Author(s): Sean Doherty

Sport

Watching Joel Parkinson surf is to know that all is stillgood with the world. But while the Coolangatta surfer'ssyrupy, sublime talent has taken him to the world'sdreamiest waves, it's the guy's laidback groove that'sseen his friends in each of these locations, over theyears, become family. The Hawaiians have a word for it -hanai - an outside child taken in and looked after as oneof their own. In Hawaii and Tahiti, Jeffreys Bay andAngourie, Parko's bonds to his adoptive families and theplaces they call home have been made strong by all-timewaves, clownish misadventures, stories around thecampfire a thousand miles from home. Told with the helpof the surfing's most colourful raconteurs and it'sfinest photographers, Joel's story is as much about theplaces and people in his life as it is about Joelhimself. As Joel says, 'It's a book about me that's notall about me.'