Gili Islands

Our one night in Lombok was a good one. We had good food and we each had our own bed so it was comfortable.
I woke at 5am to the sound of the prayers from the local Mosque. Although I am not a Muslim I found the prayers strangly soothing, so it was a nice start to the day.
We packed had pancakes then got in our van to take us to the docks. The journey was about one hour and the scenery was amazing. We got to the dock and boarded the small boat to take us to the island.
The island is incredible. It truely is paradise. No cars or bikes only dusty sand roads lining the beach. There are a hotels and eateries on the shore but inland there is nothing save a few local coconut farms. We found a great place to stay and had lunch righ opposite the beach. After lunch we went to surf the local reef break. Its fair to say I was taught a valuable lesson. After walking over 100 meters of coral I finally made it out to the reef break. Paddled into what I thought was the line up and watched a few medium size sets. No one was taking a wave even though there was only myself and 3 locals, one of whom was only ten! I soon realised why no one took a wave. Out of nowhere a huge head high plus set came in. Getting stuck inside this is not nice. When James finally made it out , He , I and another australian dude on a longboard got stuck inside a huge set! We all made it past the first wave but when I saw the second I turned and paddled towards the reef. I knew I was never gonna get underneath it safely so cut my lossed and tried to get as far away from the impact zone as possible. James and the Aussie bloke tried to go under it. The were both hurled backwards onto the reef while I was tossed from my board like a ragdoll. I came up out of breath but unscaved while the ozzy guy broke his board and took a bashing from the reef. Let me assure you, hitting the reef is not nice. The coral is razor sharp and when you are cut by it the coral continues to grow in you body which is agony.
I caught one or two waves ten decided to head back in choosing to paddle half a kilometer aruond the reef. I was absolutley wrecked when I got back to shore , without doubt the heaviest surf ive been in.Not the biggest but the most challening and dangerous.
Today we all slept in. We had breakfast and got snorkelling gear. We cut through the inside of the island to get to the uninhabited side. We snorkelled for a bit but I was too tired really. We found a cafe got some lunch and ate in a beach hut before sleeping for a while.
In the evening we ate food in the local cinema and watched twilight. The island is pretty amazing. It can only be described as paradise and im sure I will enjoy the rest of my time here.