Innholdsfortegnelse for #366 - Autumn 2023 i Surfing Life

Jingeri Jimbelung [Hello, my friends]. This is the language of the Kombumerri people, one of the Yugambeh-speaking clans on the Gold Coast, who have been connected to this coastline since the beginning of time. Welcome to our new quarterly publication with SIX pillars in EVERY edition: Travel, Boards, Culture, Waves, Technique, and Surfers ... Brimming with stunning imagery and top-tier storytelling, as well as surfing’s historical “Moments” and exclusive SL “Sections”, we are bigger, thicker, longer and still unapologetically infecting the world with Aussie surf culture. Autumn, a favourite season for east coast surfers, when the ocean’s still warm from summer’s gaze. The “dawn patrol” locks in their glassy expression session before the nine-to-five grind begins. Humid days beckon afternoon storms to cool the sand beneath our soles, and we…

This one feels different. I’m so excited for this opportunity. I’m nervous as hell, but I’m gonna win the world title tomorrow. Stephanie Gilmore stares at the three short sentences scribbled across the page. It was the last entry in her journal the night before the 2022 WSL World Title Finals Day. Then, at the time of writing, it was a manifestation of how she hoped it to be. To re-read those words several weeks later from the comfort of her Coolangatta home, knowing the outcome, the journey it took to get there and not knowing what the heck happens next, Stephanie’s skin prickles at the profundity and boldness of her claim. “In the past, I’ve had that kind of confidence before, but I’ve never wanted to vocalise it,” she…

Where were you born, and where did you grow up? I was born in the ’burbs of Melbourne, a little place called Kew. But when I was about three, Mum and Dad opted for the sea change, so we packed up and made our way down to a little seaside town called Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. I was lucky enough to call this place home and grew up here, spending after-school hours down the beach and learning to surf. When did you start surfing? Growing up swimming and being around the ocean, I felt that innate pull very early on. During school holidays, we’d jump in the caravan and burn up the coast to Byron Bay, where I learnt to boogie board and then progressed into surfing…

The duality of humanity exemplifies athletes like Connor O’Leary. Calm and competitive, power and flow, humble yet confident … These oppositional forces harmoniously exist within him. Obvious highs and lows are unavoidable when travelling and competing. As is written in the laws of motion: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Wins are not experienced without losses. With elation often comes great heartache. O’Leary expertly navigates the turbulence of life as a professional surfer by finding lessons in the losses and absorbing the wins with dignity. Connor’s formative years were hinged upon the combination of cultures and values. His Japanese mum, a competitive surfer in her own right, bestowed some of her competitiveness onto her son. “I’ve got her competitive fire in me,” Connor admits. “My dad’s kind of…

Tube-riding is so easy. All you have to do is watch Jack Robinson or John John Florence do it, then go out and do what they do—problem solved! See you in the water—better yet, see you in the tube! Well, after watching hours of Robbo and JJF ride tubes, taking meticulous notes, mimicking their movements in the living room, paddling out at the local break, finding the wave, seeing the tube, then the sky and whitewater flashing by while cartwheeling violently over the falls ... That was fun, but it didn’t work. Riding the tube is to enter the liquid vortex, the holy grail of surfing. For some, it’s easy, as if they were born with a sixth sense that allows them to travel effortlessly through aquatic caverns. For others…

OPEN CATEGORY Surfing Life, like our name suggests, means we’re passionate about every aspect of a surfing life: waves, travel, surfers, lifestyle, culture, technique or capturing surfing as you see it. Entry is FREE and open to all Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. Entries now OPEN - closes April 30, 2023 SEND ALL ENTRIES TO comps@surfinglife.com.au…

Nearly every Aussie surfer has the memory of a Bali surf trip tucked away in the vault of his or her conscious mind. Since the ’70s, Australians have been making the pilgrimage to the Island of the Gods for their spiritual surf nirvana. That quiet contemplation sitting atop a sun-kissed sea after a day of pumping waves, watching the afternoon slowly melt into the horizon under a blood-orange sky. Or a Bintang in hand, perched atop the cliffs of Uluwatu. Arms are aching, a lime-infused body missing bark from the reef below. The rash to end all rashes spreads across the torso, for although you’d surfed the better part of eight hours, it was just too good to go in. You’re waiting on a Nasi Goreng from a ramshackle warung.…

Steve Jobs released the smartphone on June 29, 2007, and if you are lucky enough, you remember a time before it. The freedom of being disconnected, of being in the here and now for hours. Days sometimes. Having that slim little rectangular box connected to the internet 24 hrs a day had one incredible and inarguable result. It fractured our attention spans into tiny pieces, even if doom scrolling for hours. Sure, it’s given us a lot of cool things: information you can use to score, endless entertainment, and digital pals all over the globe. You could argue that nothing has changed surfing more than the internet, especially being connected non-stop. With the introduction of technology and the constant bombardment of images and bits of info, everything got shrunk into…

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s time to save for something new: an asymmetrical surfboard. These odd-bods are the underdogs of surfboards that will surprise the greatest cynics. Broken Head, just outside the infamous Byron Bay, has no reception, pumping waves, and heaps of snakes. Three phrases are repeated more than anything else: crystal charging, influencers, and asymmetrical surfboards. Eyes glaze over when someone talks about the first two. However, those seven glorious syllables cause the ears to perk up every time. Asymms seem like mythical creatures—have there been any recent sightings? At Broken Head, when picture-perfect A-frames glide through the afternoon golden light, misshapen sea creatures and their riders gather. Among them are Broken Head locals, Hugo Winchester, and his best friend, Ben Hastings.…

In every form of travel real-life or research pioneers either everything is amazing or nothing ever is. Travellers value simple pleasures: dappled light through dancing leaves or strange textures on the bark of scribbly gum trees. The ocean’s curling peaks become a band of brumbies white flowing liquid manes backlit by amber sunbeams. Bareback and rearing galloping to the shore calmed into submission by sand, nothing more. A tourist seems soulless I’m here, what can I do? Ticking off sightseeing spots. ’Graming selfies of anything new. Rushing here, rushing there schedules, well-rehearsed. Another famous landmark: the biggest “so-and-so” in the universe. No time to identify with people or sacred land. Too frantic for connection: won’t listen to understand. A traveller’s mindset begins at home proficient in gratitude. Wowed by little…