Here we were:-
Rob `Beek' Killham fireman, our court jester and aussie cultural ambassador.
Micheal Martin the landlocked sports psychologist at the AIS in Canberra messing with elite athletes heads
Geoff `GT' Thompson focused on theological studies after being drydocked in Broome working in a church
Paul `Cams' Campbell fireman, solid performer who wouldn't back down from anything or anyone
Steve `mahnks' `Mahnkenator' Mahnken escaped the stock trading floor and put in a solid investment for waves
Brett `BD' Davis Mr `Christian Surfers', organizer, eternal grommet, up for an adventure
Phil Symes computer programmer - quiet, calculated and despite suffering sickness, blown eardrum, dinged boards and a birthday cake, never complained
Tony `China' Pingnam local plumber, soulful guitarist and ever smiling good bloke everyone loves
David `Doc' Gillis MD, sensitive, caring, helpful - living out his bedside manner; Scott `Scotty' Groves just completed supervising a major engineering project and recently married and babied and the hariest man alive
Mark `Grover' Groves school teacher, builder, brother to Scott and missing the body hair gene
Dave `woody' Wilson Dowes Mr IBM, never-been-barreled-wanting-to-change-this-status, compassionate and ready to serve as much as surf.

Since none of us had ever been to the area we had scant information on the website. Reading the `LEAP in' Website, we learned of the vision of empowering local communities that had been devastated by the tsunami, then the earthquake. The fiberglass canoe project, giving a family a fishing business. The Coconut oil plant, lifting a whole village to capitalize on its most available resource. The Coconut kids club, training a future generation. The long term alternative diesel fuel source, relieving the massive pressure on radically increasing fuel costs that we crippling a whole nation. And finally, this `Holiday with Purpose' where surfers could live out their surfing dream and lend a hand.

To be honest, most of us felt a bit lame. Some wondered whether there would be enough surfing, others wondered if we would be feeling guilty surfing at all in light of the plight of the locals. As our profiles developed we were pitched the idea of building the Coconut Kids Club house to host all their meetings and develop an office. It came with a $AUD4000 price tag and we challenged one another to raise $500 each. Few had the spare money or time. Some gave up a new surfboard for the trip, others raised donations amongst friends and workmates, three even ran a fundraising Indonesian dinner featuring a big screen showing of the 1980's surf classic `Stormriders'. It was all pretty last minute stuff and yet, a week out of the trip, some $AUD7000 was raised and the materials all purchased.