People surfing at Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Australia

© Vicki Smith/Getty Image

Surf's up—Down Under

It's International Surfing Day! Here in Canada we may be welcoming summer tomorrow, but these Aussie surfers are saying g'day to the rad waves of winter. Though peak surf season is autumn (that is, our spring) here in the Gold Coast area of Queensland, these tropical beaches offer world-class breaks all year long.

The sport's history runs deeper here in the South Pacific. Fijians, Tahitians, Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders have been riding waves for several hundred years at least. It wasn't until the early 1900s that Hawaiian Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku demonstrated the sport for both U.S. and Australian officials, creating a wave of popularity that has yet to break.