Around The World In 80 Waves

Akihabara is known as Electric Town because of all the electrical and electronic goods which can be bought in the area.

It is also a centre for Anime and Manga fans in Tokyo. The graphic novels and cartoon adventures for a huge part of Japanese culture so the choices available are bewildering.

Walking around the are you cannot fail to notice the number of young women stood in the street dressed in French maid costumes, who are trying to entice customers into the Maid Cafes found here.

It is a particularly Japanese type of entertainment and I decide to check it out.

Due to my lack of any Japanese I can honestly say that I didn’t understand a word that was said to me from the second I was escorted into the place I visited, to the moment I emerged back on the street.

I had chosen the Maidreamin cafe and once escorted to my table gleaned enough from the menu that 2500 yen would get me a beer, some food and a few pictures, although of what I could not be sure. However it would have been strictly forbidden to take any of my own whilst in there.

Sat down with wide eyed wonder I watched the young girls doing dance routines more akin to Power Ranger style moves with more than just a hint of Hello Kitty thrown in for good measure as I ate the chicken placed in front of me. I was expected to learn a few moves myself, which I was expected to repeat with everybody else to generate more of an atmosphere in the cafe, which was only as big as an average lounge.

After sitting there for half an hour and nearing the end of my beer I was asked to join the girls on stage complete with the kitten ears that had been placed on my head as I walked in. My deal entitled me to the two pictures you see here to take home with me.

It is actually possible to buy albums so that you can collect pictures of all the girls rather like a Panini sticker album for football players or star wars films that I collected as a child. The bloke next to me had a worrying stack of them and was keen to improve on his burgeoning collection whilst visiting.

I am still at a loss to describe the experience which is not at all seedy, but to me at least felt rather creepy. The pictures may give you some idea of how baffled I was by it all.

A bit like Bill Murray’s character in the movie Lost in translation I am finding the whole process of being a Geijin in Tokyo somewhat baffling.

Communication is almost impossible for me unless the person I am speaking to has any grasp of English.

Even then making a simple purchase or responding to a basic question seems to be beyond myself and the other party at times.

It is no excuse for not diving into things while I am here though, so as usual when in a new city I decide to walk around on foot for a bit to get a better grasp of the lay of the land.

To get things started I head for the easiest landmark to find, which is known as the Sky Tree. It is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower located in the Sumida area of the city.

It is easy to find because at 634 metres it is the tallest structure in Japan and the second tallest in the world behind the Burj Khalifa, so you just look up. It is very impressive but I don’t feel like visiting the viewing platforms today so can’t tell you what the view is like.

A short stroll along the bank of the Sumida-gawa river takes me to Ryogoku, which is the centre of the sumo universe.

It is where the Kokugikan sumo stadium you see here, many sumo stables and the chanko restaurants where the wrestlers dine can be found.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, sumo tournaments were held outdoors at shrines and temples but the big crowds demanded a permanent home. Sadly there are not any tournaments being held in the city while I am here so I will not get a chance to enjoy this very Japanese spectacle.

I walk around for a bit further but because my feet are killing me I seek the solace of a British style pub where I hope to at least be able to communicate. Whilst in there I have great chat with two blokes from Seattle called Keith & Spencer who are gearing up for their return home. They tell me I should really check out Akihabara, which is not too far away.

The first thing you notice walking around Tokyo is number of vending machines that are all over the place. I suspect you may actually struggle to more more than a hundred metres without passing one or more of them.

Japan has more than 5 million coin and card-operated machines. That’s about one vending machine for every 23 people, and more vending machines in Japan than people living in New Zealand! You can buy almost anything from the machines lining the streets. Beer, cars, used ladies underwear, live crabs, bags of eggs, Pringles, fried chicken, porn, cigarettes, and lettuce that is grown inside using artificial light. (Yes you did read it correctly about the underwear!)

The next thing I am aware of is the number of people wearing surgical masks. It varies at different times of the day but at any time there will always be somebody wearing one.

It makes you wonder if they know something that you don’t! However the air here doesn’t seem to be anything worse than I remember it being in London, so it seems a little excessive, bordering on Howard Hughes style behaviour.

The Japanese must be the most polite people I have ever met. As a rule any conversation is laced with bowing and more thankyous than the day after Christmas. 

There is a dignity about the way people handle themselves and the way they dress, so much so that even the punks are wearing ironed shirts. As well as being polite they are always so quiet. There is barely a murmur on the metro trains.

However you contrast this outward demeanour with a clear interest in deviant behaviour. There are signs all over the underground warning ladies about the men trying to take pictures up their skirts on the stairs and escalators. I’m no psychologist but perhaps all that repressed emotion boils out from time to time.

Walking around the street you will see plates of plastic food outside almost every restaurant.

They are lined up in cabinets on the wall or on stands outside the front door of the establishment.

It is a means of displaying the options open to diners, as well as the respective prices.

However it is the least appetising thing I have ever seen. I have the least sophisticated palate of anybody I know, but I actually find it off putting to imagine enjoying any meal I might eat, when the first suggestion of it is caked in hardened resin.

Finally I will mention that almost everything here is a shade too small for me.

I am not in the realms of Godzilla going on the rampage through the city, but doorways, entrances, toilets, seats on public transport, etc usually entail some form of limbo practise or contorting my body to try and fit in.

Japan is about twice as big as the British Isles, however most of it is covered in dense forest. This makes the cities incredibly densely populated, which results in things being piled on top of one another because there isn’t enough land to go around.

I am going to be here for the next 10 days and as usual will have nowhere near long enough to do the country justice. I’m hoping to at least get a flavour of life whilst here, as well as a couple of waves too.

I arrive at Tokyo first thing in the morning and straight away get a reality check about how big the language barrier will be here.

There are a few signs which explain things using the Latin alphabet, but most are in Japanese character form. The problem I have is that I have no idea what the signs might actually be for. E.g. Are they telling me the name of a street, that there is a sale on at a furniture shop or perhaps that this is an emergency exit?

I do manage to find my way from Narita airport into the centre of Tokyo, but due to my early arrival in the country I roll into town right in the middle of the morning rush hour.

I am already massively confused by everything here, but it is at least tiring and at worst painful trying to cross the city to my hostel in the morning rush hour. If you have ever seen images of the Tokyo underground I’m sure you will understand especially because I was carrying an 8’0″ surfboard as well as the rest of my baggage!

Japan has always been a sea faring nation and sea food still constitutes a huge portion of the people’s diet here.

There are several famous waves here. None more so than this picture by Katsushika Hokusai. I am looking forward to getting a very different slant on surf culture during my short stay here.

Of course the Japanese wave that everybody will know about was the tsunami which hit the east coast of the islands on 11th March 2011 following a massive earthquake off the coast.

The earthquake moved Honshu, which is the main island of Japan, 8 feet eastwards and shifted the Earth on its axis by approximately 15 cm. The resulting waves reached heights of up to 133 feet which travelled as far as 6 miles inland. 

Nearly 16,000 people were killed and another 2,500 are still listed as missing. 130,000 buildings totally collapsed, with a further 1,000,000 being badly damaged. It also caused severe structural damage to roads and railways as well as fires in many areas, and caused a dam to collapse. Not to forget the ongoing issues at Fukushima. I can’t really add anything jolly to brighten these statistics I’m afraid. Nor should I. 

Since arriving into this global centre of the surfing universe back in June I have seen more wildlife than Crocodile Dundee.

I have witnessed the British Lions get their first series win in sixteen years and the England and Wales Cricket Team retain The Ashes. Given the sporting powerhouse that Australia is, I couldn’t have timed that better if I tried

I have managed to increase the number of breaks I have surfed from 67 to 127 breaks in the last three and a half months, but will have barely scratched the surface of the number of waves that are available here.

However the sun has come down on my opportunity to bag any more though and I must pack up and leave the English speaking world for the last time until I get back to the UK.

Some last minute satellite navigation issues when my phone felt it best that my desired route should resemble a figure of eight as opposed to a straight line, didn’t stop me dropping off my hire car and getting to the airport on time.

Once there I am also amazed that Qantas don’t charge me a thing for my surfboard going all the way to Japan. I am speechless! It might actually be the first airline on this trip to treat me like they would like more of my business.

Sadly this airline highlight is somewhat tarnished because of a really annoying repetitive beeping for the first two hours of my flight, and me also being unable to drown it out because the sound on my entertainment unit being broken. Grrrr! 

It is an overnight flight though and before I know it I am looking out the window at the sun coming up over the Land of the Rising Sun.

My time is up in Java, so after packing up and saying my goodbyes I am back on board the G-Land Express. Everyone on board takes one last look at Money Trees on the way past, which was still cranking and the guys in the water were charging the break.

I haven’t been at all impressed with what I have seen of Bali and have decided to get back to Australia to spend more time with my friends there. I have spent so much time on my own during this trip, so it will be good to charge up my batteries whilst relaxing with people I know

I may be back in Indonesia later in my trip when Sumatra and the islands off the west coast will be close to my intended route home.

However I am unsure if I will travel across if the waves are going to be as busy as I have seen along the southern shores of the country. Whilst the quality of the breaks is undoubted there are so many people in the water and a distinct lack of surfing etiquette is all too often apparent.

Not much to report about the journey back other than due to my change of plans I had a ten hour wait in the airport before I could check into my flight. As usual I got ripped off for my surfboard going on a plane. I was flying Virgin Australia who only provide in flight entertainment for the six hour flight to those who have their Android or I-phone application. That there is no means of charging your device through the flight and that no warning that accessing the apps is necessary seems to have escaped them. Typical performance for an airline on my trip. 

The only other thing to report was that once back in New South Wales I saw a huge python in the road which we ushered back into the bush with a stick to stop it getting run over. They like to warm themselves on the hot tarmac apparently.

The swell that hits G-Land while I am here is simply monstrous. At times it is at least triple overhead and several times I walked out over the reef at low tide to get a closer look at it, hoping that I might see somewhere where I could surf.

I never did because it was huge and there were surfers with skills far greater than my own deciding to stay dry because it would be no fun at all and there would be every chance of you not coming back in one piece.

I lost count of how many painfully huge wipe-outs I saw, and this picture borrowed from the internet will gives you some idea of how badly hammered some of the people in the water were getting. Remember that the waves are breaking over just a few feet of water once the swell rolls over the edge of the reef.

Once you are inside you cant get back out unless there is a break in the swell (there wasn’t very often) or until the sweep has carried you all the way along the reef and things start easing off a tad at the break known as Chicken’s. However even that end was still too challenging for me while I was there.

One guy went over the falls near Fan Palms and then everybody on the beach watched his board tombstoning about half a kilometre along the edge of the reef. He was OK but practically crawling out of the water at the end of the experience a few minutes later. Nobody can help you and there nearest serious medical assistance is at best hours away. Gnarly is the understatement of the year here.

The people at Bobby’s have set up some shelters with bean bags, and a number of benches from where you can watch the surfers taking their life into their own hands. There was risk and reward though because I saw one guy get three separate five second barrels on one wave which he rode along at speeds I simply couldn’t generate on my board.

They have also rigged up the wheelbarrow fridge contraption you see above to get as many beers down there each night for everybody to enjoy. Westward facing there were awesome sunsets here every night and a great deal of amusement from those on the shore about how late those in the water would leave it before coming in and possibly have to take the huge waves and the reef on in the dark!

As well as all the other wildlife here in Java there also used to be Tigers. Sadly humans had hunted them to extinction by the seventies and they were formally declared extinct a decade later.

There are rumours that they still exist on the island, but it could only be in a tiny population even if it were true. However Tiger Tracks is a break named after the path towards it, which legend would have you believe occasionally sports some fresh footprints from the magnificent animals.

Myself and a few of the others from the camp took a boat over to the break to try and find something a bit more managable because a ridiculously big swell has arrived and the waves breaking in front of the camp were now somewhat above my pay grade.

After the heavy wipeouts at Kongs and Fan Palms I was feeling very nervous during this session which was again over a shallow reef, and I didn’t really bathe myself in glory as a consequence. Here is a shot of my board going airborne after one of any number of huge wipe outs that I experienced.

Here is another of me baling out of one of the waves which at times would just close out along the whole of the line up.

I’m trying to ditch the board in an attempt to avoid landing on it as I went over the falls once more.

I was surfing like it was my first ever time in the water and I have to say it was embarrassing because the standard of surfers who have made the pilgrimage to this area is unbelievably high.

As you can see it didn’t stop me having fun though, and I certainly was giving the other surfers a few laughs as I got hammered repeatedly.

Some of the guys felt I was paddling too shallow and thought that might be why I was not catching enough through the session so I tried to dig deeper with every stroke.

Sure enough the additional commitment paid off and I was soon into a couple of decent rides.

The best of these you can see here, but even on this one I managed to get up with my leash wrapped around both legs like a lasso so when I tried to adjust my stance I snared myself up, wiping out and then going over the falls once more.

I was glad of the boots and helmet and thankfully didn’t maim myself, but it really felt like it was more by luck than judgement today!
After a couple of hours in the water the boat returned to collect us. everybody took this option to avoid a very long walk through the jungle.

There was the added bonus of not being bait for the tigers too!

Bobby’s Surf Camp at G-Land is right in the middle of the jungle. Apart from the three surf camps lining the shore there really isn’t anything here and the undergrowth around the camps is virtually impenetrable without a huge machete and an awful lot of elbow grease.

As you can see even the trees are angry here!

Because of the remote nature of the break the WiFi here was somewhat lacking which meant I have once again got a wee bit behind in my posts, so my apologies for the glut of posts now I have got a decent signal and a bit of time on my hands.

I will try to add them as gradually as I can but have a lot to update you on.

I didn’t see any wildlife in the water here but saw an abundance of it on dry land. There were spider monkeys and loads more of the macaque monkeys which I had seen in Lombok. The Javanese version are not quite as aggressive but much better at stealing food.

One guy had a chicken sandwich snatched from under his nose whilst he reached for the salt at the dinner table!

There weren’t just mammals here though. I saw ants that were half as long as your finger, bats, toucans, wild pigs, geckos and there was a huge spider, about the size of your fist, in our bathroom who I called Boris. Visits to the toilet started with kicking the seat to make sure he wasn’t hanging about underneath it!

However by far the most impressive were the five foot long monitor lizards that would crawl out of the jungle and across the camp as they headed for the kitchens in search of an easy meal.

There were also a number of green and brown snakes spotted. Most impressive of these was the Green Temple Viper which somebody saw in a tree above the footpath through the jungle to Kongs.

It was wrapped around something it had killed, which meant it wouldn’t be hungry and wouldn’t be interested in all of the surfers at the camp. Good job because they attack by dropping from trees and then bite their victims in the face! Their venom is highly poisonous, and it is known locally as the three steps snake because that is how far you get before the venom gets the better of you. Nice!

Whilst we were watching the waves one day we were joined by a herd of wild deer on the beach. I managed to get a few photos before they decided to run off.

However I suspect they ran off in the wrong direction because they ran up the little creek next to our camp in which an eight foot crocodile had been spotted about an hour before!

Back in Lombok some of the Nine Wise Men had actually suggested that I should consider giving a surf a miss at G-Land, describing it as a “death wave.” However I haven’t come this far just to chicken out when things get challenging.

All the waves here are over the reef surrounding the island, and inspecting some of the sharp rocks that you see here at low tide did little to settle my nerves. They were painful to walk on even with footwear, and I didn’t want to think too much about a hard landing upon them as a result of a wipe-out. A monster swell also arrived while I was here so I had plenty to think about when paddling out for the first time.

Kongs and Fan Palms are where the biggest waves break at G-Land, but they are also the least steep and have the most water under them. You get to both by paddling out through a narrow channel in the breaking waves, known as the key hole, and then turning left or right once through the white water. Where each break starts and ends is a bit vague so I am reporting on both together.

I surfed these breaks a few times over a number of days but decided that having bought one I should be wearing my helmet in the water for each session. On my first outing I did really well and bagged a number of the waves which were easily overhead, and on this one I actually out ran the breaking section by building up so much speed.

The waves were getting bigger all the time but the huge drop into the action seemed to be ok. The bottom turns were not too manic either but then you would swerve onto the unbroken section and see how long you could last.

This picture is of my best wave of the session and arguably of the trip so far. I had made a couple of turns and was charging down the line at Fan Palms when I heard a sound like being inside a drum roll. It was because the wave was jacking up as I travelled along it and then pushing the lip right over my head, and the sound was the drops of water falling on my helmet from above. By the time I had realised what was going on the wave dropped the lip on top of me and I got clattered. Sadly the two second interval between frames missed most of my tube time, but did catch the end of it as the wave landed on me.

The same two second interval can also be used to calculate that I then didn’t come up for air for 30 seconds because there were fifteen consecutive shot of the board being in or under the white water with me nowhere in sight. It felt far longer and I was gasping for air when I eventually came up. Panic levels were increasing during this process because I also got bounced rather heavily off the bottom, miraculously doing so without getting even a scratch.

This picture is from another stage in the sessions I had at these two breaks but shows me getting another pasting over the reef, with which I became intimately acquainted during my stay.