Welcome Autumn

The production of this issue coincided with Australia turning on. Victoria and South Australia came alive, West Australia went wild, New South Wales too. Up in Surfing Life’s Queensland hood the finest waves of the year rolled through, consistently. The synchronised swell made deadlines hard to hit, but it also provided content aplenty. Autumn has arrived with a bang and this issue will inspire you to get amongst it.

Now’s Australia’s time to shine swell-wise, but if you’re looking to change things up then Europe’s a must. The waves range from mediocre to excellent, while the experiences and culture eternally pump. Surfing Life takes you on an in-depth tour around the old continent, including some places you’ve definitely never heard of.

If a wave broke in Australia the past few months and Kelly Slater wasn’t there to surf it, did it really break? Of course, but it did seem the king caught every swell from coast to coast. The local crew held priority had every spot, but Kelly’s more than paid his dues Australia wide.

Many words have been uttered about Gabriel Medina, mostly favourable. Good or bad he’s always replied with his surfing, and his record is already starting to speak for itself. So far only Gabriel’s surfing has been put under the microscope, so Surfing Life sat Brazil’s future down with a translator and hit record. Medina’s off to better start than a teenage Kelly Slater, but does he have what it takes to maintain greatness?

Up the rear we talk broken homes and counterculture with Insight’s Jared Mell. Nathan Myers muses over mixed craft, and Peter “PT” Townend tells it like it is.

All that, plus the 2012 Wetsuit Bible providing the lowdown on all things rubber.

And stay tuned next month for a new chapter in surfing life’s history.

Excited? We are.

- Team SL

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