Kandui Surf Resort, Mentawai islands.
Guest report from one of our esteemed guests – Stephen. Ray is back in
Padang for a few days. All of the pics are Rifles from July 6.
Day 5: 7.7.07
What happened? The swell has backed right off so it’s time to do some of the
things that you do while you’re not surfing. Gary, our temporary in-house
paramedic, sorts out the first aid supplies and there is a bit of wound
dressing for the guys who cleaned up and got cleaned up at rifles yesterday.
Randy is busy making ice packs for bruises while our maitre d’hotel, Ray
takes the opportunity to head back to Padang for a check-up for his visibly
pregnant wife, Jenny.
Speaking of which, there have been some changes since my last visit.
There is some great landscaping along the front of the umas giving light and
guidance for the stagger back after a few Bintangs. Eka has been promoted to
Assistant manager and there are 2 charming new girls in the bar, Deta and
Rhylee. Ray’s new situation adds a domestic air to the whole resort and we
can only assume that Jenny will make as good a mother as she does a hostess.
But you can’t sit at the resort all day so we head out to Beng Bengs in a
fairly gusty South Easterly wind. Once again, the best surfs are the ones
you get when you’re not expecting anything and once the four of us got in
the water, the wind started to back off and there were some great 3′ waves
shared amongst us. Tired and hungry we head back to the Resort with one of
the guests successfully demolishing an entire bag of peanuts on the way. A
first perhaps?
Day 6: 8.7.07
We wake up to a very small swell indeed. But there is not a breath of wind
and expectations of Nipussi being fun have us getting ready for an immediate
departure. But out the front of the resort the talcum white sands of the
island and the swaying fronds of the palms trees are set starkly against the
black of an approaching storm. As promised the island is soon hit by the
squall that brings a tropical downpour and gusty winds accompanied by peals
of thunder. So it’s back to standby mode with Gary carrying out the
unenviable task of sweeping the sand out of the restaurant; a job that we in
Australia say is a bit like painting the Harbour Bridge in that once you’ve
finished one end, it’s time to start again at the other. Some of the guests
are catching up on some sleep while others are thumbing through books and
magazines. Once the wind backs off we head out to Rifles where a small wave
is breaking along the reef. Difficult to make but Liam and Simon pull into
some very tidy barrels. Back to the resort and lunch at 4 o’clock(!) Other
than an early happy-hour Bintang it doesn’t look like there’s much in the
offing surf-wise.
But all the forecasts indicate the swell rising overnight so there’s lots to
look forward to.
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