Journeys of a Surfing Philanthropist

Top Ten Places to Surf on the Gold Coast of Australia

ocsurfer — Sun, 7 Mar 2010 16:49:00 GMT

Australia is home to some of the world's best surf and the Gold Coast may be considered the epicenter of this amazing country's surfing talent. Home to World Champ Mick Fanning as well as ASP World Tour Surfer's Joel Parkinson, Taj Burrow, Dean Morrison, Bede Durbidge, and many others. Australian's have dominated the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Tour for years in sheer numbers and comprise the majority of the Men's & Women's Tour.

Below are the Gold Coast's amazing breaks ranked in order:

Snapper Rocks/Green Mount (A.K.A. - 'The Superbank')
Duranbah (A.K.A. - D'Bah)
South Stradbroke Island (A.K.A. - 'T.O.S. - The Other Side')
Burleigh Heads
Currumbin (A.K.A. - 'The Alley')
Kirra
Palm Beach
The Spit
Tugun
Surfers Paradise

*Please note - the above ranking is of my own opinion, but is shared amongst the minds of many great surfers in the land down under.

Feel free to leave any comments or feedback!

Best Regards, John Luff

Experiences for a Lifetime - Bangkok & Beyond

ocsurfer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:55:00 GMT

The past 3 days in Thailand have been an interesting assortment of experiences that will be remembered for the rest of my life. To give you all an interesting perspective, here are a few highlights...

Traveling by foot & longtail boats throughout Bangkok for a day and taking in the plethora of sensory stimulating experiences. (It should be noted here that some of the smells I wish I could forget..)
Getting absolutely smoked by a six year old Thai girl at Thumb Wrestling after being called out on a 20 Baht wager. (How the hell does a 22 year old guy forfeit to a girl that may have stood 2 inches above my waist???) To top this off, my hand was glistening with some type of Thai sweat/oil that the girl seemed to be amused to have left all over me. Following this I promptly attempted to scrub the skin off of my hand.
Drinking with a crew of Irish, English, and Canadians. Enough said.
Staying awake for 44 hours and seeing Khao San road absolutely deserted (I was never aware that this could possibly happen with the exception of mandatory evacuations).
Going to a Ping Pong show in Papong and being jumped, pickpocketed, and slapped in the face by a 4 foot Mamma San hooker. To keep it short and sweet, violated would be an understatement.
Eating Grasshoppers, Mealworms, and Hellfire Frog meat. The latter was hotter on the way out if you know what I mean and is one to consider for the record books.
Watching a Muy Thai Kickboxing match at the Pink Panther. Just cool.
Sitting on the back of a Thai Police Motorbike...

To be continued...

Best Regards,

John Luff

Indo Adventure - Update 1

ocsurfer — Sat, 7 Nov 2009 02:39:00 GMT

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

The first two weeks in Indonesia have absolutely flown by. Journeys thus far have included surfing, hiking, motor biking around the country, and embracing the culture of an amazing country. The surf at Uluwatu, Bali's most famous wave has been very good (4-10 feet) with relatively few reef cuts among the crew thus far. We also surfed Nusa Dua on the east coast of Bali at 8-10 feet as well. Nusa Dua is a very powerful right hand wave with quite a bit of water moving around and only a fraction of the crowd when compared to Uluwatu. A couple of the other spots we have surfed include Canggu and Nyang Nyang. Nyang Nyang is at the base of a massive cliff with approximately 550 steps from top to bottom (yes I counted...) On our way to one of the surf checks (at Green Bowls) we had to enter through security for the set of Eat, Pray, Love which is being filmed on the island of Bali. We didn't manage to catch sight of Julia Roberts yet..

We have been staying at a very unique homestay on the cliffs at Uluwatu called the Gong. Winnie and Yeo Man are the owners & operators and are some of the most hospitable people you will ever meet.

Still looking for good volunteering & philanthropic opportunities. Have been looking into microloan (Kiva) work or potentially organizing a large beach sweep. The amount of trash in some areas is immense due to the local beliefs that the earth will rid itself of all of the waste. It also seems that overfishing may be an issue along the coasts of Western Bali. Anywhere from 100-250 boats can be seen fishing the same location just off of Uluwatu point every night. Upon first glance, it looks as if there is a city floating at sea.

The surf has dwindled in size over the past few days and we have spontaneously decided to travel to Thailand, Vietnam and potentially Cambodia as well as Laos over the next few weeks. This update is being written from the Sawasdee House in Bangkok. We'll try to take it day by day and see where our journeys lead us. Any suggestions or advice on great places to go/stay/see in any of these countries would be most helpful.

Any advice on navigating the red tape of working with NGO's in Indonesia would also be greatly appreciated.(Special Visa/Permission Required??)

Anything else to add, feel free to leave comments!

Warmest Regards,

John Luff

Indo Adventure - Pre Trip Gear Acquisition

ocsurfer — Tue, 6 Oct 2009 10:47:00 GMT

I've been wrapping up my summer as a hotel manager and over the past few weeks I have slowly been acquiring a plethora of survival/backpacking gear. After reading Neil Strauss's most recent book, Emergency, I have a new perspective on surviving abroad. One of my goals for this trip is to take no more than my surfboards and a backpack of essentials...for 2 months! ANY Recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thus far, the contents of my backpack include:

Osprey Kestrel Mountaineering Backpack (38 Medium/Large)
Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier Bottle
Travel Hammock Silk Sleep Sack
Kiva Key Chain Duffel (Blue)
Universal World Wide Traveler Adapter Plug
Eagle Creek Travel Lock (3 Dial w/Cable)
Victorinox Swiss Card Lite
Conair Travel Smart Chiropractic Inflatable Pillow
Sweet Dreams Contoured Sleep Mask
Coghlan's 5-In-1 Survival Aid
Leatherman 830850 Skeletool
Coghlan's Mosquito Netting
Adventure Medical Kits - World Travel Edition
Gerber Infinity Ultra Task LED Flashlight
Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Book Light
Casio Travel Clock
ExOfficio Underwear (2 Pairs)
ExOfficio Insect Shield Long Sleeve Shirt & Pants
Instant Indonesian - 1,000 Phrases
Amazon Kindle (I am a philosopher & a nerd, yes..I love to read)
2 Pairs of Boardshorts
1 T-Shirt
1 Pair of Mesh Shorts
1 Pair of Under Armour Socks
Extra Small Toiletry Kit (Toothbrush, toothpaste, etc..)

The goal here is to have a backpack that can fit within the carry-on guidelines and weigh in under 15 lbs. I'm headed out on the 23rd of October so if you have any suggestions on additional supplies please let me know soon! Thanks for reading~

Best Regards,

John Luff