A quick snap of Kelly before heading back. Photo courtesy of John Harfield
Finally, our driver said that we had to return to the mainland. We only just had enough time to get a photo of Kelly Slater as he paddled past us on his way to his next heat.
We set off but only made it about 100 meters when the engine conked out completely. After trying to restart the engine a few times, our dodgy Fijian captain got the oars out and rowed us over to a large yellow boat which looked familiar.
“Mate, they definitely won’t let us on,” we yelled.
As predicted, our old friend the event organizer wouldn’t let us on. Our Fijian driver yanked the cord on the engine one more time and, in doing so, smacked Chris right in the cheek. Right, enough is enough. We jumped overboard and swam to the yellow boat and pleaded with them to let us on.
Some kind-hearted soul encouraged the organizer to let us on. He turned out to be from the film crew of “Love Island” who were having a break from filming. They let us on and gave us a beer each and laughed as we told them about our day so far.
Once again, all seemed good until the captain of the boat started asking questions. Being English, Chris and I stayed quiet and polite. Being Australian, Will started shouting and swearing at him. This probably wasn’t the best idea as the guy kicked us off his ferry and onto a tiny boat, which took us over to Tavarua Island. As we landed, a rather large Fijian headed over to us. Oh dear, we thought. His opening sentence came as a bit of a surprise. “Sorry about that guys. That’s not how we do it in Fiji,” he said as we explained what had happened. “Have a beer…and some lunch.”
He took us over to some palm trees and we sat on the beach with the surprisingly friendly owner of Globe, who was organizing the event I should add, and watched the surfing from a new and equally amazing location. As we lay on the beach, we noticed a small film crew walk past, filming an attractive blonde girl. As we peered closer, we realized that it is the English model Abi Titmuss, who must have been filming a part in “Love Island.” Not being able to let the moment pass us by, we hollered a chorus of “Hellos!” to her. In return, she smiled, waved, and flashed her assets at us. Classy chick.
That just about topped off our day and we lay back content until the sun went down and the event finished for the day.
A young Sunny Garcia and John Harfield. Photo courtesy of John Harfield
Suddenly, something crossed my mind. How are we going to get back to Mama’s House? After much pleading, eventually someone arranged for a rowing boat to get us back to the large yellow ship. As soon as we boarded, I spotted surfing icon, Sunny Garcia. Despite his reputation for a fist-swinging hardman, he was very welcoming and invited us to hang out with him and the other surfers that got knocked out of the contest that day.
As we sailed back, we chatted with Brazilian surfers Rennie Rocha and Victor Ribas. Rennie went below deck and brought up the tail of Bruce Iron’s board which he had snapped that day. As we talked the universal language of surf, and they told us what they wish they had done differently in the competition that day, the Brazilians signed the broken board for me, which now hangs proudly in my bedroom. We said goodbye at the docks to our new pro surfer friends, and thanked them for an amazing experience.
All in all, even though I didn’t even get in the water, this was without a doubt the best surfing trip of my life.
