This was my first trip to Bali, and my only preconceptions came from stories told by fellow Aussies. I envisioned a tourism shit-show packed with drunken westerners in dodgy bars bringing shame to both cultures. On the more positive side I also heard there were a few bowls scattered around the place. So it was, that I found myself on a plane with my preconceptions and my bros Shai Balmer, Mat (Chiggy) Chigwidden and his lovely missus Alex.
From the second we arrived our expectations, or lack of, were flipped on their head by our tour guide Alan Miller from International Skate Tours. This guy is a seasoned Indo traveller and treated us to an adventure that can be best described as somewhere between an exotic getaway and a dirty old skate trip. All taking place somewhere that is as beautiful as it is confusing.
“I envisioned a tourism shit-show packed with drunken westerners in dodgy bars bringing shame to both cultures.”
The bitumen at this place is surprisingly fast and makes for a sweet ride. But in saying that Chig had to navigate a waterfall that sends you to a leaking flat bottom to hook into this frontside feeble. Not the kind of leaking flat bottom most people associate with Bali.
We got shown photos of this fullpipe with some pretty vague directions from some local shredders. Even with our legend of a driver (Made’) who had lived in Bali for 40 years this place was a mission to find. Driving around random little towns up in the hills asking everyone for directions we finally found this rusty ol’ piece. Just a light pump would get the whole thing shaking and on the brink of collapse. That didn’t bother Shai’s wobbly old seaweed legs.
Shaiza… Big boy boneless
“This theme park was home to up to 130 crocodiles that were abandoned and left to survive by cannibalism…”
This abandoned theme park was home to up to 130 crocodiles that were abandoned and left to survive by cannibalism in an acre wide pit for over 10 years before PETA came to relocate them. There’s a lot of cool infrastructure that has been overrun by the jungle and hit up by some amazing graffiti artists.
Alan Miller’s backside airs are as smooth as the trip he organised for us on this crazy island.
Shai, Ollie out to wall ride.
Chig frontside airs on a fresh concrete masterpiece near Uluwatu. Seriously, Bali is full of surprises!
