A
t home in Bali, life is generally pretty
good. Being a surfer and Bali stalwart
for over 30 years I feel I’ve been blessed by
ending up living comfortably on the ‘Island of
the Gods’ with my lovely Balinese wife, son
and daughter. My villa in the north is often
frequented by friends and guests - village life
is laid back but never boring. Recently I had
two Aussie longtime mates visit and it was
great to catch up with such an interesting pair.
I grew up with Guru and Mad Man at Bondi
in Sydney. During the 70s we belonged to a
hippy surfing era and that ignited a passion
to become free spirited travellers.
Over the years that flame had burned bright in
all of us with a desire to throw sparks across
the wide universe and beyond. Actually both
of them are very different to me but I’ve always
been a firm believer that if we were all the
same, the planet would be a boring shit hole.
As much as I hadn’t been glued to Guru and
Mad Man during my life, whenever I crossed
paths with them they always entertained
me with their exotic, sometimes very funny
stories. Like when Guru escaped the tsunami
in the Andaman Islands by climbing a tall
tree with a bunch of monkeys, or how he
was named Mr Passport by Aussie customs
Not every perfect reeling wave in Indonesia has a surf camp and five boat
operations beating down the door to be there each day - search a little
longer and you’ll get your uncrowded reward // Photo Kayla Nielsen