Beyond the Break

CHAPTER 5INDONESIA: Look where you want to go

I landed in Indonesia during the sweltering dry season of 2000 for a month of promotions and competitions. First stop was a remote corner of Sumatra for a week-long photo shoot with a small crew to create an adventure surf trip story for Waves surfing magazine, and additional photos to be used for advertisements.

The shoot turned out to be a glorious week spent surfing amazing waves, surrounded by lush greenery dripping from the tangled branches and buttress roots of the jungle, and the perfect opportunity to acclimatise to the local conditions before competing. Indonesia boasts some of the best surf on the planet, with long coral reefs shaping perfect waves and warm water that made it comfortable to stay wet all day.

The Waves crew took some spectacular images from land, boat and swimming in the water with us, and later produced a great feature article. The shoot put me in a positive frame of mind for the coming competition. The holiday atmosphere and anticipation of meeting up with familiar faces also had me excited.

At the time, air travel within Indonesia was notoriously unpredictable and the island of Nias, where the event was being staged, didn't have regular flights to it. So, I flew to Medan in North Sumatra, where event organisers were chartering two planes to transport competitors. Thankfully, when I got there I was on the first flight and didn't have to wait another day.

No matter how often I flew, I always felt a little ...