Taj Burrow, knocking the dust off a Bells lip, Vic

For all the rich surfing history and whatever else, there’s a whole lot of people out there who question Bells’ validity on tour. Purely because we’re in an age where high performance surfing favours the opposite of fat waves, which can notoriously regulate at Bells. But not everyone dislikes it. Mick Fanning loves it. Then there’s the photographers, many of whom welcome the change after the heat of QLD and the isolation of WA. No sitting in the blazing sun all day, or hiking down dirt trailers with a heckton of camera gear to deliver us the imagery we consume so viciously around the clock. Like this photo of Taj Burrow, which Trevor Moran shot at Bells last night. For what many call a non-high performance wave, this is a very high performance turn. And to split the opinion just a little more, here’ something Taj once told Stab of Bells: “It’s pretty terrible, really. It’s iconic and prestigious, but Winkipop’s 10 times as good. Bells is alright, just hard to surf. You’ve just gotta do cutbacks, and at the right time. Even when I won it, I surfed horrifically.”