We asked Kelly what he's been doing since his win at Snapper Rocks last month. "Surfing my brains out," he laughed. Here he is greeting Cloudbreak last Thursday morning with open arms. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Here, Kelly demonstrates how to hit the lip backside. "I've been riding a 5'9" quad," he explained. "Feels great." Looks pretty good, too. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"This year has hands-down been the best year of my life (to date) for waves!" smiled Taj Burrow. "P-Pass in early Jan, Cyclone Bianca in WA in late Jan, Ours mid-March then Fiji late March! Each trip, I said 'these are the best waves of my life!'" Indeed. Catching the waves of one's life does wonders for one's confidence. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

We asked Taj if he and Kelly were chatting about the fact that they were number one and number two in the world. "No talk of the tour," Taj said. "Slightly competitive, of course. But mainly just screaming at each other in perfect barrels!" Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"Kelly and Taj both tore it apart and were getting barreled out of their minds," said Jon Roseman. "Kelly was taking off on the way outside square ledge, basically in the barrel on some before he even got to his feet, and then getting spit out." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Very occasionally, things went wrong for the 10-time Champ. Sean Collins explains: "Often, when there's a mix of swells from the general same direction like this, there are more double-ups with the longer-period swell overtaking the shorter period swell. If the timing coincides when the merging double-up happens as both sets meet the reef, then the waves can be extra sucky and hollow." Translation: Broken Board City, even for Kelly. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"Chippa [Wilson] blew my mind in the smaller stuff, and even when it got bigger he had a real dig," explained Taj. "He's a great surfer." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

A SW direction in the swell meant that Restaurants was breaking, even though Cloudbreak wasn't huge. Kelly paddled out during Happy Hour for a couple fun walls, much to the delight of island barflies, who got to see their own private, live surf video. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"Jay Davies has got crazy power, and is really one of the best surfers in the world, in my opinion," says Kelly. "He's a great barrel-rider and throws huge airs." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"When Cloudbreak turned on, it was something I've never seen or surfed," Chippa Wilson smiled. "Perfect barrels and warm water!" Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Look out, Avatar. Taylor Steele and Kelly were experimenting with some high-tech 3D stuff. "The idea is capturing the feeling of surfing with Kelly in six-foot Cloudbreak," explains Steele. "It does this awesome. There are some moments where Kelly is under the waves that really stand out. Just stuff when he was caught inside. It's a work in progress, but I think we're onto something." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"They got a mix of swells from the long-period SSW that first arrived in the Sydney area a few days before, and also shorter-period straight SSE swell from Typhoon Bune that developed below Fiji just before they arrived," explained Sean Collins. "Which pulled the ledge waves way up the point and made a lot of them makeable all the way through," added Tavarua co-owner Jon Roseman. Magic. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Familiarity breeds confidence. Roseman knows the insides and outsides of a Cloudbreak tube better than just about anyone in the world. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

We asked Kelly what he liked best about Cloudbreak. "It's never boring," he says. "Taj and I were agreeing that there is nowhere better when it's on. It's such a great reef." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

So, uh, what's Taj's approach to surfing Cloudbreak? "Just to pick the crazy ones!" he explained. "Over the years of surfing out there, I know which ones hit the reef the best." Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a "crazy one." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

We asked Kelly if he and Taj talked much about the tour and stuff. "Just surfing," he smiled. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Boatman Gade Hottenstein shows his familiarity with the Cloudbreak reef by falling from the lip and nailing a perfect tube. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Oleema Miller, Kelly's girlfriend's sister, is offered a ringside seat by Taj. Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

"It's been too long, so I wanted to get a nice swell and see these 'crowds' for myself," explained Kelly of his motivation to get to Cloudbreak. "But once it's over six feet it thins out real quick -- and everyone was super cool in the water on the smaller days anyhow." Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

This is where you can hear the dudes in the boats, yelling. "Paddle!" Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com

Here's Kelly putting his own advice to good use: "Dodge the bombs and get the ones that look like closeouts that don't close out." (Though if this wasn't a bomb, not sure we'd want to be around when one came in.) Photo: Scott Winer/islandsog.com