My View

Morning coffee with a view. Seriously. This is EXACTLY what I'm staring at RIGHT NOW. And the best part? The photos don't even do it justice. I've got half an hour until my staff arrive and I can paddle out. So I'm sitting. Watching. Waiting.

It's going to be a good day.

Blue Moon

Blue moon rising at the lodge

Esta semana en Lobitos. Life is plodding along as usual. The waves peel and the wind blows. This week started off small then the swell grew and grew. Coupled with an intense full moon it's making for some extreme conditions. There's something about a full moon though. Could it be the large percentage of body fluids in our structure?

Three nights ago my Aussie friends and I went for a 1am full moon surf. Somehow, all the way in Peru, I found two other surfer girls from my home town Perth - Kelly and Rachael. Lobitos has a serious testosterone problem and there are hardly any females in the lineup. But it's a good place for a girl to boost her ego. When you're the only foreign chicks in town everyone seems that little bit more friendly.

Half way through our night surf the town's power went out. It was beautiful. Sitting out there looking to shore and everything goes black.

My Aussie girls left on the bus yesterday so now it's back to only me. Only me and a hotel full of guests.

Baby wave cruising

Lobitos

Dusty Tuesday

Northern Peru is such a strange desolate place. All the sand, wind, dust and oil rigs combined with  long lefts. This video was shot on August 14th, the same day the Pico Alto big wave contest ran in Lima. Later this day I had my first Peruvian barrel. Stoked.

Sunday Portraits

I was all packed and ready to go camping at a secret spot north of Lobitos. That was before a few friends showed up with a barbecue, beer and food in tow. So I got the best of both worlds. Afternoon tunes, grill and drinks followed by a camping trip.

This. is. how. sundays. should. be. Period!

Good morning sandy eyes

Local fisherman

Free Cheese!

I got free cheese! It made my morning. Local markets are fast becoming my favorite South American pastime. There you can find the best fruits, veggies, meals and most importantly, the guy (or lady) that sells the cheese. It’s white, squishy and comes in giant blocks of different varieties. And the best part? They let you taste them all. Up in the mountains of Ecuador the cheese is particularly good. This lovely shop guy even gave it to me for free. I followed it up a strong cup of market place coffee. Could a morning get any better?

Sadly my visit to Ecuador was only brief. My visa was seriously expired so a quick border hop was in order. My friend Jose had come to Lobitos Lodge to visit me and have some chill out time surfing. Poor guy only got one day there before I dragged him off on a border run. We had a whirlwind 3 days of busses, borders, mountains, surfing, dingy city hotels, ukules, beer and everything else in between. I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in a long time.

The border crossing was chill. Cost me $64 in fees - $1 a day. We spent the first night in a big city a few hours north. One night in the smoke was more than enough, so the next day we hopped on a bus inland to visit the little mountain town of Zaruma. It was beautiful. Peaceful. So quiet and friendly.

Crossing the border back into Peru was trickier. I almost got squished just trying to get off the damn bus! I was the last one off and there was a big mass of people waiting to get on. I got half way out the door when suddenly everyone started surging forward. It was craziness. I was stuck half on the bus getting totally trampled. Maybe it was pay back for the hours of ukulele playing Jose and I inflicted on the other passengers…

The border is a funny place. You have to get a taxi across when exiting Ecuador. Then you sign into Peru. After that you have to go BACK into Ecuador to get a bus or a taxi to Peru! We were like “wha? Wait, didn’t I just leave Ecuador? Why am I going back?!” Confusing, right? Trying to find a taxi in a sketchy border town after dark made me uneasy, but it all turned out ok.

After that it was a quick overnight stop near Mancora and now I’m back at work. Nothing changes in Lobtios. The wind is howling, the dust is blowing and the waves are peeling.

Pictures courtesy of Jose :)

Border crossing cuties!

Zaruma

Bus stop jam sessions

Zaruma church

Jose + evening coffee

Jose and the view. @ Zaruma

That's a Wrap Folks!

The Rip Curl girls - Alana Blanchard, Sage Erickson and I @ Lobitos Lodge

It has been a crazy week. So busy. Like 5am until 11pm non stop kinda busy. How I've ended up a hotel manager in Peru is still beyond me...

I'm in the mountains of Ecuador now doing a visa run, but that's a whole other story.

We just had the Rip Curl women's surf team here for a contest. I'm too tired to write up details, so here is an excerpt of the story featuring in Peru's top action sports magazine - Peru Deportes. Feels good to be cracking the Latin American market! http://www.perudeportes.pe/

"I ripped half my big toenail off. A crate of pineapples was the culprit. Too busy to feel the pain, I just let it bleed out on my flipflops, running around the kitchen like a crazy lady. It still hurts to wear shoes. The women’s final was starting in 5 minutes and 12 people had just sat down for breakfast. Apparently magazine commitments and running a lodge don’t mix.

Last week my dusty little town of Lobitos was hosting a stop on the ASP Women’s Qualifying Seriers. A flurry of girls, wetsuits, boards and ASP officials, our little Lobitos Lodge was fully booked. We had bitten off more than we could chew. One of our guests Alana Blanchard had made the final and I was rushing to shoot her surfing for this article. My last minute breakfast arrivals were threatening to ruin the story. Ignoring my missing toenail I served up 12 rounds of coffee, eggs and fruit in under 10 minutes, then disappeared running down the beach with my camera."

And just like a tornado passing through it's over. All that's left is my photographs and a brand new  wetsuit that Alana left me. I'm a mix of sad that everyone is gone but so totally relieved too. I'm just stoked to not be freezing my ass off in the surf anymore!

More to come from the story soon.

Alana Blanchard and Nikki Van Dijk

Sage Erickson getting vertical.

Sage and Nage. Cuties! 

Sofia Mulanovich 

Alana signing posters at the Waves for Development house
http://www.wavesfordevelopment.org/

Que Tal?

Lobitos sunsets

For you non spanish speakers, that's like saying "what's up?" And what is up? This blog has been sitting empty and unloved since last month.

So what happened?

Hotel management. That's what happened. 

I have landed yet another random overseas job. This time it's as general manager of a lovely boutique lodge in the surf town of Lobtios, Northern Peru (http://www.lobitoslodge.com.pe). Wonderful you say! What could be wrong with that? Well there are two little things...

1). I have never managed a hotel

2). I don't speak Spanish

Minor details folks, minor details. The result has been a crazy 5 weeks of non stop work, all day every day. I have dubbed it "spanish business immersion". Just imagine the poor workers when I try to explain something. There have been a lot of confused looks and laughter because of my terrible Spanglish. We spend half our time crowded over google translate.

But the plus side? Surfing. Lefts. Twice a day. Every day. Work hours aren't scheduled and it rocks. Except when you're responsible for everything, you never really have a day off. 

It's a strange and dusty little town here. All I thought I knew about businesses has been flipped on its head, Peruvian styles. But when the waves look like this does it really matter? 

The waves a few weeks ago. 

Lobitos Lodge

Afternoon beauty.