Every Surfer's Bucket List Ticked by Fiona Peters

It was always a dream to surf and experience the Mentawai Islands. From the age of 13, seeing Indonesia in surf magazines; the clearest ocean water, girls surfing in bikinis, palm trees framing the landscape, Mentawai Islands was the sought after location for surfers and I wanted to witness this exclusive destination.

Living in Bali from mid 2015, I had faith my career would lead me to the ultimate surfers destination. Two years later and my dream became reality.

I stayed with Hollow Tree’s Resort, literally out front of the world class break Hollow Tree’s or otherwise known as Lance’s Right. Every morning for 18 days, I awoke to this paradise.

White sand, turquoise ocean, perfect barrels, coconut palms draping the beach, it really was my heaven on earth. While being served an array of Western style, clean conscious food by the well trained staff at Hollow Tree’s Resort and sharing the experience with close friends, this trip is one I’ll remember forever.

I had no brief while I stayed here, I shot what I loved, what appeals to me, my passion work. I waited for the pastel colours after the tropical storms, I awoke to glassy, vibrant swell lines and barrels peeling from the reef. My friends played as the models strolling the picture perfect beach.

Each day was filled with gratitude, smiling to myself, remembering how I always dreamed to travel here and how I made my dream become reality. After this exceptional experience I yearn to travel more of the Mentawais, to surf those perfect waves, to see more paradise colours.

I yearn to travel more of the Indonesian Archipelago in general, thousands of islands to explore. From what I’ve seen so far, every island is different; culture, religion, food supplies, housing, I find it all fascinating compared to the modern style of Australian living, I feel I learn a lot from these experiences and implement to my lifestyle of how to live a simpler life...