My Last Trip - Jeremy Shanahan

Family holiday to Fiji – September 2008

Radisson Denerau and Musket Cove (Lagoon Point Private Villa)

The Radisson is the newest of the properties in the ever-expanding Denerau development. Built right next door to the Sheraton, it has been designed with the family very much in mind. All the rooms look over a large central pool and lushly vegetated area. It boasts the largest pool on the Denerau resort complex with areas for children and adults only. It is a very family-friendly resort with rooms having full facilities. Accommodation options include studio, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom. The resort includes a spa, Kids Club, and sporting facilities with the golf course and tennis courts right there. The Denerau Marina and the other hotels offer a range of shopping and dining options by free bus nearby.

At Musket Cove, we stayed with two other families in a private villa – Lagoon Point. This villa has room for 12 with 5 bedrooms and a large living area and a lap pool. It is superbly located, looking over the resort and a short walk and with full access to all the facilities of Musket. This is a very cost-effective stay where families or small groups can share the accommodation cost plus fully or partially self-provision from the nearby shop and resort restaurants.

We had prefect weather during our stay, the Fijians were fantastic with kids and it was a superb relaxing family holiday.

Surfing Bali and Lombok – May 2008

Day 1

Left Auckland early on Garuda and arrived in Bali, via Sydney, at around 2.30pm. Enough time for a sunset surf in front of the hotel at Legian. 2- 3 ft with odd larger set, nice warm water and it was looking very promising for the days ahead. Accommodation at the Bali Nikosoma which is a boutique 4-star property smack on the beach at Legian, and ideal for our first view of the sunset and a few Bintangs.

Day 2

Swell looking smallish so got up early and headed up to Balian, about 90 minutes drive from Legian. River mouth break with rock/sand bottom. No wind and a solid 3-4ft wave . A nice easy intro into the Bali surf with rights and lefts. A smallish crowd in the water from around the world but heaps of waves and a relaxed atmosphere. Balian has it own accommodation options and is an easy spot to start a Bali stay. Had a look at Canggu on the way back but the wind was onshore by the afternoon.

Day 3

With only a few days in Bali, Graham was dead keen to take on Uluwatu so this was the day. Headed out on the peninsular and had a look at Belangan and Bingin which both looked very promising. But Ulus it was to be. It felt more like Nepal with the shops and restaurants perched on cliff looking over the break. Paddled out through the infamous cave wondering what we were in for? The surf was a solid 4-5 ft with a few bigger sets to keep us honest. Reasonably crowded but not excessive and once you get the line up sorted, you get to pick off a few. All sorts of surfers in the water with every board type imaginable. Paddling back in through the cave for the first time got the heart rate up. Lunch with the view of the surf, a Bintang and a Nasi Gorang could not have been better. What a spot!

Day 4

Up early again and off to Lombok. Merpati charged 6000RGT (90cents) per kg for our boards which is bugger all and a relief to get them over to Lombok. Headed down to Kuta Lombok which is 90 minutes away, passing horses and carts. Our hotel was the Novotel which is a hang out for older surfers and honeymooners. Kuta Lombok has a couple of good accommodation options and a lot cheaper. We headed that afternoon out to Mawi, about 45 minutes over a rough road. The trade wind was howling but the swell was up and this was a challenging introduction to Lombok. A short, heavy right and a slightly more mellow longer left. Some of the sets would have been triple overhead on the take off - maybe! It is a beautiful spot and outlook. Lombok has no development there yet.

Day 5

Again, up early for an ill-fated boat trip from Grupuk around to Ekkas. The road had been washed out and with the swell peaking that day, the call was get to inside Ekkas. Sadly, once we were out of the bay with the swell behind us and the wind on our nose, the crew could not bail fast enough. To our horror, we got to the point of sinking but the skipper in his wisdom turned around and we went back to Grupuk. We had a reprieve with a classic session at Grupuk, a sand/reef right at 4 ft with larger sets. After a 3-hour session, we soon forgot the start to the day.

Day 6

Ekkas this time by road, the long away round. The swell was still solid and inside Ekkas was a treat – rights and lefts under the wind shelter of a cliff. Only eight of us and couple of the boat boys in the surf. It is a magical place. We checked out outside Ekkas with a couple of guys taking on a very heavy lefthander. The rest of us headed back to inside Ekkas again for a second more mellow session.

Days 7-9

The swell had dropped but was to pick up again on day 9. Although there are number of options, we preferred to head out to Mawi each day at different times to get the tides and have a couple of sessions. Whilst the trade was blowing, we did find that the break needed a bit of wind to hold up the wave. It was a great chance to get to grips with the place after the heavy intro on first day in Lombok. We got attached to the pineapples for 50 cents after each session and the friendliness of the locals. Desert Point was always a thought but it’s 3 hours plus away from Kuta Lombok and we were happy where we were.

Day 10

Back to Bali and home at midnight. We had the afternoon in Bali and looked at a final session at Airports back in Kuta. But we were surfed out for the moment and were well in credit on the wave count. So is was back to the Aussie expat bar, a final few Bintangs and watched the Crusaders beat the Warratahs in the Super 14 Final. Perfect finale.

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