Australian Surfer Dies At G-Land

According to multiple media sources, beloved Bondi surfer-turned-Balinese ex-pat Gunther Kitzler has reportedly died while surfing in Grajagan, yesterday.

According to reports from the Surabaya Search and Rescue Agency, the 56-year old paddled out a few minutes before his two friends.

“Fifteen minutes later, the two people saw Gunther’s surfboard floating with Gunther’s feet still tied to the surfboard. While trying to help Gunther to the beach, suddenly there was a big wave which caused the surfboard rope to break,” the agency said.

After Gunther’s friends lost track of his body in the waves, a search went underway. Local authorities found the body at about 8.45am local time (12.45pm AEDT) on Tuesday, more than 24 hours after he was swept away in strong currents.

“Gunther Kitzler held one of those rare places in the Bali Surf community,” Bali-based legacy surf journalist Matt George tells us. “To live and love here takes a combination of survival skills, tolerance, street savvy, and a deep belonging to the most unique surf culture on earth. And Gunther had all these qualities. His stylish, committed surfing throughout, on all those famous purple surfboards of his, garnered respect and deep friendship with the local surfers here. That he lost his life in the surf seems impossible to most, but his memory will live on as the kind of surfer and the kind of man that had what it takes to assimilate into the Indonesian freedom and friendship groove.”

The exact cause of Gunther’s death has not been revealed, nor why he became unconscious.

Our thoughts are with Gunther and his loved ones.