buddy we met in Mozambique.  He offered us a place to stay for the night but shortly thereafter extended the invitation which we graciously accepted.  The next couple of days was spent surfing fun waves, watching the Masters divisions of South Aftrica surf contest (which our buddy Greg was in), partying, and just chilling.  Pierre was such a great host.

    Pierre is about 7 feet tall.

    He lived in a mansion all by himself!  His girlfriend came to visit from Johanesberg who also happens to be his best friends sister.  You would think…..dradradradrammmmma!  But it was fine!  South Africans are cool.  While at his house he had a big BBQ for a huge rugby game.  I almost got my face smashed in for cheering for Pierre’s team (Pierre was the one of the only guys cheering for the Blue Bulls).  I didn’t realize how passionate everyone was.  The team had a funny name and couldn’t help myself from being reminded of old High School days and Blue Balls.

    Our eyes became quite slanted as the night wore on.  I think it was all the smoke from the BBQ.

    Surfing in Mossel Bay is a bit gnarly because of the GWS factor.  There are seals everywhere playing and they even from time to time come right up to you.  There have been multiple fatal attacks in the area and just a month prior a guy was attacked and another was killed.  After we left, Pierre sent me this pic of a GWS they caught close by.  We just kept our eyes peeled and feet on our boards.  We never saw a shark but they probably saw us.

    This is a GWS they caught two weeks after we left getting its picture taken for the news.  It didn’t have much to say, don’t know why they needed the microphone.

    Inner pool was pretty fun on the alaia

    After Mossel Bay we caught a small gust of wind to the town of Still Bay.  Not sure if that’s how it got its name but if it did, the name surely suits the atmosphere of this place.  No one is in a rush, everyone is relaxing, and lunch can last for hours.  We visited our friends Greg and Debby for a night and the next day we had a great lunch at an olive orchard/restaurant.

    Debbie, Greg, Louise and I.  Greg almost made the finals in the South African Masters Championships.  Better luck next year when he moves up to the next age bracket.  I’m gonna enter the 50+ bracket next year and dye my hair and still lose.

    Also while we were in Still Bay, Greg put us in touch with a guy named Jann (Yahn).  They though we’d find him very informative and interesting given our recent new passion in Alaia surfing and surfboards.  Jann is a very well educated man and during our visit were truly inspired to learn more about alternative surfboard design, pre-alluvian theory, learning about edible plants in our environment, and homeopathic healing.  All this in less than an hour!  Can you imagine if you could spend a whole day with the guy?

    He showed us boards he was making for a few famous clients made out of reeds, his boards made out of yucca plants, and then took us into his yard where we went for a short walk and started eating berries on the bushes.  We felt our brains growing and wanted to return the favor.  It was time to pass on a book we knew he would be grateful to digest.  He has since read it (probably in a day) and really liked it.  The book Hokulea: The Way to Tahiti, the story of the first trip on the Hokulea by Ben Finney.  It’s a somewhat one-sided story from the initiator of the Hokulea revival but it definitely has some great information and themes that are still current.
    The wind was strong this day and blew us a bit further, all the way to Botrivier.  A tiny town just outside of Cape Town.  It has recently come into fashion as a result of the thriving wine businesses sprouting up.  When I used to work for a corporate company……………..I had a great boss named Nick Buchanan.  He was from South Africa and after spending so much time there I can now understand why he is the way he is.  He still has family in South Africa and he insisted that I visit some of them.  His sister Catherine lives in Botrivier with her husband Barry, daughters Gemma and Bella, and dogs Annie, Baby, and Bambie.  Then there are the horses and the baby lamb they saved from certain death.  We were going to stay for a night or two and head into Cape Town but we fell absolutely in love with their family and the winery they lived on.

    We had many a nice dinner here in their dining room.

    The property was the size of Kailua and we had free rein to explore as we pleased.  At the time we were both into running and being fit.  Currently (right now) Louise is over there jumping rope, working out, and I’m eating cookies drinking coke and writing the blog.  We were running almost every day, around the property exploring and having a great time.  The surf was small for the coming week so we spent most of it relaxing.  Every night we were treated to a magnificent meal and an even better bottle or two or three of wine.


    Annie was their Great Dane and she was HUGE, it would run with us everytime we’d go out for a run and you could pet her without bending over.  She was such a beautiful dog.

    The baby lamb Catherine saved from imminent death.  It had porcupine spines stuck in it.  When she pulled them out the blood spurted everywhere.  Here is Gemma holding the lamb and Bella giving her famous, “you need to speak with my agent to take a photo of me.”

    Here’s Barry giving it some antibiotics the hard way.

    One day we offered to work in the winery and it ended up being an enlightening experience.  It gave us a greater appreciation for wine and its creators.  Louise spent her time scrubbing residue away from the barrels to keep fruit flys away and I spent my time emptying oak barrels with a pump into the large holding tanks, then cleaning the barrels.

    I got wine on my shoes.

    Once during the barrel time, around 8 months, they pump the wine out, clean the barrels and then pump the wine back in.  Not for all varietals but for some and tasting the wine on my fingers was quite a treat.  It was more like syrup.  My shoes and hands were temporarily stained purple and later that night after multiple bottles of consumption that night, so were my teeth.

    Since Botrivier was so close to Cape Town we were able to go into town to explore and be back by dark.  We spent another day in Cape Town.  We went up the iconic cable car to the top of Table Mounatin and took a ton of awesome pics on deathly precipices.  In the US there would have been fences and warnings everywhere.  But in SA, if you fuck up its your fault for being stupid.

    I love this photo.  People were watching and cracking up.

    After Table Mountain we headed to the the marina to do some shopping and get a nice feed.  The town was really busy and we were soon yearning to get back to the open spaces of the Winery.

    The Gabrielskloof Winery is only a few years old but already has a solid reputation as a quality producer of wine and olive oil.  They also just opened a fabulous restaurant where we had lunch a bunch of times.

    We were in the vineyards during the time when the wheat was harvested and the patterns made were quite hypnotic and extremely beautiful.

    These birds are endangered and it was nice to see them with babies trying to make a comeback on the vineyard.

    It just happened that our friends Max and Martina from Germany who we met in the Phillipines happened to be in South Africa.

    Meeting up with Max and Martina really gave us a scope of the size of the world.  Here we were, kicking it with our buds that we met in the Phillipines who were from Germany and were now in a small town in South Africa and we were travelers from Hawaii half way around the world in South Africa.  Yes the World is big, but the world has contracted thanks to technology and facebook.

    This is Louise marinating chicken in the parking lot.  If you mix the marinade with carbon monoxide the bugga taste ono.  Then you let it mix with the movement in the trunk while you drive a couple hunderd kilometers, broke da mouth brah.

    We took off a few days later.  It was a rainy day and we had to stick all our surfboards in our car.  Louise was stuck in the back since the boards took shotgun.

    After spending so much time in South Africa, it was slightly surreal to be moving on.  South Africa is such a great country to explore as long as you know where and when not to go.  This would include the inner cities of Durban and Johannesburg, unless you are into putting your gear or your life at risk.

    There are parts of South Africa that really disturbed us but the overall progress that has been made in the past 15 years overshadows the steps they still need to make.  Though the progress made does not justify the inequalities, the differential between ethnicities is narrowing.  Now it seems the segregation is moving towards one of other capitalistic societies.  One of wealth, with the white population currently holding the vast majority of it.

    But, with the government being made up of a majority with African descent steps are being made in order to shorten the disparity between the average white person and black person.  There is now the equivalent of affirmative action occurring in South Africa and many of the white South Africans are feeling as though they are now getting the short end of the stick.  With instability in Zimbabwe where some of the white land owners have been kicked off their land and forced out of the country, some South Africans are fearful that the same could happen in South Africa.  Although that seems extreme it does not sit too far back in peoples minds.

    2010 stands to be a huge factor in the future of South Africa.  The World Cup of Football (Soccer) is going to take place in stadiums across the country and millions of people will be attending the games from all around the world.  Not to mention the BILLIONS of people that will be watching on TV.  If South Africa is able to put together a safe and impressive World Cup, the country stands to reap in the benefits of good coverage and advertising.  Some people are betting on an increase in real estate prices and an increase on the power of the rand (their money).  But things could go the other way as well.  We only hope that the World Cup goes off without a hitch and South Africa is able to use it to their advantage some way to reduce poverty and increase equality without alienating the current middle and upper classes.

    South Africa is a must on anyones around the world trip and if you are a surfer, Jeffreys Bay remains a required pilgrimage destination.  We obviously loved the country and can’t wait to come back.  Thanks to all the South Africans that showed us such a great time and took us in as family.  We hope to repay the favor to you in Hawaii.  Please come and visit us and please continue to share the Aloha you showed us.

    I don’t think much is needed to be said about this one.

  • Bungy, Knysna, Surf & Ostriches

    After spending so much time in J-Bay, it was a little hard to say goodbye but we were excited to hit the road again.   The clock was ticking and there were still so many things we wanted to see and do in South Africa before we left for Portugal.

    Our first stop was the Blourkarns Bungy Jump.  At 708 ft (216 m) it is currently the world highest bungy jump.  After feeling the adrenalin rush from the Oribi Gorge Jump, there was no way Kahi could pass up this opportunity.  During our drive to the jump I was trying to decide whether I would also bungy.  I had gone skydiving but bungy jumping was a whole different kind of rush.  First of all you can clearly see where you would plummet to your death if your bungee failed.  Second you’re attached by your ankles and it looks like you’re about to receive the worst case of whiplash ever.  Then after you’ve completed the jump you’re hanging there upside down and all the blood in your body is rushing to your head.  I was scared, but I knew this would be an experience of a lifetime and if I didn’t jump it may be something I would regret in the future.

    Kahi was pumped and ready to jump.  I was still trying to make up my mind.  As we walked up to the booth I knew I had to jump or it would drive me crazy.  I surprised Kahi and told him I would jump too and he was stoked.  We paid, signed our disclaimer forms, and walked over to get outfitted with a harness.

    Bungy prices from around the world.  Not only the highest but also the best bang for your buck.


    Instead of walking out to the bridge we opted to take the zip-line that dropped us off right at the jumping platform.  It cost a little extra but we though it would be a good warm up for the jump.

    Once we got to the platform everything happened so fast you didn’t have time to think about what you were about to do.  Kahi was first.  They sat him down tied up his feet, hooked him to the bungy, helped him to the edge, then it was 1-2-3 BUNGY!!!  Before they even brought him back up they were helping me to the edge.  I tried not to look down to keep me from getting nervous and concentrated on the beautiful mountain backdrop.  They counted down and before I knew it I was falling over the edge.

    Kahi getting tied up and ready to go

    Here we go!

    Oh crap!!!!!

    For the first two seconds I though, “I’m going to die!”   Then I remembered that it was going to be okay and I was able to truly enjoy the experience.  The rush and the feeling of being so very alive.

    Flying

    You bounce up and down for a while and then you’re there hanging up side down.  Not for too long though.  They send down someone to flip you right side up and bring you back up.

    This was definitely one of the craziest things I’ve ever done and I’d do it all over again in a heart beat.  These things are relatively safe (no one had died at Bloukrans……yet) and the feeling is exhilarating.

    The jumping posse


    Check out the video of our jumps, its radical.

    Worlds highest bungy jump, check!  Our next stop was Knysna a town built along a beautiful bay.  Knysna is known for their seafood harvested fresh from the bay, mostly oysters but giant crabs as well.  Both of the Back Packers in the Coast-to-Coast (a backpackers guide) were fully booked, but a nice guy at one of them suggested that we stay at a new backpackers that had just opened toward the east side of town near the Total Gas Station.  He also suggested that we drive up the heads for sunset for a breath taking view.

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    View from the Kynsna Heads


    Fresh crab from Knysna Bay

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    The main reason we stopped in Knysna was to get a special type of hat they sold there.  Steve Black from Khotso Horse Trails in the Southern Drakensburgs had this cool hat that Kahi fell in love with.  Steve told us to stop in Knysna to pick one up, so that was our mission.  It wasn’t easy to find but after a little searching we finally found it.

    When we started our journey around the world we decided that we would try to ride as many different animals as possible.  We got to ride mini-horses in Java, elephants in Bali, horses in J-Bay and the Southern Draks, and now we had the opportunity to ride an ostrich in Oudtshroon.

    Victoria Bay was on our way to Oudtshroon so we stopped to check out the surf.  The conditions weren’t the best but there was some fun head high surf so we jumped in the water.

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    Ewwww!  Cigarette butts are litter too!  The beach is not an ash tray.

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    Oudtshroon is the ostrich capital of South Africa.  With many ostrich farms this is the place to visit if you want to eat ostrich, ride an ostrich, or buy ostrich feathers, leather, and eggs.  That night we went out to dinner in search of some fresh ostrich steaks.  If you’ve never tired ostrich it is a must!  So so so tasty!  Its not like turkey or chicken and is more similar to red meat.  Its also very low in cholesterol and fat, making it a healthy alternative.  YUMMY!

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    Many of the backpackers in Oudtshroon offer free ostrich eggs for breakfast.  One ostrich egg is equal to 36 chicken eggs.  They drill a hole in the bottom of the ostrich egg and shake out the contents into a large bowl.  The result, scrambled eggs to feed an army.  We chopped up some veggies and made a tasty ostrich egg omelet.  The eggs had a slightly different texture than chicken eggs.  They were a little more mushy, like when you add too much milk to chicken eggs.  None the less they were just as tasty.

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    So we got all the info on how to get the opportunity to ride ostriches.  First we would need to go to an ostrich farm and go on the tour.  When the tour was coming to an end they would ask who wanted to ride an ostrich.  Four people would get the chance to ride and you would need to be under 75Kilos (170lbs) to qualify.

    We showed up at the ostrich farm at around 9:30 and luckily there were only four of us in the tour.  First we watched a little movie about the history of Oudtshroon and how it came to be the ostrich capital.  Then our wonderful guide took us to look at the baby and juvenile ostriches.  We learned A LOT about ostriches.  Did you know that it is a myth that ostriches stick their heads in the ground when they get scared?

    Kahi trying to kiss the ostrich


    Ostrich feathers and leather

    It was time to ride ostriches and I was a little nervous because quite a few people told me how common it was to fall off the ostrich.  First they gave you the chance to just sit on the ostrich.  It was a little scary sitting on its back.  It seemed like at any moment it could turn and peck your eyes out.  It was rather calm though and really enjoyed when you stroked its neck.

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    They had us sign liability release forms then it was time to ride.  I volunteered to go first.  They put a bag over the ostriches head to keep it calm then the guides helped me onto its back.  They lifted the ostriches wings, I tucked my legs in under them, and tried my best to wrap my legs around its body.  They told me to hold tight and we were off.  It was hilarious!!!  The bird ran around like crazy while the guide ran after us making sure I didn’t fall off.  It was fun but I don’t think it would be a reliable sources of transportation.

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    Me cracking up and Kahi about to cry.  Hahaha!


    Kahi’s turn was next and they guys helped him onto the ostrich.  They let the ostrich go and it began to run.  Kahi tried to hold on but he began slipping off the back.  He didn’t make it very far around the corral.

    Check out a video of our ride:


  • Our last days in Jeffreys Bay

    The rest of our stay in Jeffreys Bay was spent scoring good waves again, getting our stuff in order, and preparing for our next road trip to Cape Town.  We had a nice going away meal of which many of our good friends came to bid us farewell.  The heavy local crew at Supers had their own little cheers at the bar, glad the Hawaiian on the Alaia and his pretty girlfriend were finally leaving.

    The view to the right of the house, Supers and Salads.

    The view to the left, Surfers Point.

    My final synopsis on Jeffreys Bay goes as follows……

    The wave is amazing.  Hands down it is the best wave we have ever surfed.  I would define best as most consistent, best quality, and overall stoke factor.  There are other waves out there that may have one of those attributes beat, but as a whole Jeffreys Bay stands out above the rest.  That being said, with being the best comes the crowds and hassles.  The local crew out at Jeffreys Bay is a nightmare for the visiting surfer looking to score his dream wave.  The vast majority of visitors feel it is their given right, since they came so far, to paddle out to the peak and take the wave they’ve been dreaming about for years.  This drives the locals absolutely batty!  I took it with a bit of hesitation and still ran into a shit load of drama.  But with my humor and ability to apologize (even though I wasn’t always wrong) put me on the better side of the locals.  Its a funny thing in Jbay, you just need to know who you can cut off or paddle around.  Pretty shitty thing to say but thats how it goes in Jbay.  We got the waves of our lives out there and will hopefully get more like them in the future.

    My recommendation if you want to go there is to go for a while.  Rent a house or apartment for a month or more between June-September and be patient.  The swells come in non-stop and in a given week you can surf 5 out of 7 days.  It will get epic about 3 days out of the 5.  There are more waves than just Supertubes.  You have The Boneyard, Supers, Car Park, Salads, Coins, Tubes, Surfers Point, and Albatross.  My favorite was Coins.

    The town itself is pretty lame.  The architecture has no common theme or any theme at all.  There is very little nightlife and the town is actually a little bit away from the wave.  About a 5 minute drive.  The town is filled with vacation rentals and during the surf season they are pretty much empty.  So you are living amongst empty houses and apartments.  The people are nice and very welcoming, until you go out into the lineup.  Be respectful and you most likely won’t run into any problems.  Accidents happen, just be prepared to hold your tongue and paddle away.  If you take one of the locals on, you will be dealing with the whole gang.  Although it may not be violent, you can be sure you won’t be getting any more waves.

    At first we were really interested in buying a piece of land in Jbay for the future, but we’ve realized its cheaper to rent.  In addition by buying land in anywhere other than home you end up being tied to it.  There are so many places in the world to visit and to have to come back to Jbay for most vacations although it would be nice, would be a missed opportunity to find another paradise somewhere else in the world..  We love Jeffreys Bay and will be back.

    Louises wipeout, check her face its hilarious.

    Our Garden and inspiration for home.

    Louise and Kalia

    My domain at the grill

    Nightime shot, the lights are all the calamari (chukka) boats.

    The view in the rear view window as we left.

  • Back in Coffee Bay

    We had to go back to Coffee Bay because I left my computer charger at the Four Winds Hotel.  Our drive from Mantis and the Moon was done in pouring rain.  What should have been 4 hours turned into 7.  Todd drove the treacherous road through the thick rain, dodging potholes, dogs, kids, cows, sheep, chupacabras, the works until his luck ran out.  Somewhere someone told him that the potholes are best taken on with speed.  But there is no way to skim over a pothole the size of a queen size bed.  We nailed this one special pothole and it felt like getting kicked in the shins.  Sitting in the back, Louise and Kim watched three of our hubcaps go flying  by.  It felt as though we he just popped three tires.  It was pouring rain, we were in a shady part of the country, it was getting dark, but we only had 10 km to go.

    The little potholes you have to constantly keep your eyes out for.

    We thought (as in Louise, Kim, and I) we could make it as long as we didn’t hit anymore potholes, which was pretty much impossible.  Todd wanted to check the tires.  But being a democratic car we trudged on to a point about 4 km from the town, so we could walk if we really really needed to and if we had our car probably would have ended up on blocks when we got back.  Luckily the car had only one flat tire and two bent rims.  In the pouring rain, we had the girls move to the front while we unloaded the trunk as fast as we could into the back seats and then proceeded to pull the spare tire out and change it.  We were Nascar lightning fast and were back on the road in less than 7 minutes.

    The Transkei (translates to across the kei river)

    Pulling  back into town we were relieved that our place was still available and that they had my charger.  Would have been quite a pity and I know the rest of the team would of been pissed.
    When we went across the street to reserve dinner at the sugarloaf backpackers we were disappointed to find that the chef we were raving about (Rocko) had moved on.  Money was disappearing from the tills at the backpackers and they blamed him.  He denied it and told them to fuck off.  He now is a chef, last we checked, in Port Alfred.  The thing is the people he worked with seemed like crooks.  He was the most honest guy we had met till then in Coffee Bay and it was a shame that he was unceremoniously discharged from a good gig.  So that night the girls whipped up a feast and we ate good.  We needed to have a good feed because the next day we were going abseiling.  But before going to sleep we went to the Sugar Shack and had a few beers listening to the full moon drum circle.  We drank a bunch at the bar there but wanted to save some energy…… all of us left except Todd.  Todd has a habit of getting going and not stopping.  He is the life of the party and the party didn’t want to stop.  So he stayed out till late and we went back to get some rest.  Its so ironic that we were the young ones going to sleep when he is the 40 something year old, partying like he is 21.  He makes me feel old and I hope I can party like him when I am his age….to an extent.
    The next morning was a beauty.  We started the day by getting the tires fixed.  We tried to patch the flat one but as you can see it had a severe case of acne.  This happens when you try to drive on a flat for too long.  We had no spares left so we had to drive safer for the rest of the trip home.

    Look at the tire!  Its got pimples!  This is what happens what you drive on a flat.

    Once the car was settled we picked up Phil were headed to little hole in the wall to take on our first abseil.  The roads were pretty shitty, the car had no more spares, and we had loaded the thing up to the brim with people and gear.    Oh well, she was fine, but the passengers had to get out for me to get the car up some of the steeper hills.
    The abseil was amazing.  Of the 7 people that had signed up to do it, 5 went through with it, no names mentioned.  The abseil proved to be a lot gnarlier than we were expecting.  Looking over the edge you were faced with a drop of around 400 feet to rocks.  The ropes were fastened into the rock face at the top and there was no warm up.  You stepped to the edge and begun your descent on a rope under your own control.  It was something straight out of the Slyvester Stallone movie “Cliffhanger”.  Once you got the hand of it, you could kick off the rock face and descend some 20 feet at a time or you could run from side to side and try to grab onto little cracks in the face.  Its an exhilarating feeling that I would definitely recommend and given the chance I would do it again in a flash.

    This was the face that we abseiled down, you can see people at the very top

    Coffee Bay is a cool little town worth a visit.  The even smaller village next door at Umdumbe is perhaps even better depending on what you are looking for.  The beaches in Umdumbe are larger and more picturesque but there are currently very few services in the town, wouldn’t even call it a town.  But the wave out front is supposedly really good but she never turned on for us.
    From Coffee Bay it was only one more big jump before we were back in Jeffreys Bay.  But instead of rushing it and potentially having to drive at night we made a stop in at the Bucaneers backpackers for our final night out on the road.  Bucaneers is a great mid-point for a stop and left us refreshed for our final leg back to our home away from home.
    As we pulled into Jeffreys Bay all we could think of was surf, a small swell was visiting and a bigger one was due the next day.

  • Southern Draks + Oribi Gorge

      

    Kahi, me, Kim and Todd over looking the Southern Draks  

     

     

    Driving though the Sani Pass was a great way to see the Southern Drakensburg Mountains.  The view was spectacular and the drive itself was an experience in its own.   We had done our fair share of hiking and driving through the mountains and wanted to experience them in a different way.  Ever since the beginning of the road trip we had been talking about horseback riding but had a difficult time choosing where to do it.  This was the perfect place.  A nice family recommended Khotso Horse Trails and Backpackers and we headed in that direction.  

     

     

     

     

    Todd, Kim, Cecelia, Steve, Lulu, Me and Kahi in front of Khotso Backpackers  

     

     

     

     

     

    There’s a horse thqt thinks its a dog and kicks it around the house  

     

    Khotso is a cozy farm house that offers backpacker accommodation, family lodging, plus all sorts of horse tours.  The farm is run by Steve and Lulu, some of the warmest people who really make you feel at home.  Steve is a hard core runner who raises money for the needy by running crazy distances.  The last run he did was a 1000k run to raise funds for a special charity.  1000k!  It took him around three weeks and running the distance close to a marathon eac day.It was too late for us to do a horse tour that day so we went for a short hike instead.  Just out the back door of the lodge is a gate that leads to open pastures and rolling hills.  We climbed up the highest hill for a nice view of the area.  The landscape was stunning with miles of green grassy pastures and the Southern Draks in the distance.  It was different from anywhere else we had been in South Africa.

     

     

     

        

     

      

     

    View of Khotso’s Backyard  

     

      Sunset over the Southern Draks  

     

     

     

    We chose to do the full-day horseback tour, a six hour ride with a break to eat lunch and a swim.  This was my second horseback ride and my first ride was only two hours long.  After that first ride my entire body ached for a couple days.  I was a little nervous about riding for 6 hours. 

     

      

     

     

    Horse assignments  

     

    Our guide asked how experienced we were and we kind of lied and told him we were excellent riders.  He then asked who was the most experienced between the four of us and we agreed that was Kahi.  K ahiwas assigned the “ferrari” horse who was the least tame.  The horse knew how to walk and sprint, nothing in between.  If his horse was walking behind us and began running our horses would take off after his.  We were hauling ass!  It was so much fun but there were a few moments where I felt out of control.   

     

      

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Riding  was scary at times because Kahi’s horse would start sprinting with our following and there were barbed wire fences in some areas.   Our hoses would be so focused on trying to catch each other that they wouldn’t recognizes the fence until we were very close.  It was difficult to get our horses to stop running and we has a few close calls. 

     

     

     

     

     

    After the fist hour of riding I got the condition we called “monkey butt”.  You know those monkey’s with the big swollen looking red butts.  Well thats what my bum felt like after just the first hour.  My butt was rubbing against the saddle every time my horse ran and it rubbed the skin right off of my bum.  OUCH!!!  We still had many hours of horseback riding to go.  It sucked!  I decided that I’d just stand in my stirrups while my horse ran to spare my bum.      

     

     

     

     

     

      

     

    Riding by a dairy we saw a cow giving birth.  Kind of gross but pretty cool.   

     

     

    Half way through the tour we stopped at a park to have lunch and go for a swim in the icy river.  It was a beautiful sunny day and it was really really hot.  We soaked our tired feet in the stream while eating my tasty lunch.  

      

      

     

    Icy cold river swim  

     

    The sun beating down on our way back to the farm and it was HOT.  We were sweating, our horses were sweating, and it was time to cool off.  We got back to the farm were ready to find a hose to cool ourselves down.  One of the staff members offered to give us a ride to the swimming hole.  We all jumped in the truck, walked over to the pool of water and tried to decided wether to get in or not.  The water looked really cold and the breeze was a little chilly.  Kahi decided to go for it and after a little persuasion I followed shortly.  

      

      

      

      

       

      

     

      

     

      

     

    Nothing like a frosty beer and a big dinner to end a long exhausting day  

    The next morning the weather had completely changed.  Kim and I woke up early to go for our morning run, it was drizzling but decided to go anyway.  It went from being sunny, hot and beautiful to freezing cold with the possibility of snow.  We froze our butts off!  The weather was cold, wet, and poopy so we spent the day lounging around relaxing, watching movies, and visiting the local cheesery.  

      

     

    Cheese!  

     

      

     

    Todd making out with a calf 

    Since we were heading south, Steve asked us to deliver his Land Cruiser to the auto dealer so that he could sell it.  Kahi and I took the Land Cruiser and Kim and Todd took the 4×4 to Durban to trade it in for a smaller cheaper car.  After switching the cars they picked us up at the car dealership and we were off to Umzumbe.  

     

     

    The Land Cruiser.  Mozambique would have been no problem in this baby.  

     

    Todd had arranged accommodation for us at the Mantis and Moon Hostel in Umzumbe, about 100K south of Durban.  It was a super chill backpackers with a jacuzzi, tree house style accommodations, and a hip bar.  There was a beautiful beach near by with a surf spot but the conditions weren’t quite right.  

      

     

    Some birds building cool nests out of plam leaves   

    The next day we drove to the near by Oribi Gorge.  The gorge was a deep trench formed from the erosion caused by the river that ran through it.  The view was spectacular.  Steep rocky cliffs that dropped for hundreds of feet.  The river at the base of the gorge was barely visible but had a steady flow.  

     

      

     

    View point over looking the gorge  

     

     

    At one of the cliffs there was a bungee swing set up.  We weren’t quite sure what it was but were curious and wanted to check it out.  We stood on the cliff looking at the bungee set up and tried to figure out what exactly you were suppose to do.  

      

     

    Bungee swing set up 

     

    Then a fellow tourist decided to jump.  They strapped him into his harness, escorted him down a ladder to the cliff’s edge, hooked him in, shouted “1-2-3 BUNGEE!!!” and gave him a gentle push over the edge.  The cliff was steep, probably about 300ft.  The free fall was much longer than we were expecting and it looked insane.  Kim asked Kahi if he was going to jump and he told her he would if she did.  Kim said, “lets do it!”  They signed their liability wavers, strapped into their harnesses and walked down the ladder.  1-2-3 BUNGEE!!!  

     

     

      

     

    Kim jumping (left), Kahi taking the leap of faith (right)  

     

      

     

    View of the fall

     

     The difference between the bungee swing and the traditional bungee is the way that you are attached to the bungee.  In the traditional bungee your ankles are tied together and hooked onto the bungee.  For the swing bungee you are wearing a harness around your waist which is then hooked to the bungee.  Instead of falling head first you fall in a swing motion, head upright and avoiding the feeling blood rushing to your head.  

    We had one more stop before heading back to J-Bay, Coffee Bay.  Our last stop there was cut short due to bad weather and we did not get to do a few activities that we were looking forward to, we also left behind our computer charger.  We loaded the car and began the long drive down the terrible pot-hole ridden roads to Coffee Bay.