Michael Peterson: style, in and out of the water | Photo: Dan Merkel

Everything changes in 50 years, and the "History of Surfing in Queensland" is a splendid documentary that captures the essence of wave riding from the early surf clubs to the world title races.

Riding wood planks at Snapper Rocks, with perfect waves pumping down the line, and no one in the line-up. The scene was real, back in the 1950s. But in 50 years, a surfing revolution would storm Queensland.

"We decided that the best and only way to tell this amazing story was to get the key participants of the various times to take us on their personal journeys through the 50 years," reveals John Charlton, the director behind "History of Surfing in Queensland."

"We broke down the 50 years into ten-year segments, which in a one-hour documentary, means the each decade has around 10 minutes allotted to it."

The original idea by Scott Gillies, CEO of Surfing Queensland, got underway. The team made dozens of interviews, gathered hundreds of photos and video clips, and explored the progression of surfing and the board designs, the administration, judging, coaching and the clubs.

"All the interviews of the incredible cast of characters that were interviewed, of which only short bits were used for the documentary, are on record forever now and will be made available over the years to come, as are the films, videos, photos and memorabilia," underlines Charlton.

The "History of Surfing in Queensland" includes talks with multiple legends and key personalities such as Bob McTavish, Phyllis O'Donnel, Andrew McKinnon, Peter Townend, Wayne "Rabbit" Batholomew, Gary "Kong" Elkerton, Andrew Stark, Bede Durbridge, Mick Fanning, Dimity Stoyle, and many others.

Are you a surf history enthusiast? Get "Australia's Century of Surf."

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