Finally, the day of departure for our much-anticipated Tropical Surf Escape had arrived. I flew into Bali first to round up the gidgets before we were heading to our jungle destination in East Java.
It had been 1 1/2 years since I’d last been to Bali. And I almost forgot how noisy, busy and chaotic and yet strangely beautiful Bali is. The first thing that hits you when you get off the plane is the hot, humid air intermixed with the smell of burning incense. Next: crazy traffic. Scooters piling up families of up to five. Whilst chaotic and unthinkable in Australia, there seems to be a flow in the chaos and even though it’s crazy busy there is still a certain politeness and awareness that seems to make it work. Kuta and Legian haven’t changed much since my last trip apart from more and more building sites. It’s still the tourist mecca for Australian bargain hunters. Little shops are selling countless sarongs, dresses, fake DVDs, etc. Legian and Kuta beach are not very exciting and I can’t help but wonder why would anyone who does not surf come here, especially if you live in Australia with magnificent beaches…
If you do surf however, it makes perfect sense to come to the land of perfect lefts (and a few rights). Indonesia is just THE place to be for a surfer. Nowhere in the world can you find that many high quality surf spots. So after all the gidgets had arrived and settled into our hotel – our little oasis in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Legian, we made our way down to the Bukit for a little warm up surf. The surf was not so little though and I figured it’s not a good idea to surf reef on a low tide at 6 foot+ straight off the plane so we opted for the smaller Dreamland which breaks over sand and reef and is quite a gentle wave. It was still sizey but fat and the perfect way to ease into Indo waves.
Welcome to Gidget Land
Next day we had an early start, as it was time to head to our destination in the jungle. Sleepy gidgets were waiting for the speedboat to Java at 6 am. After the rather adventurous boat ride, we were welcomed to the beautiful jungle with a massive breakfast before we were shown to our rooms. Funny enough, it was not quite a room but a whole house. A true gidget palace. Gidgets travelling in style….only the best for my gidgets J It was quite funny though considering we were the only group of girls in the camp, we already drew quite some attention and it even more so when we strolled through the whole camp of rather small huts to reach the gidget house.
Surf Eat Sleep
We quickly settled into our new home for the week and into our routine of surf, eat, sleep. There were amazing waves for every level. Fun, medium size rights, big fat waves, fast lefts, a world-class break with world-class barrels. We had the best time. All of us caught amazing waves. Bella got her barrel and so did I. I had an all-time session at Speedies at G-land. I was stoked; I was crying tears of joy when I paddled in. I had the biggest smile on my face for days.
When we were not surfing, eating or sleeping (which was not very often), we were enjoying relaxing time on the beach, taming tigers and getting massages in the middle of the jungle, watching sunsets and drinking Bintang. We also did make some new friends and got to hang out with inspiring people. One of them was Leah Dawson – world-class surfer and an amazing gidget (check out here blog >>).
We had such a great time but our jungle days were over eventually. We made it back more or less safely after a very bumpy boat ride. After our epic jungle adventure, we finished our trip with the obligatory Bali shopping and had some final girly time together, getting spoilt with a manicure, pedicure and some more massages to round up a perfect trip.
Thank you!
This trip would have not been possible without the crew at G(idget)-land. Thanks so much to all the G(idget)-land peeps for making us feel at home in the jungle….just to mention a few…thanks to Surf Yogi & Head of entertainment Kimbo, bar staff Budi and Razor, camp manager Bobo, jungle taxi driver Wawan, captain Bintang, driver Putu, and the many staff behind the scenes.
And of course, special thanks to Tess, Annina and Isabella for a wonderful time. You are amazing gidgets and it was great having you. I could not have wished for any better travel companions.
xx
Claudia
PS Anyone keen to join the next Tropical Surf Escape, have a look here for details and dates >>
Thanks @flyupsidedown for the amazing photos of the gidgets. For more photos of the trip, head to the Venus Goes Gidget Facebook page >>
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