ADVERTISEMENT

Watch/Read: A Time of Wonder in G-Land

Finding Nirvana at G-land in 1983.

My brother Dan, and I and I had our first trip overseas in 1983. It was a time of innocence and wonder. We went to Bali where we were blown away by the happiness of the people and the non-stop pumping surf at Uluwatu. After three weeks of surfing at Ulu every day a couple of us went to G-land.G-Land

Bobby Radiasa, the camp operator, came with us on the overnight bus/ferry/bus/boat trip from Kuta. As we approached the lineup in the old fishing boat he suggested we jump off and paddle over to the surf-break. Dan had stitches in his chin from a wipeout at Ulu so Richard Arthur and I waxed up, jumped overboard and got straight into a few at Speedies.

The next ten days were heavenly. There were only a dozen of us in camp to share the whole place. We had timed our trip around the moon so that the tide was high through most of every day. Every morning we would wait till mid-morning for the. The lineup was hundreds of metres long and we lost our minds surfing the endless tubing waves. At sunset we would sit together with our new friends in the tidal pool in front of the camp and sip warm Bintangs.

 We had heard it was unsurfable at low tide but wandered out to the edge of the reef late one afternoon. It certainly looked very sucky and was breaking right on the reef, but it didn’t seem unrideable. A couple of us decided to give it a go. Dan set up a tripod and filmed.

 Surfing such a shallow tubing wave so far from a hospital was thrilling. The surf wasn’t big but we were surfing in a kind of cautious survival mode. We felt a real sense of achievement as we walked back over the reef after that surf.

The other day Dan sent me a short silent edit of the footage he shot that day. He asked me if I had any music that might work with it. I sent him a couple of songs my step-son Louis had recently recorded. Dan sent back this edit.

Watching this, I feel the connection I experienced with the other guys at the time. I can also remember the feeling of knowing I had found my Nirvana. I think the song, by Mike Caen, is a beautiful description of the darkness and light of life and Louis voice speaks for itself.

 

 

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS
A bi-monthly eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!
SUBSCRIBE NOW
HAPPENINGS
Your portal to cultural events happening in and around the surfing sphere.
Find Events
SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS
A bi-monthly eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!
SUBSCRIBE NOW
HAPPENINGS
Your portal to cultural events happening in and around the surfing sphere.
Find Events

LATEST

Pairing Italy's famous delicacies with a healthy dose of barrels.

While the WSL were wedded to Supertubes, Kelly was having more fun with his Coolangatta mistress, aka Kirra.

Evidence that the waves during the recent MEO Portugal Pro didn't live up to expectation.

ADVERTISEMENT

PREMIUM FEATURES

Bestowing the highest praise upon a surfer.

An edited extract from ‘The Immortals of Australian Surfing’ by Phil Jarratt.

How a land-locked mainlander chased ocean dreams to the North Shore lineups and beyond.

TRACKS PREMIUM

Get full access to every feature from our print issues, read classic Tracks issues from the 70s, 80s and 90’s, watch all of our classic films & more …

TRACKS PREMIUM

Get full access to every feature from our print issues, read classic Tracks issues from the 70s, 80s and 90’s, watch all of our classic films & more …

CLASSIC ISSUES

A threat to Angourie, the death of vibes, and a tongue in cheek guide on how to become a surf star.

PREMIUM FILM

YEAR: 2008
STARRING: JOEL PARKINSON, MICK FANNING AND DEAN MORRISON

This is the last time the original cooly kids were captured together and features some of their best surfing.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

PRINT STORE

Unmistakable and iconic, the Tracks covers from the 70s & 80s are now ready for your walls.

Tracks
Kandui Resort Interstitial