Hele on to Kauai

On the first leg of my travels I flew from Hawaii to California to see friends/classmates from my University days for the first time since '02; beginning my journey west-to-east around the world surrounding myself first with more familiar places & faces before continuing on to those increasingly less familiar.  Due to the fact that I had booked my "around the world" itinerary months before heading out, and, with the inability to book flights more than a year in advance, coupled with the uncertainty of the desire/circumstances/finances of the then consideration of possibly continuing on to South America, it was to California that my ticket returned.  As anxious as I was to return home (dropping off my friends Bundy & Mariko at the airport in Tahiti for the once a week flight to Hawaii didn't help!) I looked forward to seeing some people in Cali, easing my way back to familiarity, and seeing my brother - who ironically had just completed his job in Hollywood and would have time on his hands for us to hang out!  

Looking forward to the immigration officer welcoming me back "home", I got more than I bargained for when, after his review of my stamp-filled passport, he smiled, laughed with excitement of my accomplished travels, and high-fives me as I moved through the line... I was back on US soil!!!  With the endless array of activities available to-do in LA at hand, my brother and I took advantage and "bro-ed down" over the course of the week as we attended a Lakers basketball game, Dodgers baseball game, tracked down some new surfboards to bring back home with me, went mattress shopping (after months of 'sleeping around' I longed for my own new bed) and ate some good ol' American food!

A short ride north we made our way up the coast from the traffic and craziness of LA to the beauty of Santa Barbara where many of our mutual friends reside... Though it wasn't quite home yet, a drive-in movie, hiking in the mountains, and a visit to In-and-Out burger made for fun times over the weekend....

Returning to LA after a weekend full of friends, fun, and food I discovered an open seat had opened up on an earlier flight... Instead of spending another week in Cali I was suddenly packing my bags for the last time and heading home!  I made it back in one piece, was greeted with smiles, hugs, lei, and even a welcome home hat by my friends & parents and got to spend Easter with my family :)

I've been home now for just over a week and slowly integrating back into "normal" life: sorting through mail, getting back into my house, reacquiring a vehicle, exploring employment opportunities, surfing my home breaks, and catching up with friends.  In many ways not much has changed... It is easy to think that the better part of this last year gallivanting around the globe was just a dream... It is nice to return to family... Return to friends... Return to the comforts of home... But, it wasn't just a dream... It was a dream realized, lived through, and experiences that are apart of me now... They say "every story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end"... I don't see this as the end, but as just the beginning...

I came across this quote while watching a movie during my travels and I don't think any other words could sum it up better... As spoken by David Rastovich in Castles in the Sky -- "There was once a man who'd became unstuck in the world, and he traveled around like a leaf on the wind... until, he reached the place where he'd started out... his car, his job, his phone, his shoes; everything was right where he left it... nothing had changed... and yet, he felt excited to have arrived here... as if this was the place he'd been going to all along!"

The Beginning.

Mai Tai Roa

2,742 miles south of Hawaii lies a series of island archipelagos known collectively as "French Polynesia." Consisting of the Society, Marquises, and Tuamotu island groups, French Polynesia is home to spectacular emerald green mountains, beautiful crystal blue lagoons, warm smiles, black pearls, exquisite seafood, and some of the worlds best surf.  The most famous of its isles is Tahiti and, on its isolated southern shore, at the end of the road, there lies a small village that's home to a famously large monster -- Its name is "Teahupoo" -- known as one of the worlds heaviest waves!

Teahupoo (pronounced cho-po) is "essentially a glorified closeout -- a hideous, deadly barrel promising a heap of trouble for even the most capable of surfers" as described by Surfline.com.  Three years previous, in 2008, I came to Tahiti for the first time on a surf trip with friends.  Encountering stormy weather and fickle winds, our hopes of perfect waves didn't manifest on that trip but it gave me a taste of French Polynesia and this "cousin" of Hawaii.  After spending the better part of the last year doing something "different" (i.e., not chasing waves as the sole purpose of my travels as had been the driving force of my travels over the last decade), my intent was to end my trip around the world back in the waters of Tahiti and attempt to 'slay the dragon' of the wave that occupies both my dreams and nightmares!

After days, weeks, and months of not surfing consistently, my recent times in Indonesia and Australia was my planned training grounds to get back into surfing shape: enjoying traveling while also preparing for the reef passes of Tahiti...  Afterall, paddling out to a wave like Teahupoo is not something you just show up and do casually.  Although the surf breaks in Indonesia and Australia vary greatly from the power and shape of the waves in Tahiti, weeks of the long paddle outs to the reefs in Bali and, paddling against the sweep of the current along the sandbars of The Gold Coast in Oz, had me confident enough in my arms and my breath to take on "Chopes."

After a flight delay that resulted in a missed connection in Sydney, a day stop over in New Zealand, and a long day of traveling to Papeete, my long awaited arrival to this pearl of an island in the sea was greeted by the beautiful strumming of ukulele & guitar at the airport.  Along with the customary tiare flower passed out before customs,  Day 1 in Tahiti welcomed me with the smile of my Tahitian friend Marurai, perfect small waves peeling along the fringes of the Taapuna reef just outside his house, and the island atmosphere so alike home!

Making our way around the island the following day, and after a quick stop at my friend Tahurai's home to get my board (which he kindly had brought back to Tahiti from his recent trip to Kauai with him), and it was back to the end of the road, a trek across the footbridge, and into Teahupoo village and the chalet of The Estall family (Uncle Vatea, his wife Armel, sons Ludovic & Cedric, and daughter Via).  Day 1 in Teahupoo and I found myself paddling the 20 minutes + out to fun sized perfect offshore barrels and not another soul around... Paradise found :).  

Three days of perfect waves, scorching sun, lazy days, and grubbing on uncle Vateas homemade Poisson Cru & Sashimi and I was smiling ear-to-ear.  With news of a giant swell (the first of the Tahitian surf season) on it's way, all focus became preparing physically and mentally... Then, disaster struck... The flu!  An epidemic fever flu bug was sweeping across the island and it unfortunately got me :(. Instead of 5 days of upping my surf training regime, I was laid up fighting off a 103 degree fever, body aches, and a horrible cough!  In Tahiti time seems to go slow... REAL slow... And, when your sick, can't sleep, and have nothing else to do but lay down then "island time" takes on a whole new meaning!  Unable to eat for a couple days I finally got to a doctor who prescribed me some medication that instantly helped me feel better... My fever broke, I could sleep & eat, and I had a couple days to regain my strength before the anticipated new large swell reached the island...

With news of the swell on the way spreading, local surfers from around the islands started making there way to Teahupoo. The solo sessions were over.  Several weeks early Kauai surfer Sion Milosky (who last year caught the "biggest wave ever paddled into") lost his life while surfing at Mavericks in California... Coinciding with his funeral service at home, we gathered together as a group of surfers to honor, remember, and pay tribute to our fallen fellow waterman and friend...  

Saturday morning April 3rd... The swell has arrived, filled in over night, and 8-10 footers (up to 20 foot faces) detonate across the reef!  The beast had awoken...  By far the largest surf I've encountered in nearly a year, it was enough to get your heart racing just watching from the channel!  With a crew in the lineup of wave hungry locals patience was the name of the game but I eventually got my chances and got both "shacks" and "cracks"; scoring some incredible views from inside the barrel as well as getting caught inside a set, taking a few long hold downs, and bouncing off the bottom receiving some Tahitian tattoos from the reef!!!  

I've been lucky enough to rendezvous with many friends from Kauai on my travels and Tahiti was no exception... Mariko and Bundy were cruising around French Polynesia and we got to visit for a bit on several occassions between their destination of the outer island of Raietea!

With no car, no phone, no Internet, no TV, no easy access to a grocery store out at the end of the road, and the swell come & gone, boredom was starting to reign.... it was time for a change of pace.  My Aussie friend Mel had flown in a few days earlier and we decided it was time to escape Teahupoo and go explore the outer island of Moorea!

Moorea is only a half hour ferry ride from Tahiti but seems a world away.  With its famous crystal blue lagoons and small population, Moorea is the island paradise many dream about.  With the freedom (albeit expense) of a rental car, Mel and I took the last few days to explore the island, surf some of the reef passes, and hunt for some black pearls...

With an atmosphere more alike home than anywhere else, French Polynesia has both served to reinforce my longing for home and been a perfect place to contemplate during my last days traveling abroad.  Traveled out, my mind has returned to adjusting back to life at home and all that needs to be done in order to "pick up where I left off".  A brief stop back to California awaits before finally making it back The Garden Isle... I'm looking forward to the immigration officer declaring "Hope your travels abroad were good... Welcome home Mr. Teixeira."      
    

 

Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie...

In 2000, over a decade ago now, I traveled to Australia for the first time.  Traveling with a group of 25 University students from around the USA, we spent six weeks in and around the city of Brisbane (in the state of Queensland) making our way up and down the eastern coast traveling as far south as Sydney and as far north as Bundaberg.  Witnessing kangaroos hoping on the side of the road, crocodiles striking prehistoric poses along the banks of billabongs, awing at the beauty & expanse of the Great Barrier Reef, and set amongst a culture that thrives off the ocean, I knew this continent was a place I'd one day return...

As it is with larger groups, and being that we had a specific mission and itinerary, I recall staring transfixed out of the window of our bus as we meandered our way along the coastal roads past countless empty waves peeling their way towards the Pacific shore.  In my plans to circumnavigate the globe on these travels, I was determined to return to those images in my memory and aimed to manifest into reality the "mind-surfing" I did ten years ago!  With 8 months of traveling behind me, my return to the "Land Down Under" marked a new phase in my journey... No longer was I somewhere completely foreign & different (and poised to again learn to breath as a "fish out of water") but, rather, I was returning to a place I had been to rediscover what it was that made me want so much to return.

Beginning by flying into Cairns (to the north) and ending with a flight out of Sydney (in the south), my plan was to take the full month of March and snake my way from north-to-south scuba diving, surfing, meeting up with friends scattered about, and, all the while, eat meat pies along the way... But, as you learn, plans change...

Recent bad weather had plagued northern Queensland before my arrival... the region just south of Cairns was hit by a category 5 (the strongest on the rating scale) Cyclone just a few weeks before and heavy rains had persisted since, serving to both hamper relief efforts and greatly limited activities available for travelers like myself.  Though mother nature seemed to be uncooperative, as luck would have it, I touched down on the tarmac aboard an AirAsia flight from Bali to the heavens parting and the suns rays shining brightly over the soggy land... I was back in Oz and brought the sunshine with me!

Not having had the opportunity to scuba dive The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) on my first trip, my primary reason for starting my Australian travels in Cairns was to make it out to the reef.  Because of the recent weeks of awful weather, it was no surprise that this "gateway to the GBR" was virtually a ghost town!  However, the lack of crowds, coupled with the sun making a reappearance, proved to be a recipe for fun at a discount...  Well, even with the discount considered, I still incurred my most costly single-day activity on all my world travels to-date: $200 (A shocker compared to the $20 a dive price tag back in Bali)!!!  Offering the incentive of a free transfer an hour north to a more secluded portion of the reef, along with free gear rental and three dives for the price of two, I booked a full day boat trip out of Port Douglas with Poseidon Cruises regardless. We had a great crew and a fun time although, after my experiences underwater in The Red Sea and Micronesia, the reef was not quite as spectacular as I had hoped...

Backpacking around the globe you constantly run into other travelers from all walks of life... And, it seems you run into more Aussies than travelers from any other country (they say that at any one time 10% of the population -- or 2 Million Aussies -- are overseas)... You just can't escape them! Shocked at my sudden return to the prices of the 1st world, I was fortunate to have a list of Aussie friends I shared time with on my travels and whom offered me a place to stay should I stumble into their hometowns. The first of these friends were Rory & Hannah (who I had spent the better part of two weeks exploring Turkey and attending a Turkish wedding with back in October)!  Unfortunately, the rain returned but R & H were determined to show me a good time and share their homeland with me as we spent the weekend driving through the rainy rain-forested areas and Tablelands surrounding Cairns...

After a week of starting to get comfortable I was ready to get on the move again and signed up for a vehicle relocation service -- In Oz it is common for individuals to travel around the continent via campervan... It's not atypical for these people to cover large distances over long periods of time and, often, they end up ending their journey far from where they originally departed. Many of the campervan companies accommodate this trend and, in order to recoup their vehicles, offer vans needing to be "relocated" for free to capable drivers (they even pay for  the high cost of petrol)!  The catch?  You only have a set number of days to return the vehicles to their destination...

Alternatively facing the surprising high cost of public transport, I volunteered to be a relocation driver and prepared for an epic road trip of 2,000 kilometers over a 4 day period.  But, upon arriving to pick up the vehicle, I was informed the road to the south was closed due to excessive flooding :(. I had spent a couple extra days than planned in Cairns and, although I had managed to keep myself occupied, no assurance of when the road would become passible was cause for a shift in gears... Tired of being a traveler, and lacking the motivation to go trail blazing on my own through the Outback, my mind was focused on escaping the rain and getting to those stretches of coast abounding with waves.  Ditching the impossibility of driving, I cheated, and caught a flight to the white sands and right point breaks of the Gold Coast... Just in time to witness Kelly Slater win the first major contest of the ASP World Tour!      

Fortunately, I had a friend who just happened to have an awesome pad on "The Goldy" right overlooking the sand and within a motorbike drive away from a variety of surf breaks.  Cindy is from California and she and I first met several years ago at a mutual friends wedding in Maui.  As a surfer desiring to travel, I recall talking to her back then about her desire to move to Oz... And, also sharing with her my desire to undertake a trip around the world!  Well... low-and-behold, several years later here we are; she planting herself in Oz and returning to university studying to be a nurse and myself on my world trip!  Amen to dreams coming true :)

With my Balinese surfboard under my arm, I was back to the sun, the beach, and surfable waves (be them on the more "smallish" side).  I've spent the last couple weeks enjoying the ocean, the company of Cindy and her flatmates (Kat & Mel and the resident wildlife!), and going on mini adventures in and around The Gold Coast, Byron Bay, and making good on my desire to return up to The Sunshine Coast.  Having gotten to surf Noosa, Byron, Straddy, Snapper, and a host of other lesser known spots, my daily routine centered around getting in the water, getting better fit for upcoming larger surf in Tahiti, and having fun with the gals and their "mates."

As each day passes I become more aware of my longing for home.  As privileged as I've been to travel to the places I have, and for the duration of time I have, the magic of the travel experience has begun to wear off: I've out traveled the majority of my fellow travelers!  Intent to score some BIG waves, I scrapped my last week planned in Oz, changed my flight to just route for a day through New Zealand, and am off a bit earlier than expected to the serenity & surf of French Polynesia!  Originally dedicating a full month to roaming the islands for waves, my early exit from Oz now yields a full six weeks!  These latter stages of my travels have always been left open-ended and, although at one time it was a consideration to continue onward to South America, I purposefully left plans open so as to evaluate my head, heart, and wallet when this time arrived.  At this stage, Tahiti, with the exception of a potential hop over to Rarotonga, will likely be my last destination!

Over the next few weeks I hope to have sufficient time to reflect on my travels abroad and mentally prepare for bringing my experiences back with me to my small island home in the middle of The Pacific..... I hope I bring back with me my experiences in a way that helps me continue to live outside my world while I live inside it..... God-willing, this will be my view in the meantime.....

Monkey Business

With my time exploring and looping around the countries of mainland SouthEast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia) exhausted, it was back to Indonesia -- and a couple weeks of surfing in Bali -- before heading on to Australia.  


Admittingly, I was not overly excited about returning to Bali, but, after multiple flights from Cambodia via Malaysia, it was nice to be traveling back to somewhere somewhat familiar:  to catch up with a few friends, see some familiar surfers in the water, know the roads, motorbike guy, local laundry lady, etc.  Although my camera stayed packed in my bag most of the time, I finally whipped it out to capture some 'Monkey Business' during a ceremony at the temple up above the most famous surf break in Bali - ULUWATU...

It has been a great segment of my travels moving through the region of SouthEast Asia during the last three months... now on the Australian continent, I make my transition back to the 1st World and with it hot water showers, toilet paper, good internet, and native english speakers.  We'll see what adventures lie on the travel road ahead.....

Cheers!