Squadrons of dun coloured dragonflies dance through the coconut palms and, from time to time, swoop low around our heads. The pigs, which once grazed constantly through the coral sand, rarely appear on the beach now, but the goats in the village still lounge on the low concrete tombs characteristic of the area. The sunsets are consistently spectacular and light up the whole lagoon with their reflected colour. At night the lights of the squid boats form a long line behind the reef. Occasional blackouts reveal an infinitely star studded sky. The cocks crow prematurely, hours before dawn. A seaweed farm, partially neglected, covers the inside reef. Divers report Manta Rays and Whale Sharks. There are whispers of salt water crocodiles on nearby islands. Schools of bait fish surge through the line up. Barracuda and Spanish Mackeral are plentiful.

Out on the reef the swell never seems to stop. Occasionally it pauses, and the pessimists shrug and claim it is done, but within the hour it is back. Sets swing in from the south and west alternately. Overhead from the south, double overhead from the west. The south sets peel down the point. The west sets form thick wide peaks further down the reef that jack and wedge before launching into a long wall that is as liable to simply close out as to peel. The largest peak is called The Mountain. The suggestion is that it gets better as it gets bigger and unreliable reports nominate 15-20ft as its optimum size range. The reef is considered unique in providing good waves all the way from 2-20ft.

Felipe Pomar is rumoured to surf the The Mountain on a 12ft board, though the size may be an exaggeration. He is nicknamed 'El Magnific'. No reason is given for this. Tom Carroll owns a large house on the beachfront, but not that Tom Carroll. The names of no other celebrities arise in conversation.

The crowd, such as it is in the early season, divides itself between the point and The Mountain and then subdivides again into the various line ups within each break. The trees and the phone tower provide precise references for the point. The Mountain is much trickier. It moves around more, not only along the reef but also in distance from it, and quite regularly throws up sets which break much further out catching inside, if not the whole crowd, then at least the unwary. The swell is less reliable than Bali.

The point is a zipper. The best waves start at the top of the reef, pitching and peeling rapidly, then slow slightly and run through long walling sections that rarely barrel, but are steep and fast enough to unleash whatever manoeuvres are available to the individual surfer.  The Mountain tolerates no hesitation or delay. The first bottom turn is everything and even if it  unrolls with power and drive, the sections can run away too quickly. Completion rate on the point is round 70%. On The Mountain it hovers around 50% and often falls lower. Drop ins are rare. The expat residents surf less often than might be expected. The boats now anchor further out in the channel behind a set of marker buoys. There was an unfortunate incident last season. A 25hp outboard on a fibreglass hull will apparently not out run a 6ft wall of foam, even with a head start.

In this season the trade wind starts late, is relatively light through the morning, strengthens around midday, and drops off again before dark. The early and late low tides of the new moon are particularly prized by surfers. With a new moon low, and a straight south swell of just the right size, point waves can run the full length of the reef. A surfer from Coolangatta claims to have had his longest ever wave here. There are numerous other breaks in the area of varying quality but none are offshore in the trades. Crowds are increasingly a problem in the high season. The best surfers are the young locals.

There is beautiful ikat woven from the Lontar Palm strung on a clothes line beside the recently tarred road. It is for sale. The local Christians sing their hymns with a fervour and sweetness of tone lacking in most western congregations. They are reconstructing their church to compete with a larger one in a nearby village. One evening an itinerant sasando player sings in a language so obscure that not even the locals are sure of the nature of his lament, but it is as strong and earthy as Son House or Ma Rainey. Sadly you will not find him on Apple Music or Spotify.

Beachfront lots, which once housed nothing more elaborate than fishermen's huts, now feature large private houses, villas and resorts. Numerous building projects are underway. Rumours of a major resort cannot be confirmed, but persist. The rate of change is increasing. The trend is up market. The trickle down effect remains a trickle. A species of snake necked turtle, found only on this island, is threatened with extinction by the illegal wildlife trade.   The only mammals, other than humans, found on the island are common rodents. White bellied bush chats, easily confused with the Little Pied Flycatcher, have been reported nesting in the islands only Eucalypt species. There were flooding rains in March.

//blindboy