Sunday, September 18, 2016

Mentawai Island

As previously mentioned, I will be going into further detail about each leg of the Indonesian Odyssey that myself and Will embarked on. The first leg of the trip took us off the west coast of Sumatra to a rather well known, yet untouched, island in the Mentawai island chain.

The Mentawai's have an aura about them. The name of the island chain alone leaves me wanting to know more about them. Paradise is the most accurate descriptive noun to describe this peachy piece of planet Earth. 


Masao post evening session

Getting here was no simple task. A total of two 12 hour international flights, 1 domestic flight, 2 ferry's, many a taxi ride, and what seemed like endless hours in airports made the 4 day trek one to remember. Stepping off of the speedboat which took us on the final leg of the journey was a surreal feeling. Vertigo from 16 hours on sea, we had arrived!

White beaches and palm trees are just what the Dr ordered

Will shredding shaka's
Being my first visit to Indonesia and my first surf trip abroad I had no idea what to expect in terms of living conditions. I was pleasantly surprised by the standard of accommodation on this tiny island. There are 4 options on the side we stayed all priced according to what offer and all very reasonable. The crowd at these surf camps are absolute legends. Anyone who has made their way out this far, knows what they are doing. No kooks, no dickheads, all legends! Made some awesome friends out here and hopefully I will be able to reconnect with each any everyone of them. You guys all helped make this leg of the journey memorable!

Will planning a sneak attack sabotage on the Barrenjoey
The waves we were greeted with were unreal. Surfing everyday 2-3 times for 4 weeks was unreal. The level of surf here is phenomenal and the near perfect waves really allow you to surf as good as you can. It almost feels unreal. It turns out that we arrived on a real lucky run of swell and for the 4 weeks we stayed, there was atleast one major swell each week with perfect 2-4ft waves every other day.

Myself on a charmer on August 1. Photo by Chris Love

Quality Sir

What I have been dreaming of for years

All in all, this leg of the journey was most fruitful. Amazing waves had by all, great friendships made, and a whole lot learn't! See the video below from waves we had on the 1st of August (Just so happened to be Will's birthday) 


Next blog post will cover the segment of the trip spent in and around Bali.




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