Telo Island Lodge 2010 Newsletter #1

22/02/10

The 2010 season at Telo Island Lodge has kicked off and our first guests, the guys from RAC (Remote Area Constructions), have been getting stuck into a few sessions at the left and from what I understand have scored some fun stuff at Pinnacles as well. The main reason the boys from RAC are up there though is to put the finishing touches on the new additions and renovations as well as a bit of emergency work on the Lagoon House.

About 3 weeks ago just as the major construction projects were wrapping up we had the unfortunate luck to have a tree that was being felled so it would not pose a danger to the Lagoon House actually divert a little off it’s path and go smashing through the building. The result was that the Lagoon House no longer had a bathroom or top floor and our finishing touches to the new constructions and renovations were looking in doubt.

Well that was 3 weeks ago and I am happy to report that the Lagoon House has been re-built and in fact improved quite a bit. The culprit tree now successfully removed! We have also built a massive rockwall that runs the entire length of the resort and gives us a perfect flat lawn around all the buildings (the new turf is going down as we write) another HUGE addition has been our massive front deck that is 4.5 x 25 M at the front of the house. This deck is fully undercover and has one of the best break views in Indonesia.

We are also installing a new flat screen TV, so footy games, slide shows and DVD’s will be a much better experience for everyone. Throw in new sheets and pillows, crockery and cutlery, outdoor furniture and umbrellas and you wont know the place. We have also given the white boat a refurb and totally rebuilt the lagoon boats and retired our faithful lagoon boat outboard with a more eco friendly 4 stroke as well. The gensets have been refurbished, the staff accommodation expanded to fit in the extra help we are bringing in this season and a stack of other things.

Dave Simons the long suffering guide has also brought on a new trainee guide from Oz so in addition to our second boat option we will also have the ability to run a super early shift to the close breaks in some cases.

I guess the really big news though is our move from Padang to Medan. Due to the fact that SMA closed the Padang operation (with only a couple of days notice!!) and there is currently no air service available ex Padang we were in a real spot and were forced to source alternative air transfer options.

The move to Medan was a costly one but it came with many bonuses the biggest being that there are multiple international flights in and out of Medan EVERY day and in a lot of cases it will be possible to do same-day transfers from Australia to the island. Modern Medan is also a totally different city to Padang and it has many international standard hotels, a vibrant nightlife and all the infrastructure you would expect from Indonesia's 4th largest city.

Our ground handling will be done via a team of skilled people with decades of experience and should ensure a smooth transition from Australia to the lodge. We will also be keeping Rudi onboard to operate all our supply logistics ex Padang.

Our regular updates on Coastalwatch will fire up from March 08, 2010 and all the normal updates will be appearing on the website from the same date. We are looking forward to a great year with you all in 2010 hopefully the surf Gods are smiling on us all. Wax-up!

Staff and Management of Telo Island Lodge.