With a forecast swell on the way and groms champing at the bit to grab a slice of Indo perfection, the Volcom junior team descended onto the Lakey Peak Camp with a level excitement that only surfing can deliver.
Organizing team trips always runs smooth on paper, but when you throw in a dozen uncontrollable grommets from around the globe and a media contingent of varying shapes and sizes, you have a recipe for what could be described as organized chaos. The main contingent from Oz made the quick trip North and included a long list of shredders: Kyuss King and his brother Rasmus, Kobi Clements, Jackson Giles, Harley Webster, Quinn Bruce, Josh Cattlin, and Keanu Miller. We were also welcomed with the presence ofJackson Bunch, a super grom from Hawaii, Hagan Johnson, a micro-shredder from the States, and our English brother Harry Timson, who had acclimatized by spending three months on the island before we got there. How this trip would have ever happened without our main man on the ground, Muklis Anwar, I’ll never know. His guidance was invaluable and when watching him surf, it makes one wonder how we have never seen an Indonesian surfer on the World Tour. With the amount of talent shown from the surfers I witnessed from this corner of the globe, it’s only a matter of time before Indo starts knocking on the WSL’s door.
With mozzie coils packed and boards ready to go, we set off with visions of barrels and waves that we scribbled on the back pages of school books when we were kids. After many long hours of travel, we arrived to some hearty Indonesian meals, a welcome sight after the plane food of the last 24 hours. Local villagers turned up at meal times to witness our giant media man, Tai Van Dyke, devour whole chickens. He commented, food falling from his mouth, how small the chickens were over here. A few hours later, however, something just didn’t seem right. Everyone went off to bed with suspicious rumblings in their bellies and pounding heads to match. The next morning, it seemed that everyone in the group had come down with possible salmonella poisoning, while others suspected Dengue fever. Whatever the reason, the majority of the crew were walking bow-legged for the first three days; some cases of tap-ass were so bad they were rigged up to IV drips.
Far from an ideal start, moods changed and sicknesses were brushed aside when perfect waves showed up. Froth levels were so high some of the grommets were used to froth the milk in cappuccinos while scanning the lineup. Visiting surfers looked on nervously as a pack of ten ravenous grommets were about to be unleashed into the water. We set out to surf the famous Peak and it didn’t disappoint. The groms tore it a new one and the level was set with massive turns on waves that looked three times over head for some of these 10 year olds.
After a couple of days surfing the Peak, we heard of tales waves around the corner that were rumored to be a mix between HT’s and JBay and that had the froth-o-meter redlining. Guided by Muklis, we piled into cars and after a 10 minute drive down some super dodgy tracks, we were there. Screams of joy rang out and we consumed the lineup in record time. It was stupidly, ridiculously pumping, and the kids charged harder and harder on every set trying to out do each other and pushing the limits of their tiny limbs. Five hours later with burnt beaks and jelly arms, it was time to call it a day and head home for some well needed rest and chocolate Bang Bangs.
The following day, we joined in on a local beach clean-up day, where the team got involved in maintaining the pristine environment that we traveling surfers enjoy. It was a great experience working with some of the locals there to bring awareness to conservation, something that we in Australia can sometimes take for granted. As the tourism industry grows in remote places like this, it’s important that the locals learn the importance of conservation and the direct impact it has on preserving the natural beauty of the area. We were stoked to be a part of such an initiative and the locals were appreciative of our participation.
The ensuing days were long and glorious as we threaded barrels within an inch of our lives, and our photographer sweated and hallucinated within an inch of his, after coming down with the dreaded bird flu. By the end of the trip, we were all encrusted with peeling skin and had savage reef wounds. Despite these hazards, no one felt as though we had suffered any kind of hardship–every drop of sweat and every coral spore lanced from our feet was worth it. We had some of the greatest waves on the planet and are truly thankful for Lakey Peak putting up with us. From day one, the wired, super-hyped groms had been reduced to frail, sunburnt wrecks, totally surf stoked with memory banks full of Indo perfection. The future is set, and Lakey Peak has helped light a fire under these groms that will take a lifetime to extinguish.
Volcom To Lakey Eternal Groms from Volcom Australia / New Zealand on Vimeo.
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