The three Australians into the final 8 of the O'Neill Cold Water Classic had varying responses to the situation:

A couple of weekends back Sydney lad, Tom Myers, who features in the first four photos of this gallery, celebrated his 21st birthday.

And it's off to Pipe we go!

Continuing the 'Christmas comes early' approach that we began yesterday here's the second part of Jack Dekort's best photos of 2012.

The webcast commentators made plenty of comparisons to small Bells on Day 1 of the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, and the slow, weak and wobbly waves at Steamer

You know how the saying goes, 'Christmas seems to get earlier every year'.

Critical barrel riding can be a straightforward affair. Literally.

Jim Culley is a Kiwi photog who has his own distinctive colour-saturated style.

Picture the scene: It's a brilliant sunny day with small surf and there in the shallows is a cumbersome creature - Is it a dugong? A walrus perhaps?

Been a bit of disparity in swell fortunes between West Oz and the rest of the country recently. Even more so than usual.

Command + C, copy and paste. Job done, time for a surf. This report could have been an easy one.

Just before Jack Dekort took off for his latest trip (Fiji this time) he posted these shots from his recent trip Indo.

Live Your Life is a charity and clothing company started up by Bondi lad, Jordan Barta.

The surf has been very slow going on the Sunshine Coast lately.

It was an unremarkable day at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal as the organisers finished off Round 2 in three foot semi-barreling, semi-closing out waves.