SURF SCENE with Andrew McKinnon.

AUSTRALIA'S surfing community gathered in Newcastle to honour multiple Australian kneeboard champion and internationally acclaimed water photographer Peter Crawford who was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.

Crawford became the 39th inductee into the Hall of Fame and joins an illustrious list which is on show at the Casuarina High Performance Centre.

Better known as simply PC, his exceptional photographic talent, informed by his surfing skill, allowed him to reveal Australian surfing to the world from the intimate perspective of his Nikonos water camera's lens.

Many of the finest surfing photographs of the era - published in Surfing World and Surfer magazine to broader men's magazines like Playboy and Inside Sport - were shot by Peter and captured the core spirit of the sport for all.

Crawford was a five-time Australian Kneeboarding champion and had the moniker of "Australia's version to George Greenough”. He was considered the greatest kneeboarder, who also had a passion for photography and filming.

Sadly, Crawford passed away in Bali on Xmas Eve 1999 when beaten from the apparent deadly effects of a poisonous snake which had no anti-venom treatment. The night before, he had climbed the now-defunct Bungee Jump Tower at Double 6, Legian, to take photos of the biggest full moon in 50,000 years.

Crawford's induction was one of a number of presentations as part of the 2017 Australian Surfing Awards. He is survived by his sons Scott and Justin who received their dad's award.

2016 World Surf League (WSL) Women's World Champion Tyler Wright and WSL standout competitor Matt Wilkinson won the Female and Male Surfer of the Year awards, while young Queenslander Ethan Ewing won the Rising Star Award.

Big-wave surfer and paddleboard champion Jamie Mitchell, who finished fourth in the 2015/16 Quiksilver's in Memory of Eddie Aikau event, won the 2016 WSL Nazare Challenge and was awarded the Milwaukee Heavy Water Award.

Avoca Boardriders are the new nudie Australian Boardriders Battle National Final champions after taking down more than 24 boardriding clubs from all around Australia.

In a Grand Final match-up that pitted the Central Coast club - anchored by World Surf League (WSL) surfers Matt Wilkinson and Adrian Buchan - against the reigning champions Narrabeen, plus Snapper Rocks and Bondi.

Snapper had WSL stars like 2012 World Champion Joel Parkinson and six-time Women's World Champ Stephanie Gilmore, but had to come from behind to qualify for the final.

Despite the fact Avoca suffered a five-point deduction due to Wilkinson exceeding the two-wave limit, all surfers posted an array of impressive scores, with Avoca notching up a giant 35.40 total to reign supreme.

Final places: 1 Avoca. 2 Snapper. 3 Bondi. 4 North Narrabeen.