Winter 2016, Coolangatta, Qld

Is it really 57 years since I slurped slushies from the life saving kiosk on Greenmount beach as a 10 year old?

We stop for a beer at the old timber Rainbow Bay Surf Life Saving Club at Coolangatta. Home of the Quicksilver Pro. The bar is decorated with surfboards, the room with black and white photos and we climb stairs with the names of past surfing champions, legends all: Taj Burrow, Mick Fanning, Layne Beachley, Stephanie Gilmore…

We sit on the narrow veranda in the warm sun and watch a new generation of surfers trying to do something creative with a flat sea.