Just in case u have been reading my HNR I will explain why they are mainly about the surf. I come to Bali to surf and have been doing so for the past 15 years. i don't come to do tours or see the country side ,drink Bintangs as soon as I get off the plane , get tattoos ,visit orphanages, or lay by the pool and read a book .I surf, eat, sleep that's it. Now as for the surf yesterday: waves picked up at Balangan to about head high. Due to the increase in size and cloudy weather crowds only maxed out at 40.
Day 8
Waves were about the same size as yesterday. However for some reason there was hardly any crowd until 3pm when everybody with a surfboard headed to Balangan. At 4pm there were 78 people in the water all trying to catch the dwindling waves. Total surf time today was around 8 hours.
Day 9
Woke up early and headed to Uluwatu due to the predicted decrease in swell. Wave height at uluwatu was barely 2ft. Went out anyway but wished I hadn't. Spent the rest of the day at the beach working on my stomach tan.
Day 10
The new swell had kicked in overnight. Wave height at 6.15 was about 4ft. Surfed my new 6'2 Redz for the first time. Had a quick breakfast back up at Flowerbud and then headed back down for the lower tide. Crowd numbers peaked at 10. With the lower tide wave height had increased to around 6ft. Got nailed on the reef so am supporting a new tattoo on parts of my back, elbow and feet. On a side note lime juice really stings.
My girlfriend has become the local dog whisperer. At our bungalow we have a collection of the local neighbourhood dogs that come around during the day for a pat and a dog cookie. One has taken a particular shine to her and has been living with us for the last 3 days. When we go out she sits on the front step guarding the bungalow. As i write this she is sleeping next to me on the bungalows out door chairs.
Day 11
All I can say is awesome waves from sunrise to sunset.
Day 12
Waves dropped today. Headed to Uluwatu for hopefully more size and power. Sadly Ulu's was pretty pathetic as well. Still went out and caught a few though. After lunch we all headed out to find a massage place due to the decreasing waves. We found one near the Dreamland entrance called Carlas spa. We all had the 2 hour treatment that consisted of foot treatment, body massage, body scrub, body mask and hair wash. All this for 60000rph.
Day 13
Couldn't be bothered surfing today as waves were tiny so headed into to Kuta. Traffic wasn't too bad: only took 35mins from Balangan to Discovery mall. Lots of people about. Bought a couple of pairs of sunglasses for 25000rph each and a few shirts for 35000rph each. Traffic back was nonexistent once u got past the airport. Walked around to Dreamland from Balangan in the afternoon..
Day 14
Surf was around 5ft in the morning at Balangan. At 7am however crowd was already pushing 20+. After a few hours I had enough of getting constantly dropped in on and called time for Breakfast and wait for the lower tide after lunch when the Euro muppets would leave the safety of the high the tide. However Mark wanted to surf some rights and smaller waves so we decided on a trip to Padma. Unfortunately there was a beach festival on which included a surf comp. Waves were still pretty solid and mark wasn't keen to go out so we headed up to half ways where waves were considerably smaller and the crowd considerably thicker. He had fun on his man gun but I didn't bother going out. For lunch slash dinner we ate at Taco beach grill in Seminyak. Really small place, but awesome food and staff. For all those who think TJ's is good this place smashes it hands down
Day 15
Surf was small today at Balangan. Every now and then a head high set would appear but with 50+ people in the water trying to get one was near impossible. In the end Mark and I took mals out for a few hours to catch some sliders. For dinner we ate at a little Warung near the Dreamland entrance called Little Warung. Really cheap but the Nasi Goreng Ayam was so hot i thought my lips and mouth were going to catch fire.