So, I've been home for about three weeks now. I never got a chance to update my blog for the last part of the trip so I'll give you the run down on what happened.
I ended up staying in Kuta, Bali for much longer than I expected. I realized I needed to get better at surfing on the easy beach break before I ventured to more dangerous reef breaks around Lombok. Also, I ended up with a really cool group of people. There was about six Swedes, one American, and myself. We all hung out pretty much everyday while in Kuta. We even ended up on a "river rafting" trip.
The river rafting trip would have been more aptly named creek dingying. We were in an extremely low volume rocky river in a beefed up four person dingy essentially. Haha, coming from Nepal and BC, it was pretty funny to see that there was actually a commercial rafting operation on this puny river. Nonetheless, it was good for a laugh and had some hoots and hollers as we pinballed off rocks in the river and dropped off 4m concrete dams. We also stopped at some cool spots along the river where there were beautiful waterfalls and awesome scenery.
While in Kuta I also managed to venture out to some other suburb towns and surf breaks and beaches. One day I rented a motorcycle and took my surfboard with me on an adventure to two different beaches; dreamland and Ulawatu. I started off at dreamland which was really fun. When I got there the surf wasn't that great but there weren't many people there. Soon enough though, the surf picked up and I got to surf some big fun waves that were breaking close into shore. Definitely good times. As more people showed up it got a bit crowded for the small take off zone though. So I decided I would ride my motorcycle to the famous reef break Ulawatu. The only problem was that I lost the key to my bike! oops. After some fussin around trying to figure out what to do I paid some Indonesian guys 5 bucks to hotwire my bike. So I kick started it up and got outta there. I was off to Ulawatu next, on a hot wired motorbike. However, when I reached the parking area, I realized I couldn't turn my bike off because it was hotwired. The kill switch didn't work, I tried the choke to see if I could flood the engine, no luck. After some head scratching and some funny looks from the locals I pulled the spark plug off and became quite pleased with myself for figuring that one out.
After a few more days spent surfing in Kuta, laying on the beach, playing guitar and indulging in some nightlife, a group of about nine of us headed to the Gili Islands.
The gilis are a chain of three tiny islands off the northwest coast of Lombok. The main reason people go there is for the diving. I originally planned on doing my advanced open water diving course when I got there but realized I was running out of money fast as I neared the end of my trip. Instead we spent most of our time snorkeling. I definitely found a new passion for snorkeling, or skin diving as its also called, while I was there. I found it to be exhilarating to practice diving deeper and holding my breath longer. Not to mention that the coral and sea life there was amazing. I saw several giant sea turtles and heaps of other brightly coloured fish. The Gili islands don't have any cars and are relatively undeveloped and clean. Thus I could be found with my gang of homeys, cruising down the sand roads on our retro bicycles, complete with handy dandy baskets in the front to stick our snorkel gear.
The time spent on the Gili's was very relaxing and super fun. I almost forgot to mention that there was a sweet reef break on the island as well, so I had some good surfing as well.
Indonesia is an amazing string of Islands which has definitely left me wanting more. I know I will go back to explore the more remote islands and surf breaks. Next time, I think a sail-boat is the way to see it. I can see it now, sailing around to different islands, fishing, spear fishing, surfing and meeting new and interesting people.
But all things must come to an end, and so my trip ended a week early (I ran out of money, and realized I needed more than two days at home before I started work in Whistler) on Nov.6th as I flew back to Vancouver. I was actually quite ready and happy to be coming home. Arriving at YVR still wearing board shorts, flip flops, and a tank top, carrying my guitar and surfboard, I was rudely awakened to the fact that it is cold and rainy in Vancouver in November. But alas I was not perturbed, in fact I reveled in the fact that it was so beautifully autumn in Vancouver. The family, friends, crisp air, freshly fallen leaves, pervasive moisture and most importantly the snow in the mountains, served to welcome me home to the landscape in which I have developed an affinity for throughout the past 23 years.
In some ways, I'm amazed I made it home. When your out in the middle of nowhere 4000m up in the middle of the Himalayas where it's taken you ten days to walk to, or on some tiny island way out in the south pacific that you have traveled to via several little boats you wonder if you'll be able to overcome the obstacles in front of you to reach home again. But somehow I did it.
And thankfully so! I had a wicked ten days in Chilliwack with my family and friends. I forgot to mention that when I got off the plane at 9pm on the night of November 6th, I went directly to my good friends bands CD release party. It was pretty much perfect. Within 2 hours of getting off the plane I was in a pub in downtown Vancouver with heaps of the best friends you could ask for. As if that wasn't good enough, they had another show the next night in Chilliwack. It certainly felt amazing to be home.
Traveling in the mountains of Nepal has left me amazed and wanting to explore more of the giant mountains close to home. Whether its the Selkirks, Monashees, Purcells, Valhalla range, Rockies, Coast mtns, Cascades or the Yukon and Alaska, I feel compelled to get out there and discover what adventures await me in my own backyard.
One thing I've learned is that Canada, and BC in particular, is the best place to live in the world. I think I'll travel to the far reaches of the world and be amazed and love every minute of it and do it again and again. But when it comes down to it I'll always come back home. I'm a BC boy who loves the mountains, the ocean, the people and everything west coast.
