Lozza lives in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he cruises the filthy, overcrowded streets on a Honda Revo Techno 125cc motorcycle and climbs volcanoes on the weekend.
Name? Lozza Hill
Hometown? Christchurch, New Zealand
Current Residence? Why are you there? Jakarta, Indonesia. To scope as many of the 17,500 islands of Indonesia as possible (I’m up to 25 after a year) and make some money educating rich kids in an international school.
Occupation? Geography Teacher
Favorite activities? Climbing volcanoes, eating really spicy sambal, making sandcastles, bodysurfing (that’s surfing on my stomach not a bodyboard!) and cruising the streets of Jakarta with my lovely Irish fiancée.
Favorite cereal? Porridge (Oats)
Favorite Color? Turquoise
Car, Public Transport, Motorcycle or Bike? Motorcycle Honda Revo Techno 125cc on the filthy & crazily overcrowded streets of JK.
How many pairs of shoes do you own? 4 but lots of jandles.
How many pairs of sunglasses do you own? One, Alue changed my life. All fake Indonesian made Ray Bans were ceremonially biffed.
Whats the last creative thing you did? What is the last thing you made by hand? Built a sand castle prison at a beach in Ujong Kulong National Park and then watched the shell ‘inmates’ get washed away by a tsunami (not real).
What is the best adventure you have taken your Alues on since you have been together? A sweet, virtually undiscovered and untouched village called Sawarna on the south coast of Java. It’s only 180km (111 miles for the Americans) from Jakarta but is a 6 hour drive through congested tollways, followed by narrow, pitted roads destroyed by the wet season rains. It’s a real mission to get to but that’s half the fun. My Alues just dazzle in the tropical sun and the clouds look like I’ve dosed myself on magic mushrooms – that is the power of the Alue lenses!
Place you want to move next and why? South America for salsa, scenery and snow (preferably powder form).
Indo is home to the lair of the Komodo Dragon and I recently saw that a prehistoric human, the Flores Hobbit, was found on the Island of Flores. Have you hung out in the Komodo Lairs with the Hobbits? Have you been to Island of Flores? I ticked off both destinations in June/July 2012. My fiancée, Aisling and I did a 4 week mission starting in the outer islands to the east of Flores called Lembata and Solor where we went traditional whale hunting with bamboo spears with the locals. We then zigzagged our way through the rugged volcanic terrain of Flores itself with the highlights being Kelimutu (a volcano with 3 different coloured crater lakes) and Riung (a mega laid back village that opens you up to white sand heaven in the 17 Islands Marine Park). You can’t see the hobbit (the remains are in Jakarta) but we went to the cave. And Komodo National Park is off the hook! We did a boat trip for 3 days and went swimming with manta rays the size of cars as well as steer out comps with the komodo dragons on Rinca island (we didn’t actually see any on Komodo island itself).
If you had a week to visit Indo, what island(s) would you visit and what would you do? Flores for sure – it’s probably the best place I’ve been to in the world! There’s some gorgeous and crazy beaches on the south coast of Java and Jakarta has to be seen to be believed (a massive city that most of the world doesn’t know a thing about). The next big mission I have planned is to West Timor and an island called Rote. I like eastern Indonesia – the people have a more South Pacific feel than Asian (not racist or anything). It’s just a more laid back vibe. Skin colours get darker, concepts of time get slower, pollution disappears, scenery gets more stunning. With that logic I’ve got to get myself to West Papua before I leave!
It is true that Bali is overrun with Australians? If you had your choice, would you rather hang out with expat Aussies or Americans? F*cken oath mate. Straya nationalism – get it into ya! Don’t get me wrong there are some seriously stunning parts of Bali (Ulu Watu and East Bali) but for the most part you may as well go to the Gold Coast in Australia if you’re looking for that sort of scene. Give me an American anyday!
Do you speak Bahasa Indonesia? Sidikit – which mean ‘a little’. Enough to get from A to B and have an awkward yarn about the heaviness of the rain. I’m big into my weather you see.
Was that too many Indo questions? Any final words? Alue looks to have done the research on where I'm living – most impressive. Much like the glasses I sport thanks to you guys. Alue always on tour with Lozza. Cheers!
