Around The World In 80 Waves

After the epic surf session at Ha’apiti I went back to Mark’s Place where we had hired the kayaks and trolleys to get our boards and belongings to the break, to ask the owner if he had room for me for one night.

Mark is a lovely American guy who settled in paradise many years ago and will now do everything he can to help you out and make the most of your stay. He even gave me a special rate for the night in what he calls the Honeymoon suite. (www.marksplacemoorea.com)

You can see the kayaks we used to get out to the break here as well as the trolleys underneath them, which Mark has fashioned himself to make transporting everything the short ditance to the beach a great deal easier for his customers. 

Mark’s Place  is set in a stunning area and you find the turning for it very close to this beautiful little church in Ha’apiti.

I’m not religeous but am sure that few churches worldwide could claim to have a better setting.

I had been allocated the two buildings you see here with my bedroom being on the left and my kitchen and bathroom building being on the right.

It was a wonderful place and I’m kicking myself for not finding it earlier. I had a great chat over beers with Mark through the afternoon who showed me some of the other amazing carpentry projects he is working on.

You can see the bedroom of my shack here whose walls are made from the local coral stone and are interspersed with glass bottles to bring some funky light into the room.

I even treated myself to a massage under the stars in my little garden area that evening. It was excellently administered by a lovely French girl whose name I didn’t note while I had an interesting conversation with her, speaking some sort of hybrid version of English, Spanish and French with the occasional dash of Welsh for good measure.

I really can’t fault Mark’s Place or indeed the local area, and am pretty sure I will be returning, however I didn’t go for a second surf at Ha’apiti whilst there, because I thought I would only damage the previous days oustanding memories.

The only other amusing thing to report is that mid way through heavily shampooing my hair in my open air shower as I got ready to leave the island I opened my eyes to see the female half of the Austrlian couple that were staying next door stood directly in front of me, staring at my efforts, whilst I was wearing nothing more than soap suds.

After stumbling into my garden having followed my path in error I clocked her looking at me for a little longer than would be accidental and had time to give her an equally inappropriate wink before she bolted. Very funny.