Our little shindig a few weeks back, 9ft & Single, threw a few like-minded, though geographically poles apart, folk together. A girl from California, a geezer from Sydney and a couple of less than likely lads from out the back of beyond that is western Java. Kawan-kawan is Bahasa Indonesia for colleagues.
I’d said like-minded for they had more than one thing in common. Firstly, and for the coming festivities, most important, they could all ride log like nobodies business. But secondly, and more interesting for this little tale, they’d all arrived a little early. So with distractions light on the ground and without much more than a couple of lubricating Bintangs the four of them had somehow plotted a little get away up the west coast of Bali in place renown for it’s longboarding prowess and some incredibly friendly and accommodating locals. Jalan-jalan is Bahasa Indonesia for street, to walk or to travel.
So it was Cassia Meador, Matt Chojnacki, Husni Ridwan and Deni the grom set off on the short but long drive to this bay of the long left. They had to navigate along a road that served as the main arterial link to the port of Bali that connects this Hindu enclave to mainland Java. It’s not a nice drive. It’s a road that turns even the most trepid explorers knuckles white. Perhaps that’s the reason this little break is still such an unspoiled oasis. The idea of playing Russian roulette with overtaking trucks and buses a deterrent for most god fearing surfers.
They got it on a good day. The tide low on their arrival they picked a route out through the big round river rocks before paddling gingerly out towards the perfect little left handers. A place they inhabited for a score of hours. Was only weary limbs that drove them ashore. Jalan-jalan kawan-kawan is Bahasa Indonesia for traveling colleagues. What they had become. A shared trip, even so short like this, makes people bond on a very basic level.
Luckily for everyone we sent Andre along. He’d chauffeured this worldly quartet there, making the trip much more pleasant for the fantastic four and after peeling his fingers out of the rubber steering wheel cover, embedded there after his deft asphalt maneuvers, he downed a few three-in-one coffee's at the beachside warung before managing to shoot some very cool footage of them at play. Skylarking. Check it out.
