July 25th 2023: Post-Bali blues

What we didn't expect in Bali was to acclimatise so quickly. The heat knocks you around in the first few days and then suddenly you hardly notice it. We had water and air temperatures ranging from 25°C to 30°C during our time there and by the end of the third week we were shivering whenever the water or air temp dipped to a "chilly" 25°C.

So you can imagine our shock when we landed in Queenstown last week to a 4°C air temp with snow warnings. Worse still the water temperature in Dunedin is 11°C (and that's actually high for this time of year). That hasn't stopped the kids from surfing for hours. The whole Bali experience has reset our understanding of crowds and given us all a bit more appreciation for our coastline and local surfing community.

A whole month in Bali seems like a long time, but it has been a blur of smells, sights, amazing food, incredible waves, moments and experiences. My wife kind of summed it up when we got back, "we could have done with two weeks more". I tend to agree with her. Bali sucks you in and it is about way more than just crowded lineups and warm water sessions.

We learnt a few things from this trip:

1) While it is nice to have three medical kits, one is totally enough.

2) Learning some Bahasa (Indonesian) will make your trip way better as the locals love this sign of respect and some don't speak any English at all. Even the basics will reward you with good vibes wherever you go.

3) We bought three new boards in Bali – two Losts from White Monkey Surf Shop and one of those had glassing that we are sure hadn't cured. The Lost Sub-Driver 2.0 was so soft that Rewa buckled the rail with her upper arm at Shippies and the deck looked like a golfball after a few sessions. We tried to take it back but didn't find any joy from the team at White Monkey. Rewa ended up buying a secondhand board from Sophia Medina – a Lost Driver 2.0 that was glassed in California and that board was way better quality. So be more organised than us and buy your boards in New Zealand before you head over, or pay the price.

See you at the beach ...

Derek

PS How good is the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Football Ferns? There was so much doom and gloom around the team heading into the tournament and then bang Hannah Wilkinson makes history against Norway and the whole script is flipped. Remind you of the Black Ferns' performance? Let's hope the Football Ferns can harness that magic in the same way they did. Having five million believers on your side certainly must help ...