st surf images

DUST swirls around the old bus as she shudders and stops to pick up a passenger.

The year is 1972, or thereabouts. The gun with the wheel is young; late teens, could be early 20s. He’s thin, fit, healthy. Glint of adventure in the eye. The bloke who hops on is 24 maybe, ugly, with a beard.

The driver, Tony “Hussein” Hinde usually doesn’t stop for a straggler. But this bloke looks like a surfer. No ticket? No problem. Come along for the ride, mate!

The bus is going to the mines. Surfers and shapers from around Australia who have a taste for adventure but few funds come here to Dampier, west of the Kimberleys to work the mines and get the cash to fund their sojourns.

Conversation flows like honey. The Indian Ocean; what undiscovered treasure trove of waves can be found there?

“I’m saving my bucks for a boat to go check this out,” were Tony’s famous last words to “Atlas” Robinson.

Rest is history. Maroubra boy Tony and his mate Mark (Scanno) Scanlon get shipwrecked a year or so later in the Maldives. It only takes Tony and Mark 15 years or so to “get rescued”. Lucky they had their boards…

Flash forward to 1988, and with every board broken, Tony finally decides to surface, and calls up his old ‘Bra mate and shaper Ronald “Duckie” Goddard here in Coffs Harbour. Duckie gets the golden invitation to come over with a few blokes to pitch in for the cost of a boat to check out the Maldives

Ronnie “Duckie” Goddard surfing a gold morning in Coffs nearly 25 years on from his “Golden invitation” to the Maldives

Duckie picks his mates very unwisely. Fellow local shaper Keith “Atlas” Robinson is in. So’s Brian Betts and Kym Bourke.

Stuck with “Honkie” for a nickname, Tony seeks revenge by naming every place they surf. There’s Sultans, Chickens, Colas (also Cokes), and of course, Honkies.

Honkie realises the dream and establishes a small surf camp, initially with a limit of just five surfers. All good, but one bloke just won’t go home, to put it politely…

Atlas comes back for another 11 years straight and eventually wrangles a job as a surf tour guide.

Atlas prefers to doss next door on Buda Huraa (Big Island) where he and his daughter, Carly-Rae, settle into village life and form lifelong friendships with brothers Mohomad Neharda and Abdul Shukoo.

Abdul is a shipwright and fisherman. Mohomad becomes chief of the island and he and Abdul approach Atlas with the idea of starting a surf resort, but Atlas doesn’t want to rain on Tony’s parade.

But three years ago Tony passed away, and Atlas got another call from Abdul and the Chief. It was time to recreate what Honkie had started all those years ago.

The chief, Robbo and local crew from the beautiful island “Hura”

So here we are in 2011. Surf charter boats built like floating palaces ply the islands and Maldivian resorts hit you up for between $750 and $1400 a night, breakfast only.

But here on Buda Huraa you’ll get a clean room and three good meals a day for between $160 and $170 US per night. The $170 fee includes all your surf trips.

And just like Honkie’s original deal, there’s a limit of five surfers and the local knowledge that will get you on the best break first time, earliest, on the right winds and tide.

There’s a catch, if you’d call it that: you can’t drink alcohol on the island. A speedboat will get you to and from Mali or any of the resorts for a change of pace and some shopping.

A briefing in the evening gives you the surf options; sleep in while the charters sleep off their hangovers and the resort crew are locked into 7am-9am breakfasts or go chasing the waves with a hamper of food.

Then if you’ve still got the ticker, take over the breaks while the resort crew head off for their 11.30-1.30 resort-imposed lunch hours.

But on Buda Huraa if you get hungry, your restaurant is open 7am until midnight – eat when you like.

eat when you like…. and eat a lot!!!

The resorts and the charter boats obviously appeal to many travellers, but for the old salts who just want to chill out, enjoy traditional Maldivian culture and score quality waves without the hassles, there’s plenty on offer with Atlas Surf Adventures.

Leave it with you, while the dust settles.

Get on the bus. Check the website. Explore your air travel options with Laila Madkhane Wright at Destination Travel, Bellingen; she’ll get you the right connections at the best price, phone 6655 2055.

For more info on Atlas Surf Adventures, and bookings, check the website link here on Tom’s ST Surf Images site

Damo

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