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Regardless of whether or not you’ve been bitten by the Bali bug, when you<br />
see this classy villa, you definitely want to be there. That was definitely<br />
my first reaction when seeing the stunning fitout of Dukes at Bingin - not<br />
any average surfie shack.<br />
WORDS: DAVE SWAN, PHOTOS: DUKES<br />
It’s hard to believe, for me at least, that I met Warwick Martin close to<br />
twenty years ago when I was first rediscovering longboarding. Back then,<br />
Warwick was running a cool little surf store at Mermaid Beach on the<br />
Gold Coast called Dukes Longboards.<br />
A few years ago, he mentioned he had started to build some villas in<br />
Bali, about forty minutes south of Denpasar. Warwick’s trips across to<br />
Bali became more regular and about twelve months back he moved there<br />
permanently. You can see why.<br />
Warwick has established two classy, private villas near the village of<br />
Bingin Beach on the beautiful Bukit Peninsula. The area is central to five<br />
great wave locations - Bingin, Impossibles, Padang-Padang, Dreamland<br />
and Balangan - catering for all manner of surfers from beginners through<br />
to the highly skilled. The beaches of Dreamland and Padang-Padang are<br />
also renowned for their white sand and clear water. When you add to<br />
that the fact the world famous Uluwatu is just 10 minutes drive away you<br />
pretty much come to realise this is surfing heaven.<br />
The villas themselves are equipped with everything you could possibly<br />
want from TV, DVD and sound system to a fully stocked refrigerator and<br />
spacious lounge, kitchen, sunbeds... You name it... Even a maid service<br />
and daily breakfast and lunch.<br />
One villa caters for six<br />
people (3 bedrooms) and<br />
features its own private<br />
10m swimming pool,<br />
and the other sleeps four<br />
people (2 bedrooms) and it<br />
too has its own private 8m<br />
swimming pool.<br />
There are even surfboards<br />
available to hire if you’re<br />
too lazy to bring your own<br />
and considering the fact<br />
Warwick used to run one<br />
of the best surf shops on<br />
the Gold Coast, you can<br />
only guess he’ll have some<br />
quality boards.<br />
Who said there is no such thing as a classy surf trip away with your<br />
partner and a few close friends? www.dukesbingin.com<br />
jul/aug 20<strong>12</strong><br />
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