Howdy. Mighty fine grey, wet, onshore morning out there. In between rain squalls I ducked down to survey the surf conditions – D I R E. Absolutely forget about it. In fact, this week looks pretty average for surfing. You’ll be very productive for the next 5 days at work for sure. Design For Humanity […]

Crazy morning, everyone and I mean everyone was out – pros, beginners, groms, knee boarders, body boarders, dudes in helmets, stand ups, swimmers and lame photographers frolicked in the line-up. The first spark of good weather and it’s a free for all…welcome to Freedom Town…go right on lefts, drop in on 10 of your buddies […]

Things are changing, the water is a degree warmer, the car parks are full at sunrise and the swell radar has a lot of noughts on it. Good bye rogue winter swells, hello sunshine. Pack the performance boards away and bring out the four-finned, short’n’fat sled. Grovel time. It’s going to get warm tomorrow (25) […]

I was up a little later than usual and swam with my camera today. Think I missed a fruity sunrise. Rips at Bondi were on turbo (even though it was small)…especially the bank near the guard tower – wow, need a nap under my desk now! Small 2 footers with infrequent 3 footer sets. Nothing […]

Yesterday’s good waves and sunshine are now a distant memory as a southerly rain storm has rolled into town. 2 guys paddled out at Bondi – Will Ranken and Phil Geurs but they returned to the beach after 1 wave – that says it all, those regulars will surf anything (Man grommets). Do something else […]

I love these mornings. Crisp morning light with a consistent south swell and not many crew around as it’s a school day. The sun now rises well out to sea in its summer position creating green, backlit walls. It’s a sweet mix between warm in the sun, chilly in the shade. Summer is close. After […]

You might be looking out your window now thinking it’s grey, gloomy and wet…but at 6:00am it was a different story. Before the storm was a spectacular sunrise full of colour, calm conditions and small dribbly surf. Tama + Bronte had a small weak wave (2ft), nothing worth pursuing. Bondi was even smaller, 1 footers […]

Hi. Nice morning again with moments of sunshine and warmer temperatures. Plenty out enjoying a hint of summer. Bondi was a sorry 1 foot grovel so a short spin to the Bra was probably the best option. The onshore NE winds down there made a mess of things though…at least it was bigger – and […]

I know I should have driven elsewhere. The east swell was dropping and south facing Bondi was neglecting the source. I could only salvage 1-2 footers on low tide banks down Bondeye. I’d think it would be 2-3 foot at exposed beaches, and definitely cleaner today as the winds backed down. It’s been a bit […]

Shooting good images on a day like today can be a little tricky. There’s barely any light and most photos turn to a wash of grey. Morning rain isn’t the best shutter lubricant either. Most waves I saw this morning closed out before anyone could get to their feet. Shame, ‘cause there is plenty of […]

When the regulars are still in the cot or fiddling with their car radios in the parking lot you know the surf is bad. Even though there is swell from the east, a nemesis onshore breeze is making mince of anything decent rolling in. Pass. Wind’s gonna blow NE 15-20 knots later today – will […]

The swell direction has switched after that south change yesterday afternoon. The ocean looks a little confused, bumpy and lumpy. I reckon the dregs of that east swell is to blame. Should clean up as the day progresses (but the east wind is due mid-afternoon). 2-3 footers out there right now. Weather looks to be […]

Went down from my lil’ dawdle and was surprised to find rideable 2 footers…ok, maybe 1 or 2 were a tad bigger. It’s lacking omfff but the sunshine was out early making for inviting conditions. To go or to not go? Go! (but maybe take a large wave riding craft) The ’morrow will be bigger […]

Spend a week in the concrete jungle of Singapore and you really appreciate how lucky we are to live so close to a decent beach – with waves. This morning the NE swell is in Sydney and breaking around 2 foot at Bondi. Looked very weak and flimsy, but rideable if keen (or if been […]

Hola. I am not in Sydney at the moment but my spies on the ground tell me there is a NE swell in town, junkie, and getting into Bondi at 2-3 foot. They say it’s ok for a paddle at sunrise in the fog, best to go early before the wind picks up from the […]

Ok ok, time for me to ‘fess up. I’m thousands of kilometres from Bondi this morning so I have no fancy imagery taken of the current conditions. I bet it was the best sunrise in 20 years and cranking. My prediction is it’s around 2-3 foot, from the south and will be some fun – […]

The cold front has passed as the sun has returned after a brief fling with a thunderstorm. Swell is up, wind is slight offshore and 3 footers are on the loose…get out there and score your very own close out. I am sure there’s one with your name on it. I’d go now before the […]

It’s quite confusing what to wear these mornings (and I’m not talking key pieces here)…it’s stinkin’ hot one morning and then chilly the next. A south change has arrived bringing onshore cooler winds, 3-4 foot south swell and clouds. Have a onshore surf at Bondi with not many around or wait until this wind fades […]

What a nice morning. Cooking with warm temps early. Every man and his lycra was out doing something at sunrise this morning – hard to sleep in with all this early morning sunlight. Surfing wasn’t too high on the priorities this morning as waves dribble in at 1 foot. Perfect if you’re new to the […]

Bondi makes me laugh… At the first hint of warm weather the summer circus begins. Yesterday the beach was PACKED (with waves). The crowds brought traffic jams, parking rage, spinning rims and doof doof. This morning was no different. At sunrise a stretched hummer full of bikini clad girls pour out for a ‘Hooters’ photo […]

Oh my, what a day. The sun is blaring and a new south swell is providing the goods @ 3-4 foot. Offshore all day (with variations of westerlies)…sound good eh? BUT Bondi just can’t handle most of the waves coming through and badly requires a decent bank – so many closeouts rolling in – shame. […]

I am back from my 4 week sabbatical and pleased to find 3-4 footers down at Bondi. Yeah it was a little bumpy, dumpy and random but highly surfable and very few out. So I’ve been hearing ALL about the past 2 weeks of south swell madness. How fortunate for you. Hope you’ve scored your […]

Maruhabaa. Looks like you’ve had some chunky south swell over the weekend in Sydney. Nice. It sounds like it wasn’t the gold-plated swell of the year though (as originally predicted). Fortunately there will be waves for most of this week as the south swell supply continues. The onshore winds may be a problem some days, […]

What if I told you there is an island, a very small island that you can walk around in 7 minutes which has the most perfect beaches in the world surrounded by clear, crystal blue, salubrious 26 degree water? Would you believe me? Well this must be what heaven is like…it’s called the island of […]

Hiya. A delayed flight meant a couple of hours to kill and thought I’d pump out a update from the island paradise of Bali. Haven’t been shooting much as I’m having a break but there were a few big sets at Uluwatu on the weekend worth raving about. Friday/Saturday saw a spike in swell at […]

With Uge away on a well deserved break, he asked me to throw a few pics together that paint a picture of Bondi from my perspective.  Trolling through my archives looking for Bondi shots, I realised one thing, it’s nothing but good times!  Wow… what a place to live, city bordering, coastal village, party town […]

Hi there. We haven’t spoken in a while so I thought I’d drop a little report in from Bali mid sabbatical. Bali-is-a-changing (fast). I was only here 6 months ago and some of the streets in Seminyak look totally different. New cafés, shops sprouting up everywhere…scores of Europeans enjoying the busy season. There is also […]

We know you’ve all been missing Uge’s regular emails, so we thought we’d select a few of our favourites from the gallery to give you a well deserved 2 minute holiday. Here are some of my favourites. People often ask what it’s like working at Aquabumps – well, I am surrounded by beautiful images, I […]

The clouds stole the show this morning… Wow, what an amazing winter’s morning. At 6 a.m. I woke with pink hues pasted on the side of my face – it’s orrrrn! 2 seconds later I made the mad scrambled down the lift in jocks, double parked with lenses rolling around at my feet. I only […]

Surfing should be a really low priority for you today, as the week of flatness continues. The wind has icy claws and is currently blowing 20-30 knots (strong). Put the boards away until the weekend. I hung around Bronte pool this morning and watched all the locals performing their morning rituals, some swimming, some just […]

Like most of this week there isn’t a great deal going down at the moment. Today is probably even smaller and straighter that yesterday. Until the weekend you won’t be surfing a great deal…nice morning though. Go for a walk or join the polar bears in a swim. It’s 15.6 degrees in the Icebergs pool. […]

I bet you didn’t think there was going to be waves this morning after checking the swell charts last night. Well, there is. Small ones from time to time dribbling into the bay (2 footers). Now I’m not saying its pumping nor should you drop your pencils and dash out the office…but if you find […]

I didn’t quite know what to expect down the beach this morning. I was leaning more to the pessimistic side as I couldn’t see much water moving from my bedroom window at 6:20am. After spending 5 mins on the cold sand, Jono (one of the regulars) took off, pulled into a snug barrel, flew out […]

Ah yes….just one of those dayz…. The ocean is on idle whilst the sun is on overdrive. A sun soaked morning with 0.5 foot dribbles. Sometimes, from no where a 2 foot set arrives but that would be every 15-20 mins (extreme patience required). I’d say a swim is in order, yes, a dip and […]

What a freaky morning. It’s warm, like spring and heading towards 23 degrees. Also the swell has evaporated overnight. What a drop huh, from 3-4 foot to ankle biters in 24 hours. Winds are NW, typical of a summery day but it’s going to howl 30 knots later. I’m a photographer not a criminal Ken […]

Couldn’t sleep so was wondering around Bondi really early this morning. Good thing there was a cracker of a sunrise with some interesting cloud formations – the type of clouds that warn rain later tonight. Waves were up but suffering under the low tide. Paddle, take off, bottom turn, maybe 1 turn before the whole […]

Love winter. It’s the best time around here. Bondi is half empty and you can even find a car park on Hall Street (from time to time). Winter also brings swell, mostly from the south and we’re facing the right direction to greet it. Yesterday’s dwindling swell has been replace by, yep, yet again, another […]

I was surprised to see a little left wedge puttin’ on some fun rides down at Bondi this morning. It’s the leftovers from that booming south swell that hit last Friday…. today is very surfable considering the charts said it was going to be flat…but then again those same charts said it was going to […]

The swell has come up and surpassed all of our expectations – it’s huge! Seeing it’s coming from the dead south Bondi is wearing the full brunt of this new ground swell. I saw sets up in the 8-9 foot range closing out the whole bay. Quite exciting really. I love how big waves stop […]

Bit like a Britney Spears one hit wonder, the swell came and gone within 24hrs. Yesterday afternoon was smoking. Smoking. Around 2pm I drove around the eastern suburbs beaches and swell was stacked up to the horizon, breaking clean in offshore winds….ah yes… hell the sunshine was even out. Hope you managed to get out […]