Nias

Having arrived in Nias we briefly explored the museum grounds before heading to immigration in the morning (as I was going to be overstaying my visa by one day). Immigration seemed a bit surprised to have any custom, but having filled in a few forms, payed and had my photo and finger prints, taken we were off!

We had decided to tour Gomo which is often described as the “spiritual home” of Nias, with a local guide. First however he took us to see his home grown sea turtle sanctuary (which so far consisted of 28 baby turtles and about 200 eggs). In Nias it’s common to eat sea turtle eggs and babies, so he had started buying the eggs and hatching them to release back into the sea. After this slight detour, Gomo turned out to involve the most terrifying roads I’ve ever been on in Indonesia – and that’s really saying something! We visited two “Megaliths” high up in the mountains, which are effectively where the Kings of Nias used to have their courts. They had amazing big round stones which served as stages for royals to dance on, each one made a different note when hit so that the dancing itself could create music. We also visited a waterfall before heading to Sorake where we were staying. We stayed at “Molani homestay” – the cheapest room on the point! Jan, a lady from New Zealand who runs the place, was incredibly interesting, having lived in Sumatra in the 90s before moving to Nias.

I spent the next 3 days in the water surfing! We had planned to head to Asu island on the Sunday, but Laura wasn’t feeling great so we decided to stay on instead of risking the long boat trip. On Friday morning we headed out on our huge 8ft foamies with Ari (our surf instructor). We paddled straight out Sorake key and then past the famous point before I tried to take a couple of waves in “kiddies corner” (the inside break just off the point). This was pretty terrifying and so after a couple of failed attempts we changed tactic and drove 5 mins down the road to Lagundri Bay (Me driving Laura on one bike – barefoot and still in my swimsuit, while Ari drove his brother in law who held both our surf boards on his head!). I spent the next 3 days surfing the beach break in Lagundri – definitely improving every day and by day 3 I was down to a 6ft 6 board! I also mastered the art of carrying two boards on a bike by day 3. It felt so good to be surfing in warm water for once, although Ari did tell me that a 10ft crocodile had killed someone in the bay the previous year, so perhaps Tynemouth isn’t so bad.

By our last day in Sorake Laura was feeling better (post hospital trip) and so we spent the day just relaxing around the beach together, reading and watching the surfers on the point! Sorake is a really interesting place and pretty legendary in surf culture – I met a couple of Australian guys who had been coming there for nearly 40 years. Back then you had to catch the overnight ferry from Sibolga to Gunungsitoli, or if you were luckily apparently you could get onto a cargo ferry straight to Teluk Dalam. A big earthquake on the island in 2005 had dramatically changed the surf scene, but they did admit it was better coming here now the Malaria was gone! I think my favourite thing about the place was the local kids learning to surf, Generally the only boards they can get their hands on are those broken and left behind by tourists, which they (or Ari) then repair. However, the kind of surfers in Nias bring GOOD boards, so there’s all these little kids on pro boards which possibly once belonged to some of the worlds best surfers!

On the Tuesday we headed back up to Gunungsitoli and I visited the museum. I’d been noticing from day one that everything in Nias was painted in German colours and Java our Gomo guide had explained that this was due to German missionaries having brought Christianity to the island. Previously people had worshipped their ancestors, meaning graves had to be right in front of your house, which Laura was not a fan of. At the museum I found a really interesting exhibition which basically explained the fate of the German missionaries during WW2 – not a happy one. The man running the museum also insisted on playing one of their traditional instruments for me.

Having reclaimed my passport at immigration in Nias this morning and said goodbye to Laura in Medan, I’m now awaiting my flight to Jakarta…