Day 1
At breakfast we arranged an expensive rip-off transfer to
Buta Karas as there didn’t seem to be any other available options.
So after breakfast we thought we would keep the guy waiting
and take one last look at the beach so went to a beach bar and ordered a couple
of milkshakes whilst watching people learning to surf and had the obligatory
photo requests from the local tourists.
Around midday we were taken to our new lodgings at Buta
Karas and once checked in we were given a welcome mango fruit and a large knife
to cut it up for ourselves. The only
problem with this accommodation was that there was no Wi-Fi at the hotel.
The nice thing about Buta Karas is that it has a lovely
little beach with a consistent surf break on the right side, only a handful of
restaurants and it was more of a local’s beach with only a few westerners
knocking around.
After getting settled in we headed for the beach to catch a
few rays and watch the surfers, who were pretty good, we thought we would leave
it until tomorrow before we had a go and build up some courage (Shel not
Glenn!)
Whilst sitting on the beach it started to rain so we headed
to a nearby restaurant where we sat and had a couple of drinks until it stopped. Unfortunately the weather didn’t look like
clearing up so we went to the posh hotel next to ours and had a drink there so
we could use their Wi-Fi and in the hope that we would be in range to use their
connection from our hotel.
In the evening we headed to one of the restaurants and had
some food and a few beers before turning in for the night.
Day 2 – Surf’s up!!
Today we were rudely woken up by a knock on the door at 6.00
to give us our breakfast pancakes – WTF!!! (Just because they get up at 4.30
for Morning Prayer it doesn’t mean we’re up!) So we went back to sleep and had
cold pancakes for breakfast when we awoke at a more sensible time.
For the rest of the morning we did a bit of blogging and
trip research using the stolen internet link from next door’s hotel, which
meant sitting in the gardens right next to the dividing wall.
After watching people learning to surf in Lombok we
regretted not giving it a go, so now we had the chance to rectify that. We headed to the beach to where a rack of
surfboards for hire was and asked about getting a lesson. The guy we spoke to did not seem that
enthusiastic but we agreed a price with him and he rounded up one of his
friends to assist him.
First of all he arranged a broken board on the sand and went
through the basics of going from paddling and lying down on the board to
springing to your feet, or in my case struggling to my feet. This training drill lasted all of five
minutes then we were heading out into the surf with long boards tucked under
our arms and leashes’ around our ankles.
Once out in the surf with our separate instructors we then
had to lie on the boards whilst we waited for suitable waves. When a wave came along the instructor would
tell us to get ready and then push our boards up to speed to catch the wave
(saved us trying to paddle up to speed) and then when we were on our way they
would then shout at us to try and get up.
The first few wave (maybe 10!) the result was not good with
us both of us struggling to get to our feet and falling off in a multitude of
directions. But eventually I finally
managed to get to my feet and ride a very small wave for about 5 seconds,
quickly followed by Shell doing the same (she didn’t want to be beaten!).
We did this for about an hour with both of us managing to
get up a couple more times with a maximum ride time of around 8 – 10
seconds!! But to be honest we were
pretty happy that we managed to get up and ride a wave at all, before long we
will be hanging ten dude!!!
Feeling pretty ecstatic about our new found skills we then
went to a restaurant for a few celebratory beers whilst we watched the
professionals doing their stuff on the waves we had just tamed!!!
Later in the day we went back to the room to have a shower
before going out for dinner, we tried a different restaurant and the food was
pretty good.
After dinner we went back to our room and watched TV and
whilst lying there we discovered that our bodies were starting to ache from our
days exertions.
Day 3 – On our own!
The pancakes turned up at a more reasonable time this
morning after we had a quiet word, however we were still woken up fairly early
by a local family that had checked in next door to us and had opened their own
personal kitchen outside their room, complete with cooking rings and wok.
We also discovered that our bodies did not particularly like
surf with both of us aching, especially in the ribcage area where we had been
jumping on and off of the surf board.
Running a bit short on money I arranged to scooter a bike
from the hotel and rode out of town for around ten miles to find a ATM so we
could afford to pay for the hotel….and a few beers.
Once I had returned from the cash run and although our
bodies were protesting around mid-morning we thought we would try out our new
found skill again (no pain no gain!!). So
we headed to the beach and hired a long board between us and headed back out
into the surf.
Despite this set-back we still continued and eventually
after getting angry with myself I manged to catch a couple of waves and ride
them into the shore. But it was Shell
who stole the day as on her final session she managed to get up and ride three
successive wave into the shore with most probably the longest standing time of
10 – 12 seconds – totally rad maaann!!
Once again after drying off and sunbathing/reading for a
while we headed to the restaurant for some more celebration beverages whilst discussing
and big-ing up our new found surfing prowess!!
Also keeping an eye on my injured arm which was starting to change to a
very interesting colour!!
After a few drinks we went next door to the travel shop and
arranged a transfer and a train to our next destination, this time opting for
economy class on the train as it was not such a long journey and economy was
half the price (we thought as the trains seemed OK this wouldn’t be too bad).
Again it started raining so we headed back to our room, on
the way past we saw our neighbours and their extended family cooking their
evening meal on the porch.
We then went back to the restaurant from the previous
evening for dinner and a few beers before taking our aching bodies to bed.
Day 4 – Surf Fatigue!
We had opted to stay for one more day in Buta Karas as we
liked the vibe here and thought we would relax for a bit before hitting the
cities again.
Once again we had pancakes for breakfast and the neighbours
and their family were doing their own breakfast next door in the wok.
Despite our aches and pains we headed to the beach to try
our hand at surfing again. We hired the
same board and headed out into the waves but after a short time we were feeling
very weary. Shell after getting wiped
out by a cross wave decided she had had enough and was ‘not feeling it’ so she
went to sunbathe whilst I persisted but without much success.
Shortly after I headed up the beach and joined Shell where
we spent some time relaxing and reading whilst watching the other surfers doing
their stuff, they are very keen on ‘hanging ten’ here.
Later on I headed into the sea for one last surf and to try
and get a photo of me up on a wave, but I was still tired myself and after I
managed to catch one little tiddler, which Shell caught on camera I decided to
call it a day.
We then headed up to our regular restaurant for beers before
heading back to our room again, noting that the neighbours were yet again
cooking (maybe we should take note and save on our food budget!). At one point
they even had a local food stall outside serving them, no joke!
In the evening we went out to eat and then returned to watch
a bit of TV and an early night, we were moving on tomorrow.
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