WEST OZ FREESURF

Searching for surf and mucking around. That’s what WA is all about. We decided to extend our stay — stay tuned for WA updates also on my personal site, insurfnews.com. Chee-hooo!

INDO MISSION

Somewhere on the Nusa Tenggara peninsula. © Check some video from the trip on my personal site insurfnews.com

It’s a two-hour drive from Deserts back to the airport. The swell had passed and we needed a ride. We jumped in with a couple of our friends and started driving. Everyone who’s been to Indonesia knows that local drivers are crazy and the rules of the road are, there are no rules.

Our driver, let’s call him “John”, was doing a great job until we found ourselves suddenly heading down the wrong way of a one way street. Quickly realizing what he’d done, John pulled to the side and began turning around.

Moments later I hear a bang on the hood and sure enough it was the cops. It all happened so fast that I wasn’t sure what was going on. Andrew was yelling, “Fuck this guy, let’s go. Go. Go”. Our other buddy, lets call him “Alex”, was saying the same. So, John stepped on the gas and bailed.

Laughing hysterically we thought we were home free, the cop was on foot and unless he was the terminator there was no way he was catching up with us. Or so we thought.

Turns out his partner was across the street sitting on his scooter watching the whole thing. We still had a chance to get away if we had pulled down a few side streets or didn’t have the only car on the road with four board bags strapped to the roof. Being the terrible getaway artists we are we ended up getting pulled over about a mile and a half from the scene of the crime.

Surprisingly the cop wasn’t that pissed, I guess that shit happens everyday. We told him we’re stupid foreigners and did what any other stupid foreigner would do in this situation, offer the man some cold hard cash.

But, he wouldn’t take it, just told us to follow him to see his superior officer. That’s when shit stopped being funny, what the fuck did we get ourselves into.

Smokies. © Dion

Things got quiet in the car as we followed the scooter cop, then Alex says “Shit, I got some weed in my bag”. At first it was funny, like holy shit could things get any worse, we’re going to jail. Then Alex was all bummed because good weed is hard to come by in Indo, but we all knew tossing it was the right thing to do. With the cop in front of us constantly looking in his rear view mirror, it was difficult to just toss it out the window. With a frown on his face Alex managed to get rid of it without the cop seeing. May that lost bag of weed be found by someone who really appreciates it, amen.

We get to a little police hangout where two officers are waiting and are told to stay in the car while John goes and talks to his superior. Meanwhile, our Indonesian hook-up is on his way to bail our asses out. He gets there and within 5 minutes John’s back in the car and we’re on our way to the airport. Our hearts and emotions are still racing so we unload the car and head for the nearest bar. We even find a tall blond hottie who wants to join us for drinks, even offers to buy the first round. You gotta love Indo, never a dull moment.

– Freddy P

THINGS GOT A LITTLE WEIRD

With the Billabong Pro finishing early in the waiting period everyone had a few days to burn in J Bay. After a few days of no waves we ran out of ways to entertain ourselves. So, things got a little weird. © For a longer version of this clip check my personal site insurfnews.com

Freddy P’s Whinge — In case you were wondering, here’s a look at our journey back to America. Get up at 4am and head to the Port Elizabeth airport for a 6:10am flight. This was the first of four flights that would get us to our final destination, LAX. Going back to Cali baby.

The domestic flight from PE to Johannesburg was 1 hour and 40 minutes. Not too bad, right? Well, it gets worse. Three hours later we boarded a flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil. That’s 10 hours and 30 minutes. Get to Brazil, have a layover for 6 hours, and board another 10 hour and 15 minute flight to Dallas.

By this time T-Knox, Reyes, Bobby, Roy and the rest of the crew are completely delirious, but pleased to know that the worst is over. Well it wasn’t over, a lightning storm hit and baggage handlers were forced to stop working. We sat in customs for an hour, missing our connecting flights to LA. What a nightmare.

We finally get to Cali and I’ve been hibernating for the past 3 days, with an occasional stop at Huntington’s local watering holes. A flight schedule like that seriously screws you up. The tour may sound dreamy, but believe me it has its down sides. Total estimated travel time was 39 hours and 25 minutes.

– Freddy

PACKING FOR TAHITI

Getting amped for the next event — Here’s a clip I made today with Andrew Oliver for my site insurfnews.com

Aloha,

Freddy P

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE FREDDY P FAMILY

LT. I got him the day before I left for Snapper.

I never in my life thought I’d buy a small dog, especially a fluffy one that wears bows in her hair and goes to the groomer every two to three weeks. I always saw myself with Pit Bulls, Labs or Rottweilers. I don’t have much of a yard or space in the house for a big dog, so I went looking for little guys. Here’s who Melissa and I decided to adopt.

My oldest is TSUKI. She is a 10-month-old Lhasa Apso. I bought her in June 2008. Her younger brother is Tank (aka Little Tank or LT). He is a three-month-old French Bulldog. They are arguably the most awesome dogs in the world.

Tsuki

One of my best friends, Joel Centeio, just married his longtime girlfriend Ashley. He’s the 2nd in our group of friends to get to get married, and surely not the last. It was an awesome afternoon full of vows, cake, local food, friends and family.

Some pre-game Bud Lights before the big show. Those weren’t the first and surely not the last.

The wedding party. “Another one bites the dust.”

Aloha,

Freddy P

FREDDIE’S FINGERPRINTS

making my mark.

The days seem pretty long down here in Mundaka, especially since the waves are flat. Tired of sitting in our room and staring at each other, my girl and I decided to head down to Guernica for the day.

Guernica is about a 15-20 minute drive from Mundaka. The town is a little bit bigger and there seems to be a lot more going on. We spent most of our day at a museum covering the bombing of Guernica and how they recovered peacefully.

My girl gets all Zen.

My girl gets all Zen.We also checked out an art exhibition called “Signs for Peace”, by Claus Miller. His paintings were created on the idea of peace, using fingerprints of famous people. Albert Einstein, Muhammad Ali, Dali Lama and Martin Luther King are among some of the historic finger prints used. It was a cool and educational way to kill time while waiting for surf.

A cool day out and it sure beats looking at a flat ocean.