Just playing catchup...

Well it has been a couple of weeks since I wrote so here are some words to bring you all up to speed.

Firstly, it is with great sadness to tell you all that this morning I snapped my McTavish Liberator To make matters worst. It was for a second time. It all happened when I was out in the water there in front of Kudeta. It was getting on, the tide was getting pretty high so I caught what I thought to be my last wave. Whizzing along on this hump of a thing. Made fat by the high tide, I thought what the hell I will ride it to the shore and tucked in for the cover-up as it shore dumped. Well It came out in two! Duh! What a stupid thing to do! Rule one: Do not ride 9'1" surfboards in shore dumps, they snap! Argh!

Lombok was, in a word, amazing. We flew there last Thursday afternoon, collecting the kids from school on the way. A combined birthday and getaway. We stayed in the south. A place called Kuta at the Novotel which was more than comfortable and our friends, Lorraine and her daughter Ally even managed to have a chocolate cake presented in the arvo on Friday with tunes sung by the staff. T'was a Touching moment!I was kind of distracted the entire time thinking about how good a place it would be to invest. The time is ripe for it. They are building an international airport there and when that is complete in 2010 (I would think more like 2014!!) it will become the new 2 week haven. Though it lacks a lot of Bali's 'mystical' charm it does more than make up for it in great surf spots, fantastic dive places and breath taking scenery. We shall see.

Speaking of moments here are an assortment of photos for your viewing pleasure.


The cake of course. Chock full of chocolate on Chocolate. The cake kept our kids company and fed for two days more. They would snack on it. The brown smears across the white bed sheets led me to believe they were also sleeping with it.
With icing that was about 1cm thick pure chocolate it was no wonder really! Oscar finished off the last bit on Sunday mid morning before we left the hotel. The cake that kept on keeping on!!

Here is the team that brought it to us, Lorraine and her daughter Ally. Ally is at AIS but in the high school. Her mum runs a wedding planners business up here. They have been to Lombok only about 30 odd times. Lorraine has actually brought a block in Kuta township.


Here is a bad montage of this beautiful bay that L&A took us to. They told us of days when they had come here to be the first people to put footprints in the sand. The day we were there it was a veritable highway of people coming and going. Someone is building a restaurant out there so in the words of a great sage... "There goes the neighbourhood!" But I have to add, what a picturesque place though!


After the beach we went to this restaurant on the side of the hill overlooking Kuta. The place is run by an Australian couple who have been there a long time, by the looks of the place. Great food but most of all, this amazing view of the bays heading east.

At the bay Maxi went body surfing with Lau. They paddled right out the back. Good work boys!! Here is a photo of the two of them the following day out at Grupuk. Maxi, Ally, Lau, Joko (He was our driver, see his photo below), and I went there early on Sunday morning. I rented a longboard, as did Ally. We all piled into one of these Indo outriggers and set out across the bay to one of the 5 breaks here. We surfed for the next two hours in small but great fun waves. Sue to my foot I hadn't been able to get it wet prior. As it was I had it bound.


Oscar found some kids to fly around with at the bay. There was about 4 of them that played soccer with the beach ball for about an hour. Oscar did terrorise the others a bit. Little bugger!

Here is that photo of Joko. If you are ever after a driver in Lombok. Give me a shout and I will give you his details. Great guy and a great price. He has an APV which got the 8 of us around very comfortably.


These two signs are one after another along the road from the Novotel into Kuta. I love them the way they are but the first one looks like 'full' might have been 'fuel' for a while which would have been even funnier!