Australians have always had an affinity with surfing and the beach, and crowds flocked to Aussie surf beaches as long ago as the late eighteen hundreds. 'Victorian' attitudes to decorum and displays of flesh never hindered the country's love of the beach and over the next hundred years, surfing, surf shooting and sunbaking became a defining aspect of Aussie culture. Fully illustrated throughout with fantastic surfing shots as well as memorabilia, Blue Heaven celebrates the heroics of surf life saving, the sixties boom of surfboard riding and the transition of surfing from a lifestyle to a bustling energetic industry. All the greats such as Midget Farrelly, Pam Burridge,Tom Carroll, Gary Elkerton, Rabbit Bartholomew, Layne Beachley and Nat Young are also in the book. From the Atlantics to Midnight Oil, from panel vans to four wheel drives, from Jantzen to Billabong, and from Duke Kahanamoku to Mick Fanning, Blue Heaven covers everything in the first in-depth look at Australian surfing and beach culture. Blue Heaven tells the story of Australian surfing from its origins as a sunny beach time activity, through its era as a renegade sport and on to its acceptance as a mainstream sport and lifestyle.