Never a dull moment in Hikkaduwa, the Sri Lankan beachside town…Unlike in the hill country, where we’ve spent the last few days. It was quite boring and cold there. So we’ve decided to make our way back to the beach rather sooner than later. After we’ve survived the 7 hour bus ride down the mountain (I swear a rollercoaster ride is a walk in the park compared to that trip), we’ve settled in very quickly back in our little guesthouse by the beach.
Unfortunately, what I’ve considered the most consistent reefbreak ever a couple of weeks ago, had not much left of a wave. A 2-3ft set would come through every 15 min or so and then you had to be the lucky one out of a crowd of about 20 to catch it. I was not ready to give up yet and watched the inside reef for quite a while. There was no one surfing but to me it looked like there is a nice at least 2 – the occasional 3 footer – coming through. It looked very fat though. So I hired Bruce’s bigger a brother – a massive blue 9 foot longboard (RIP Bruce – my beloved mal – he got killed in my absence and can’t be fixed – devastated).
Bruce’s fate aside, I can’t tell you, I had such a ball. I had the break mostly to myself and caught hundreds of waves, while the crowds were waiting for the odd set to come through on the main reef. A one hour hire turned into a 2 day hire. After 2 days I thought my arms were going to fall off.
My new blue friend and I, even had to rescue two Russian tourists. They were caught in the rip in between the reefs. There was no way they could make it back to the shore and were screaming for help. I paddled over so they could hold onto the board and have a rest until some of the local dudes paddled out on some more mals and dragged them back to shore.
Whilst I did well on the rescue front, I did not so well on the surf coach front, judging by my friends bruise. Ever seen anything like it? I should have probably not called my student onto that wave…oopsies…
I can’t believe my long awaited holiday is already over. It was such a great trip. I’ll probably be back soon. Especially,now that I’ve been offered an “internship” at the infamous Mambo bar. For some funny reason the locals could picture me to fit right in with the surfing/partying/bartending/surfshoptending lifestyle…hmmm…
Oh well, homebound now, waiting in Kuala Lumpur for my connecting flight to Sydney. Happy Australia Day to the Aussies by the way. Must have been hungover or half asleep when I’ve booked this flight. How else could I have booked a flight with 10 hour stop over while everyone else is getting pissed celebrating Australia Day?
Anyway, had a great time but looking forward to Sydney now and above all to my first decent coffee in three weeks…oh and to eat something else other than rice and curry…
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