Surf Snapper in the morning, have a rinse off under a waterfall in the Goldie Hinterland afterwards. I bet you didn’t know that just up the hill from The Gold Coast there are mountains full of rainforest delights. I didn’t… It’s so lush up here, around Tamborine. Much cooler weather than the coast. The forest […]

They’ve had an excellent run of swell up here on the Gold Coast. That enormous mongrel swell didn’t get as big as we all thought, but the sheltered points have been providing joy to waveriders all over this north coast. Everybody surfs here. Even when the sun is far from rising, the points are loaded […]

I’m on the Goldie! The first local I chatted with said “Don’t go outside, it’s freezing” (he was wearing a singlet and thongs). It confused me. I checked my phone – 23 degrees and perfectly sunny outside. I thought he must have meant the water, which is also 23 degrees…ah, these Queenslanders have it good […]

I’ve realised you guys really like your Moons and Dolphins. Now I just need to somehow combine the two with a single shot of Dolphins jumping over a full Moon. That’ll break the internet. Working on it… It’s been a fantastic week of natural wonders around here. I’ve been shooting a lot, filling up the […]

The 8 am Dolphin Bondi show was cancelled, not a Flipper in sight at sunrise. It was amusing how many people came down in the hope to see another Dolphin festival – doesn’t happen every day aye…I’m down there every day. This morning was quite unusual. Hear me out. In the south end, we had […]

These photos from sunrise could break the internet…what a special kinda morning as the Annual Dolphin Convention gathers at South Bondi. Every direction I looked, I could see dolphins frolicking amongst the surfers. Rarely do you see so many for so long! Remember these shots from Tamarama last year, as we were locking down for […]

It was a beautiful, semi-dark, ultra glass morning down at Bondi. It was eerily quiet – where was everyone? Barely anyone surfing, swimming or exercising. Very rare to see the beach like that in our neck of the woods. A small left nugget was randomly popping up at south, with just a couple of groms […]

I’m back! Back from the Whitsundays and on the tools. Not much phone reception and bad weather up north means you didn’t receive your regular daily dose from Aquabumps. Sorry about that. Small now – bigger later. A south storm has arrived in Sydney, bringing swell, onshores and showers. A good day to pump out […]

I’m in the dreamy Whitsundays, land of the white sandy beaches and coral reefs. 74 islands hang 55 kilometres off the Queensland coast, inside the Great Barrier Reef. The best way to see the archipelago is definitely by boat weaving in and out of the islands, hiding from the wind. It kinda reminds me a […]

In Autumn, the light is cleaner, a purer form of golden goodness. There’s no morning humid haze, and the beach scenes appear crisper. Typically we get a lot of offshore westerly breeze at this time of year – they help, a lot, blowing any gunky air out to sea. When the light is velvety, rich, […]

We’ve lost out banks but there’s plenty of swell. Yep, unfortunately, those blissful sandbanks of the past few weeks have finally eroded and shifted elsewhere. Even with the overnight swell leap, waves were breaking randomly at Bondi – around head high. It was offshore, so hopefully as the day progresses it will groom and improve. […]

The onshore was in early and we have a renewed South East swell in town. If you were up early you would have enjoyed the cleaner, SW offshore conditions (which were short-lived). I saw waves well above head high from Bronte to Bondi. Not many people out as it appeared junkie. It’s one of those […]

It was a very moody, temperamental kind of beach morning. It wasn’t obvious how it was going to unfold. Around 6 am it was raining, just sprinkling. Around 6:30 am, there’s a glimpse of light under the curtain; north-facing beaches would have seen more – and northern beaches would have looked glamourous. South facing Bondi […]

There is lots of swell, lots of good times and lots to talk about. Let’s dive right in. It’s our 4th day of solid East swell; what a plentiful supply!  I would expect waves at most Sydneys beaches as the favourable morning wind WNW grooms those swell lines. It’s 3-4 foot at Bondi, a tad […]

It’s a kinda bizarre day out there. Very moody – sunny and warm one second – raining the next. I’ve been down a couple of times to shoot and returned with wet gear. The swell has erupted and South Bondi is being pounded by 6-8 footers. The North end is the go with rideable protected […]

I woke to horizontal rain and howling southerlies. Oh man, it’s wild out there – not great for photography! You’ll find your rubbish bins and bbq lids down the street. We’ve even got an Eastern Suburbs COVID case roaming all of Sydney’s BBQ shops – hope you got your BBQ mate! @Bondi waves are now […]

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes I hit snooze on the alarm. Today was that day. The pitter-patter of sunrise rain reassured me I wasn’t missing out on much down the beach. There’s little swell about…but it’s brewing. Friday is the Bondi Surfaid Cup – and it will be Waimea Bay style! I’m talking bigger than […]

There are no waves today. My little boy paddled in complaining the ocean was lifeless this morning (keep in mind he only weighs 28 kilos and can rip 6-inch chop). Swell is coming, and so is the rain.It will rain for days… Bondi has a great local community, especially in the mornings. Most people think […]

It’s gone small, finally, after weeks and weeks of good waves. We’ve been getting waves even when the swell charts have been calling tiny. Give the shoulders a rest, as it’s not surfable today. (sub 1 footers) It’s an exquisite Autumn sunny day – lap it up kids – rain coming for the rest of […]

It’s still breaking, yeah, ah-huh, but smaller than yesterday. An excellent run of surfable days with light winds. Dreamy. Maybe this makes up for 2020 – where a wave didn’t break at South Bondi for 6 !@#!$ months! 6 months! 2 months of which we had a damn fence around a closed beach. So this […]

With such comfortable morning conditions, it’s hard not to go for a swim with my camera instead of shooting from the land. The water is so clear, so warm. The vibe was very positive and busy! Waist to chest high waves continue to break on multiple banks along Bondi. The crowd is hectic, not for […]

How’d you go with the super moon, get the shot? Loads of people down at Bondi for it. Heaps. Today: The waves are slowing, but the sunshine is baking. What a beautiful morning down at Bondi. Warm conditions with small waist to chest high waves. Perfect for beginners, groms and frothers with not much work […]

Hey hey!  It’s just like yesterday, but bigger. We’ve had an excellent run of weather and waves over the past couple of weeks. The water remains a very comfortable 22ish degrees…the Gold Coast was 25 on the weekend! The swell is on the decline and will get smaller for the rest of the week. There’s […]

Autumn, ah yes, some say the best time of the year. I tend to agree. The water is still warm; the winds are calm, sunshine is in abundance and plenty of swell. It’s a little chilly when you wake, but find the sun, and you’ll be right. I saw some sets around head high this […]

I’m in the land of the Castlemaine four-ex, the sunny Gold Coast of Queensland. Yes, I caught a plane! Borders open! It’s a glorious autumn’s day up here, barely a wave on offer. D-bah is about the only place that’s surfable and all the points are like a lake. My boys have been dreaming of […]

Last night there was a little spike of swell which has continued into the morning. It’s a short period bump, so it will not hang around, but there were some very fun head high waves at sunrise. I’d expect the waves to decline rapidly as the day progresses. Tomorrow will be tiny. The Autumn sunshine […]

It’s no secret; we’ve had an incredible 5-day run of excellent surf at Bondi (whilst I’ve been dashing across to the WSL comp at Narrabeen). Day after day, multiple banks have been lighting up – which is rare for our 900 metres of south-facing sand.  Today the good times have ended, the disruptive onshores are here and […]

I swam the Narrabeen WSL comp area at sunrise, and I liked what I saw! It was uber clean with barely a breath of wind, and the swell has gone a bit East, making it break better than other days – more consistent. It’s still only 2-3 foot but there’s plenty of waves at sunrise. […]

As the world tour rolls into town, we get a glimpse into what high-performance surfing looks like, on our dribbly Sydney beach breaks. Watch Narrabeen has sand, the river mouth is open, but the south swell direction doesn’t favour the famous lefts and puts on a very short, semi-close right. It’s small, but the worlds […]

You’ve probably figured by now, due to the lack of Aquabumps updates, I’m taking some time off during the school holidays. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen my holiday outtakes – my mini tykes dropping into crystallines – they’ve loving surfing – phew, what a relief! I also visited Newcastle and […]

I hope you got a surf in this morning, before the onshore. It was on the cook! My shots may not reflect what I saw, as I spent a lot of the morning dodging rainstorms (or waiting for light), but there are some good times out there. Unfortunately, around 10:30 am, the southerly has come […]

Bondi was a little uninspiring this morning, photographically that is. Check out this IG story timelapse, it shows me sitting around waiting for it to go full-bloom pinks – as it looked to have potential around 6:30 am – before going all 50 shades of grey on me around 7:10 am. The surf was junkie, […]

It was a comfortable morning with a very late sunrise. If you’re wondering, we lose daylight saving hour this Sunday, 4th April, at 3:00 am. So for those early risers, you will get your hour back before work, next week. There were small waves on multiple banks this morning – waist to chest high. It’s […]

All that recent rain has created some strange coloured ocean water in NSW. It’s currently an unattractive green-brown colour – stained from all the muddy river outflows along this state’s coast. Just imagine how much water has been flowing from the land out to sea this week – incredible. Warragamba Dam alone spewed out the […]

I’m a beach guy, so what am I doing in the big smoke? Lost? Haha. Yep, today is all in reverse as I woke in the city, watching the pinks blaze over the Sydney Opera House. What a cracker morning to be in Sydney – warm, windless, rainless and very good looking. Sydney’s an awesome […]

I muffed up this morning. I think I got too excited about clear skies and blanket sunshine. I swam out at South Bondi at sunrise with some new gear, got sucked out to New Zealand in the most aggressive rip I’ve seen in a long time, and spent most of my morning trying to get […]

I don’t wanna make a big deal of it, but this week Aquabumps celebrates 22 years of existence. So you’re thinking, I started this website when I was ten years old? Correct. For those that don’t know the journey, I was a frustrated creative director/office jockey – spending all day in CBD office boardrooms dreaming […]

NSW has been hit with a prolonged storm weather event – and it’ll continue for a couple of days. Unfortunately, we’ve got flash flooding, houses going downstream, damns overflowing, evacuations, school closures, road closures…it’s crazy. Thoughts go out to all the communities that have been cut off, lost homes and overwhelmed by the rain. Some […]

MMMMM, don’t ya just love it, howling onshore dark mornings at Bondi? Autumn is typically a surfers paradise with grooming offshores and fresh southerly swells – nah not this Autumn. There are waves in the 3-4 foot range (no one out), but that nemesis East wind has gotta go. It’s rattling all of us, even […]

You probably missed today’s decent sunrise colours – it was quick, blink and you’d miss it. The storm/rain clouds dominated the morning, and now we’ve got pouring rain for a while. Settle in, get some work done, be production – rack up the brownie points. Today’s pictorial adventure depicts one sunrise shot from today; the rest […]