| Living the Stoke // Session 18 November 2009 By: Rob Pirie and Adam McGuffie Location: Pupua New Guinea At the beginning of 2009 Rob Pirie realised it had been 4 years since his last surf trip to the Mentawai Islands and the crew was due for a new surfing adventure to somewhere different without the crowds and tourist infrastructure. With the new attitude that you can surf anything on a SUP, the search was on for a remote location and it wasn't long before Rob was captivated by the remoteness of Papua New Guinea, a country war torn in the 1940's and still in turmoil now. After a few emails to the boys at the Surf Travel Company, the adventure started to come together in remote PNG including a new surf camp, Clem's Place, where only a handful of people had ventured before, opening up a whole new reef system. It only took one phone call to a few close mates, "Lets go to PNG and film a stand up movie and venture into really remote locations, share the stoke and take in much needed educational and clothing supplies". They were in.  Wind the clock forward to 31 October 2009 and the nine of us were standing at Air New Guinea check in at Brisbane airport with 550kg of gear to check in. Thankfully Air New Guinea was great and let us go through with no excess baggage charges. Three and half hours later we touched down in Port Moresby - I mean thumped down. The dude dropped the craft from five meters up evoking roars of nervous laughter from the boys. A few hours later we arrived at Moresby international airport and that's where the real drama started. We had to lug our gear from the international terminal to the domestic one, approximately 200 metres. The heat was insane. Of course eight to ten foot SUPs don't go around corners on a luggage conveyor, so in behind the counter we jumped and started self loading the paddles and boards with mixed stares from airport security. Baggage handling 101 completed, overload bill of 680 Kina paid, we boarded the plane for our flight via Rabaul to Kavieng. Finally we arrived at Kavieng airport, 900 kilometres from Moresby and only 1600 kilometres from Cairns in the remote New Ireland Provence of PNG. It was a hot and muggy night and everyone scrambled for their mozzie spray. The roads and footpaths in Kavieng were red from beetle nut spit - something almost all the PNG nationals chew; it's nicknamed the PNG carpet. A sour nut mixed with mustard seed and dipped in lime (ground up coral) to activate it. It gives a high and it's cheap. Even children as young as 12 are addicted. The crew from Nusa Island resort loaded our gear onto two trucks and then two boats for the short trip across the passage to Nusa Island. It was like landing on Gilligan's Island, huts up on stilts and sand floors in the bar and food area, we even had a graveyard between our rooms.   It was low tide in the morning and no need for an early start so we had the traditional first night Aussie drink. At 8am we loaded the boats, not expecting much swell, but after a 20 minute boat ride we arrived at Rals Island and it was cranking. It was double overhead on a perfect right hander. As the camera crew struggled to get the gear organised, Dale Chapman and Rob were first in the water. Dale kick turned around on a big set and dropped straight in and made it on his first wave in PNG.  The outside sets were doing their best to catch the boys on the inside. A few of us earned our pennants being dragged backwards across the reef. As we wired the break and adjusted fin setups to suit, we revelled in the swell with some nice drops on the outside peak and some walls being attacked on the inside section. Was it mentioned that we had this little atoll all to ourselves? Yep, no one else around, middle of the Bismarck Sea, crystal clear water at 27 degrees, 32 degree air temperature and this was only day one! Ravenous, the crew headed back to Nusa for a re-fuel and then off to the next break called Long Longs for just that reason - the wave was well ... long, long! A three to four foot right hander was bending around a very shallow reef where we shared the stoke with a few of the local kids from Nusa Island. Showing no fear of the shallow water on the reef, they took off deeper than most of us.   We skimmed the fins ever so close to the reef for a couple of hours, tearing up the perfect 100 metre right hander until dark. We were then rewarded with a sensational sunset over the Bismarck Sea. Over the next few days we were taken to some insane breaks and at first our surf guides wouldn't take us to the sucky, shallow breaks but after they saw the crew charging they took us places people said couldn't be surfed on SUPs. Piccaninnies was a shallow, fast right hander that had the crew stepping on the accelerator to launch the SUPs down the line as it peeled hard and fast, with Rosco and Alain doing the charging. Nargos' left had the goofy footers foaming at the mouth, clean four foot waves with five foot outside sets peeling down the reef. No deep water finishes here, just a dry reef suck that required perfect exit timing.  We were shown awesome hospitality by Sean, Shannon and the local crew, duty free on the deck, ping pong challenges, fresh fruit and seafood. To top it off, at high tide the boats dropped us off after surfing to a spot requiring only six steps to the bar!  From Nusa Island we jumped in a boat and made the three hour voyage to Clem's Place. As the boat idled to a stop at Clem's there was the most perfect right hander just rolling through, straight out from the camp. This right hander had it all - a fast tubing section, opening up to a large walling section, then winding down the inside of the reef for a good 100 plus metres. Clem's was a place so remote that there was limited running water and the only power we had was a 3KVA generator which turned off at 2am, turning off our only cooling - the ceiling fans. Clem's father Anton is an 86 year old matriarch who loved to share the stories of his island family. He is still chopping fire wood, paddling his canoe to the mainland, drinking a few beers and has an infectious laugh that kept our crew continuously smiling.  The fishing was insane, Rob had packed four of his trusty Halco lures that catch anything - they didn't disappoint. A late afternoon trawl after a short surf session produced 17 fish in just over an hour, including yellow and blue fin tuna, GT's, Coral Trout and some Mangrove Jack. Adam, the novice fisherman, landed two 10 kilo Spanish Mackerel in the space of twenty minutes - all on the trusty Halcos. There was a break near Clem's that they said couldn't be surfed on SUPs. It was called Step On Blood. We rigged the camera gear and headed straight for it. As we approached, we saw that it was a slab of water breaking onto a really shallow reef. The take off was so heavy. It came through fat and then it just pitched on the shallow wedge shaped reef. After a few shoulder take offs we started pushing each other deeper. Rob made a really late drop to the hoots of the crew and then moved inside even further. He got pitched on the next three waves. Brett paid the ultimate price - snapping his board clean in half on the next wave. As Rob paddled back out with blood seeping through his rashie and trickling down his shins, the boys jibed that the place should be renamed 'Step On Rob'. It was time to hand out all our gear and Clem organised a village meeting. All the clothes, school books and footy gear was laid out on tables and presented to John, the village leader. This was a really special occasion as these people have so little and they were so grateful for things we just take for granted. John's response, when translated, was, "Thank you very much for the things you have given, we really appreciate it from our hearts, we hope that your stay here is wonderful and you take back good memories of our home". That summed up the hospitality we had the pleasure of experiencing. Beautiful people sharing their simple lifestyle, while being graced with insane surf. Clem had organised a 'sing-sing' for us from a neighbouring village. Days beforehand we could hear them rehearsing from across the channel so we decided to pay them a visit. We arrived to a very warm welcome of laughing children and smiling red teeth. For 20 Kina (AU$10) we hired their beloved pig for a photo shoot. This brought the villagers to their knees with laughter as their faithful piggy was carried through the jungle strapped to a stand up paddle.  Our departure was just as spectacular as we were sent off with song and dance as our boat pulled away from the beach. On the night of the 'sing-sing' Clem's place filled with villagers from surrounding islands, the dance was spectacular and filled with colour and jungle rhythm. This was the first time this village had performed for visitors and they were outstanding, an experience none of us will ever forget. The following day, we ventured up the river and it just blew us away. No bricks and mortar, no boats, just villagers in dug out canoes all living with nature, growing coca beans (chocolate). The natural beauty was insane. The local children of the islands paddle their canoes to school, some for many kilometres to the mainland of New Hanover. If the weather turns nasty they are accommodated by their relatives on the mainland until it is safe to venture back home. Time is of no consequence here, it is only the time it takes to get something done that matters. We ventured to PNG bearing gifts to try and make their lives a little better but they ended up giving us something far more valuable. They taught us to look at ourselves and see how complicated we have made our lives. It's not until you live amongst the locals with no running water, electricity, computers or mobile phones and when you see them paddling around in their only mode of transport, a dug out canoe, that you realise they have a clear inner peace, are extremely happy and they are truly living with nature. The children have no toys but are constantly playing and running around having the time of their lives - even surfing the reef breaks on pieces of scrap wood. After talking to and filming the local villagers for two weeks we really got to see and feel how beautifully they live with nature and their surroundings. They basically create no non-organic waste so there is no need for rubbish bins. They recycle and reuse everything. There is no wastage and no greed or excess as is ever present in our modern culture. When you let go of your superficial material needs the other person inside you (the real you) takes you back to the simple pleasures of life and suddenly life becomes very easy. We all got so much more than just a movie out of this trip; it was a wake up call to the way we are living our lives. Take your mask off, listen to the other person within yourself and try to feel the peace. Smile, then share it around, it costs you nothing. | |
