07/05: Nias to Asu - Chasing a Dream
Sam and I left for Nias with no expectations and that’s why it all worked out so well. We left Bali on the afternoon of the 8th of April to meet John Potocny, or JP, my long time friend and surf buddy for the last 20 years. We spent a night in Medan eating sushi and cruising the mall to pick up any last minute items like computer speakers, first aid stuff, mosi nets, etc. 7am departure the next day for Nias on a 2 prop puddle jumper of a plane then a 2 hour drive down the East coast of Nias to arrive at the south tip of the Island and the famed Lagundri Bay, a right hand barrel listed in the top 50 waves to surf before you die. We arrived to meet Barriga (Pronounced Ba-heega, it means belly Brazilian Portuguese) in Lagundri and found that the famous Belly has shrunk. Barriga is out in the water now almost everyday, and sometimes twice if there is a good wave. He has a very unique style though, as he surfs the inside of the wave with all the little local grommets and he rides his fun board on his knees, but it works and he looks good and feels even better when he gets in the water.
Barriga was stoked to meet Samantha again and I took to him like a fish to water. We met Jack, an American expat living in SE Australia, he was the only one staying there when we arrived, so JP bunked with him and Sam and I took the other room. Only one problem, there were no waves. Jack had been “surfing the hammock” for a week now and he was stoked to have some company and REALLY stoked to meet my guitar with which he had a week long love affair until we left for Asu.
The waves eventually came, but only 2 to 3 feet on the sets and I rode my fish pretty much the whole time. The last morning we were there JP and I woke up early for the dawny and scored a consistent 3 foot morning with just a few people and lots of good waves, we were stoked and ready to get away from the crowds of Lagundri and get out to the outer island paradise of Asu. The crowd at LAgundri is the worst I have ever experienced as far as people and their ability to disrespect ALL the rules of surfing. There is a keyhole above the wave so everyone that paddles out goes straight to the top of the lineup, as if you haven’t been waiting there for 15 minutes through the lineup to take that position yourself having battled and jockeyed your way up through all the other tourists. Not to mention the locals who feel that it is their God given right to take any wave they please, it’s either frustrating of funny, depending on what kind of mood you are in.
David and Angela arrived to Nias to meet us with 3 of their friends, Aran, Kasa, and Raphael. David and Angela are the owners of Asu Camp, and it is through recent talks with them in Bali that Sam and I are considering running the surf camp that David has set up out there. David came to Asu first around ’95 and in ’97 he bought 36 are (pronounced ar-o , and equal to 10m sq.) of land for a ridiculously small amount of American dollars. Since then he has built 2 bungalows and a kitchen, a generator house, 3 bathrooms, and has 2 wells on the property. In 2004, the earthquake that shook Indonesia and caused the tsunami that created so much destruction, actually lifted, yes lifted the island of Asu about 3 vertical meters, or about 10 feet. The wave changed a little bit, in my opinion for the better, as the inside section, commonly known as the “nuclear zone”, was no longer a factor and the wave just reels for 200m and then ends now.
David had another Brazilian running the camp for the last 5 years, but this year he was ready for a change and looking to find some fresh blood to run the camp. At the same time he and Angela were just about to throw in the towel on the project, Angela and David ran into Sam in Bali. I was in the Mentawais taking photos on a boat and recently changed my screen saver on my computer to my favorite picture of me surfing Asu (certainly no coincidence…) and when I returned Sam told me she had some friends we needed to meet with regarding a camp on Asu. I was really skeptical, due to the recent build up and let down of my other “dream job” that had recently fallen through.
We met with David and Angela and it seemed like a really good fit, we decided to meet up in Asu and take a look at what we had to work with. David had not been up there himself since 2006 and was not sure what we were going to find, we wouldn’t even have electricity as the generator had died the year prior. We sorted the dates and decided to meet up at Asu in April to have a look. At the same time I got an email from John letting me know that a project he had planned on working was cancelled and he could come meet me wherever I was. So JP was in with us and the dates were set.
Asu arrival was epic, a 4 hour car ride from Lagundri, one flat tire, a local mafia bridge toll on a bridge being repaired, unreal scenery of off the beaten path Indonesian lifestyles, checking in with the police and paying them off. We arrived the ghost port of Sirombu to an empty pier and unloaded to wait for the boat. About 30 minutes under the brow beating afternoon sun and the boat arrived. Everything got loaded in the boat by hand, even the 250 pound generator that David showed up in Lagundri with.
We got to Asu in an hour and a half and had just enough light to unload the boat to shore with a dinghy before the night crept in and took away our ability to see or orient ourselves. We grabbed our backpacks and handbags and started huffing it through the jungle on a single track walking path. The 15 minute walk seemed like forever in the dark single file line of trekers, but alas, we arrived the camp, lit by candles and lamp light, it was a much anticipated arrival and we were stoked.
The next week was a balance of enjoying the waves, tide pools, snorkeling, chilling, sleeping, driftwood bonfires, spearfishing, and well, working. Meeting with David and Angela to find out what their vision was for the place and how Sam and I would fit in with that vision. After a week of meeting with them on sight it was clear to Sam and I that this was a place we could live at for the rest of the season, so we made a contract with them to work the season. We will be on Asu until the end of October at which time we will decide if it is something we would like to do again next year.
Internet is possible out there, but we have not yet set it up, I am hoping by mid June we will have an internet connection. There is cell phone service there too, so even though we feel as if we are in the middle of nowhere, we still get daily phone calls from family and friends. I am so stoked to be in one place for an entire season, to get to know the ins and outs, do lots of spearfishing and surfing.
Super stoked, more to come soon. Cheers, E
Barriga was stoked to meet Samantha again and I took to him like a fish to water. We met Jack, an American expat living in SE Australia, he was the only one staying there when we arrived, so JP bunked with him and Sam and I took the other room. Only one problem, there were no waves. Jack had been “surfing the hammock” for a week now and he was stoked to have some company and REALLY stoked to meet my guitar with which he had a week long love affair until we left for Asu.
The waves eventually came, but only 2 to 3 feet on the sets and I rode my fish pretty much the whole time. The last morning we were there JP and I woke up early for the dawny and scored a consistent 3 foot morning with just a few people and lots of good waves, we were stoked and ready to get away from the crowds of Lagundri and get out to the outer island paradise of Asu. The crowd at LAgundri is the worst I have ever experienced as far as people and their ability to disrespect ALL the rules of surfing. There is a keyhole above the wave so everyone that paddles out goes straight to the top of the lineup, as if you haven’t been waiting there for 15 minutes through the lineup to take that position yourself having battled and jockeyed your way up through all the other tourists. Not to mention the locals who feel that it is their God given right to take any wave they please, it’s either frustrating of funny, depending on what kind of mood you are in.
David and Angela arrived to Nias to meet us with 3 of their friends, Aran, Kasa, and Raphael. David and Angela are the owners of Asu Camp, and it is through recent talks with them in Bali that Sam and I are considering running the surf camp that David has set up out there. David came to Asu first around ’95 and in ’97 he bought 36 are (pronounced ar-o , and equal to 10m sq.) of land for a ridiculously small amount of American dollars. Since then he has built 2 bungalows and a kitchen, a generator house, 3 bathrooms, and has 2 wells on the property. In 2004, the earthquake that shook Indonesia and caused the tsunami that created so much destruction, actually lifted, yes lifted the island of Asu about 3 vertical meters, or about 10 feet. The wave changed a little bit, in my opinion for the better, as the inside section, commonly known as the “nuclear zone”, was no longer a factor and the wave just reels for 200m and then ends now.
David had another Brazilian running the camp for the last 5 years, but this year he was ready for a change and looking to find some fresh blood to run the camp. At the same time he and Angela were just about to throw in the towel on the project, Angela and David ran into Sam in Bali. I was in the Mentawais taking photos on a boat and recently changed my screen saver on my computer to my favorite picture of me surfing Asu (certainly no coincidence…) and when I returned Sam told me she had some friends we needed to meet with regarding a camp on Asu. I was really skeptical, due to the recent build up and let down of my other “dream job” that had recently fallen through.
We met with David and Angela and it seemed like a really good fit, we decided to meet up in Asu and take a look at what we had to work with. David had not been up there himself since 2006 and was not sure what we were going to find, we wouldn’t even have electricity as the generator had died the year prior. We sorted the dates and decided to meet up at Asu in April to have a look. At the same time I got an email from John letting me know that a project he had planned on working was cancelled and he could come meet me wherever I was. So JP was in with us and the dates were set.
Asu arrival was epic, a 4 hour car ride from Lagundri, one flat tire, a local mafia bridge toll on a bridge being repaired, unreal scenery of off the beaten path Indonesian lifestyles, checking in with the police and paying them off. We arrived the ghost port of Sirombu to an empty pier and unloaded to wait for the boat. About 30 minutes under the brow beating afternoon sun and the boat arrived. Everything got loaded in the boat by hand, even the 250 pound generator that David showed up in Lagundri with.
We got to Asu in an hour and a half and had just enough light to unload the boat to shore with a dinghy before the night crept in and took away our ability to see or orient ourselves. We grabbed our backpacks and handbags and started huffing it through the jungle on a single track walking path. The 15 minute walk seemed like forever in the dark single file line of trekers, but alas, we arrived the camp, lit by candles and lamp light, it was a much anticipated arrival and we were stoked.
The next week was a balance of enjoying the waves, tide pools, snorkeling, chilling, sleeping, driftwood bonfires, spearfishing, and well, working. Meeting with David and Angela to find out what their vision was for the place and how Sam and I would fit in with that vision. After a week of meeting with them on sight it was clear to Sam and I that this was a place we could live at for the rest of the season, so we made a contract with them to work the season. We will be on Asu until the end of October at which time we will decide if it is something we would like to do again next year.
Internet is possible out there, but we have not yet set it up, I am hoping by mid June we will have an internet connection. There is cell phone service there too, so even though we feel as if we are in the middle of nowhere, we still get daily phone calls from family and friends. I am so stoked to be in one place for an entire season, to get to know the ins and outs, do lots of spearfishing and surfing.
Super stoked, more to come soon. Cheers, E
