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You get the feeling that every day is the best day of Joel Parkinson's life.

But while its Joel's sublime surfing talent that has taken him around the globe chasing perfect waves, it's his laidback groovethat has seen him build a small army of friends and fans along the way. Always the lovable larrikin, Joel is simply a funguy to hang around. After marrying his high school sweetheart, Monica, they were soon joined by two daughters, Evie andMacy, and their young bloke, Mahli, and the Parkinsons today travel the world together as a family as Dad chases the dream.

Parko's story is a sporting classic.

It's July 1999, and an 18-year-old kid from the Gold Coast is about to re-write surfing history on the hallowed walls of Jeffrey'sBay, South Africa. After scoring a wildcard start in the Billabong Pro, teenager from Coolangatta paddles out against theworld's best surfers and proceeds to systematically dismantle them. He doesn't even really seem to be trying that hard,he's just doing what he does. The accidental prodigy wins the contest in a canter and a disbelieving surfing world hasjust been introduced to a kid known as "Parko".

Today, Parko remains for many the most naturally gifted surfer on the planet. The Gold Coaster possesses a smooth, hypnoticstyle that almost disguises just how seismic his surfing really is. His act is the product of some good surfing DNA, anda childhood spent surfing some of the finest pointbreaks on the planet. But in recent years however Joel has also becomeone of professional surfing's fittest, most dedicated athletes.

In surfing he's done the lot. He's won 12 world tour events at iconic waves like Pipeline, Sunset Beach, Jeffreys Bay, BellsBeach and California, in Bali and at his home break of Snapper Rocks. He's surfed perfect heats at Pipeline and J-Bay andKeramas. He's made the ASP/WSL Top 5 on nine occasions. He's won the Hawaiian Triple Crown three times in a row, featuredin dozens of surf movies, had surf mag covers coming out the wazoo and had a million words written about him, almost everyone of them glowing.

In a career where he'd pretty much done everything else, there was only one mountain left to climb - the world title.

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