"People went mysteriously missing and some died suddenly abroad..."
Nias. The very name conjures wild visions in the head of any surfer who came of age in the before times*. That freightraining right, tall and square, ripping through Lagundri Bay framed by an impossibly verdant backdrop. That very picture of surf perfections. Located in some 12o km from the Indonesian mainland, Nias is a large barrier island once colonized by the Dutch before slipping into historical footnotes after World War II. Australian surfers Kevin Lovett and John Giesel, joined by Peter Troy, stumbled upon the gem in 1975 and herein lies a modern story of greed, power and the all too familiar story of surf paradises lost.
A new documentary, Point of Change, by filmmaker Rebecca Coley explores what happens when surfers start being polite and start getting real. Per The Guardian’s review:
Word got out to the surfing community about Nias’ idyllic charms, and soon led to boatloads of tourists, pollution and a local populace all too eager to profit from the visitors’ appetites for drugs, alcohol and sex. Geisel, Lovett and others developed malaria. People went mysteriously missing and some died suddenly abroad, suggesting dark forces at work; these were talked of by the locals who believed in shamanism and the presence of dark magic.
Surfers, man. Can’t take them anywhere.
Coley focuses on the dark magic bits, apparently, not writing off evil spirits at play. The Guardian, classically science-based, declares the director “rather indulges this woo-woo mysticism making Point of Change both a bit creepier and sillier at the same time” thus knocking two stars off the rating.
What are your thoughts about that?
I once went deep down a Bolivian silver mine and there was a devil down there whom miners offered cigarettes and coca leaves. He was very creepy and also, I guess, a little silly. But more creepy, certainly.
Examine trailer for Nias doco here.
Memories of the good old days with Joe E. and Thorton F.
Magic.
The image is of Phil Goodrich – photo by Paul Kennedy. Was a cover shot for The Surfer’s Path, back in the day
Farrrrrrk. Ptsd revival imminent. A very young Dogsnuts fell for this place and many things went wrong. Culminating in having a gun pulled on me in the outskirts of Sibolga by a crooked cop.
Xox
This triggered an std ptsd moment for me …
I fucked a whore in Sibolga with no condom after she rimmed me … self-control was low in my early 20’s … and merely an illusion in my late 40’s.
Haha mate that is fucken heavy hahahaha wow. It’s amazing you didn’t get malaria of the bumhole and foreskin.
Did you shoot a load in her?!
Xox
Those were the days.
Why did you remove your comment, JJJ?
I saw an Alby film at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Full bedlum before the show.
We landed on Nias. I had dreamed of that landing for decades.
Boarded a pile of cars and as we turned right, I saw the Lagundri sign left. Weird being so close, yet we drove away.
One day later, I could not have been happier.
Haha so you went to Banyaks hey. Got another hell story on that joint.
Farrrrrk.
Xox
“If I hadn’t done it, someone else would have…..”
Fucking creep.
Any frisbee throwing?
I’ll say it; “you kids don’t know how good we had it in the late 80’s, early 90’s.
How similar this to the original doco made in the late 90’s? One of the originals (Kevin, I think) goes back while the comp that Margo won is on. Change, change, evil spirits, jumping over the big wall thing etc etc.
Nias was a bucket list was for me. I got there, surfed it and got sufficiently slotted, but, if I’m honest, I left feeling a bit empty. The strongest memory is of a couple of Portuguese speakers having a daytime bender on the point making dicks of themselves. So yeah, underwhelming and empty. Not the mythical spot you sketch in your yr9 maths book.
Looks like you cant even get a reo in, fuk that
They must be going for a world record for the shortest trailer ever. I wonder how long the film will be?
I am working with Amazon currently to release a full length documentary on Terramar.
Basically it is the same as Nias except it was ruined by SUPs, Sprinter Vans, Vuori, and Carlsbad High School PE class.
blood, sugar, sex, magik
They have been there. Stayed on a charter boat and at the Sorake Beach Resort back when it existed.
That’s awesome, I’ve seen a few of them surf.
Surfers…. just like everyone else.
What you are depicting here Chas applies to every place in the world that surfers have ever rolled up fully loaded. Which of course is always. Nias still producing the goods after 50 years of comps with or without human sin and all that entails. Should be on the CT rota. Ridiculous that’s it’s a QS event. Ridiculous.
It’s also describing koh phi phi after “the beach”.
Where can you see the whole film? On any streaming platforms?
Youtube
hmm, took a quick look and all i see is the trailer. also, on their website just saw they are in the midst of an extensive film festival run so wouldn’t think they would want the full film on youtube yet. look forward to seeing it.
Yeah, I just quick scanned and it was actually some weird prequel.
I wish sex, drugs and dark magic would kill my local spots.
Hell yeah brother!
You can’t understand Lagundri unless you have been there. It’s pretty much a hell-pit if you were to remove the wave. Even then, it’s fickle, needs significant swell to be good, and gets crowded as when it’s on (at least that was the case in the 90’s). Supposedly more surfable at smaller size since the earthquake but also lost The Machine in the quake. The inside wave, Kiddies Corner, was super fun with the right board, long peeling point break style wave. The people are less than ideal, theft is rampant, and there is fuck all to do when its flat. Bay looks dreamy but the water is nasty ass. And if you’re a screwfoot, it was really difficult to drop in late, pull up high, drop back in after pulling in, then exit up high. Regularfooters dream. Asu and Telos not too far away. All that said, I couldn’t stay away and kept returning for some reason. And, from experience, malaria fucking sucks.
As a fellow goofy foot seems like Macaronis would be a fun trip but it’s probably as fucked as Deserts has gotten.
Maca’s has been crowded for almost 30 years now. Never went down there though.
Damn I guess maybe Chili then. Wearing a wetsuit in cold water is not the dream surf trip I had in mind. Hate crowds.
We got an 8′ day empty until mid day the next.
Feel very fortunate to have surfed it empty and mostly-empty many times between 97 and 2004…..Beautiful wave. Agreed the land camp throws a spoke in the wheel to a certain extent.
Maccas is the worst case of Seppofication/Commercialization of a Ment’s wave. The wave is hell fun, but has a rigid pecking order rotation, that favours the guests. Can be very long waits for waves when it’s small, which is often.
Not nearly. It can get busy but there’s order in the lineup. Desert’s? Rules don’t apply. Ugh!
Only went once (early 90’s) and got skunked but scored epic empty Asu and Bawa after escaping on a local fishing boat with a small crew of other desperados. Malaria got me on Bawa living feral on the beach.
You and half the other people that stayed with German got malaria. Ha! Bawa is possibly the most overrated wave in Indo. Were it not for Curren, Sonny Miller, and Beyond the Boundaries, it would be quickly overlooked. Shifty, mushy, swell magnet.
No German or Germans: Just us at Bawa. Camped in tents below the dilapidated Losmen. Not perfect but double overhead and not dissimilar to the search session with only 6 of us on the island, so it felt epic. Asu on the other hand was ridiculously perfect. Also only our motley crew surfing on the island.
German was the Indo that owned the “losmen” but he left around 1997 or so after Max/Stuey and the Belgians (Peter and ?) opened their places on Asu.
Aha, ja before the Germans. Definitely! Was early nineties so maybe before the other German. There was a Belgium guy on Asu but he was away and we stayed with locals. Good times. except the malaria afterwards.
Likewise Asu is under rated
Its a dreadful place when its flat but if you get that wave when its on and the Nuclear section is working, its worth the hassle.
A shit hole for sure
Bolivian silver mine devil: “Goddamn it! What’s a devil got to do to get a good night’s sleep?!! Cigarettes and coca leaves! Really!!! You’re killing me Smalls!”