G-Land, October 2007... 2 weeks of pure ALOHA!!

And once again we did a trip to G-Land...the initial plan was to go by bike explore all the coast of Java searching for remote waves and to see new places but unfortunately it wasn’t possible to go through with this project this time and my partner for that adventure Michael “Soul Man” ended up going on a solo mission and should be back soon with some news…

I opted then for G-Land where I knew my chances to get good waves on the next few days were very high besides some peace of mind and relaxation that only some time in the jungle with low crowd could provide...

That was it, on all the surf camps the occupation was very low and even without any big swell on the way for the next few days we had a very good week with waves on the 5 feet range of pure perfection with very few people in the water…the vibe was pure ALOHA without fight for waves with everyone in the water sharing the waves and getting stoked…

I stayed at the Bobbys Surf Camp and on this first week there was a group of older Hawaiians super cool some of wich were traveling with their kids amongst the famous shaper Eric Arakawa and his son Sean, Cole, Jack, Ryan Horner, Mike and Matt Cheape, Jeff and Daniel Peterson and Vance and Chase Owen and the vibe couldn’t be more positive... everyone without exceptions got stoked with the medium and perfect waves that were breaking for many days at Kongs and Money Trees while in Bali the swell was almost flat and with onshore winds…most of people couldn’t believe our luck when I passed out the surf report from Bali that I was getting every day by phone…

At night during dinner everyone had this same smile of been enjoying something special as G-Land perfect and without crowds is almost an illusion nowdays…and on the buffet nights that are served every 3 days at Bobbys Camp the stoke was contagious...Excellent food, perfect uncrowded waves and lots of Bintangs were a constant…

Also in the camp were the Californian G-Land veteran Tim, some cool aussies such as Neal and his girlfriend Michelle, many Japanese amongst wich my long time friend Saito sam and his girlfriend, a father and his 11 years old son that was ripping on the smaller days and many other friends, the resident professional photographer John Hepler and the Brazilian team of Guto Gutemberg, Grillo and João that was spending his honey moon with his wife besides others…

Apart from those, others that had the luck to spend this week of perfect medium waves at the Jungle were the surf guide of Jungle Camp Cory and the surfers that closed the deal with Bali Surf Connection such as Brazilians Roberta and Henrique, Artur Almeida, Rogério de Sá, Diego Fetter, Rafael Farias, Igor farias and Éder Farias that got precious tips about the swell and conditions that provided a perfect surf without crowds while others didn’t go thinking that the swell wouldn’t be big enough and ended up getting stucked in a semi flat Bali with sideshore/onshore winds...

During all this first week we had offshore winds and medium perfect waves but by sunset time on the 7th it was just unreal, like a painting…red orange sky, no winds making the ocean smooth as a mirror, waves of 5 to 6 feet long and barreling and very few people in the water…it was an unforgettable experience where everyone was smiling and thanking God for that precious moment, something really spiritual…

And on next week with the prediction of another medium swell me and many others extended our trip for another week but as not always everything is perfect the swell that was expected didn’t show up and we had a mediocre week of waves on the 1 to 2 feet range very inconsistent where the amount of beer drinking went way higher, the games room and the cinema at Bobbys were always occupied and the days went slow.

The second week, opposite to the first, was a week of vacation in the jungle without many waves but far away from the noise of the crazy traffic of Bali and of its sellers and all the stress that is part of the Balinese routine…

I leave here a special thanks to my good friends Bobby Radiasa and Puma, all the staff at Bobby’s Camp and all the crew that shared the ALOHA that was so strong this time in the jungle at G-Land.

Next year there will be more, the BALI SURF CONNECTION would like to thank all the friends, clients and associates for the preference…

ALOHA!!

Rodrigo “Digone”