Plated in gold, North Bondi was a hive of activity

Bustling Bondi

Bondi was very active this morning. Everywhere I looked, lots of humans!

Whilst waves are breaking, they’re of inferior quality and shape. Onshore, wrong tides (at sunrise) and a weak period made for a great day to swim – not surf. The water is unbelievably warm.

Bondi Goss:
I’m always around Bondi – people tell me stuff, and stuff happens (a lot) in Bondi. I saw supermodel Elle Mcpherson digging into a Funky Vegetarian Pie yesterday (next to Bondi Tonys). After the lifeguards clocked off last night (7:30pm), four people tried to swim in the rip at the South, got sucked out, nearly drowned and were rescued by lifesavers and off-duty lifeguards. I understand one needed CPR (yes, that was all the sirens last night) – they’re all fine and recovering now. I heard that Belle’s Chicken opened but shut soon after due to water damage during the December rains. They’ve been closed for weeks in peak season – ouch! Guzman N Gomez is opening in the old Drake spot. There’s a pretty cool street art installation on Chambers Ave. by artist Greg Perano – it’s ebikes and wooden humans – go to Vinnie’s shop on Hall and turn down the street.

Hey, can you help me grow my mailing list? C’mon. The algorithms of social media make it hard to connect with your audience – joining my list means we’re ALWAYS connected. It’s a 25-year-old list, with thousands on it – so I’m not gonna sp*amm ya! JOIN FRIENDS

As you were.

:: uge

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Not much light, 6:30am Bondi Beach today

Muggy

After a warm night in Sydney (26 degrees @ midnight) we’ve woken to showers, greydom and 1-2 footers. The surf wasn’t too exciting; the incoming tide could bring more size. We have 19 knots of southerly, and the tide is still rising until 11:40 am. It looks very mushy. The beach was pretty quiet, many […]
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Jetty, all fired up this morning. Bondi 7:15am

Back in the hood!

Bondi’s an intense joint, so I love stepping away from it for a few weeks over the summer. I put the cameras & phones away and then focus on my forehand grinds (and family time). As of today – I AM BACK. Fresh eyes on a familiar subject, crazy Bondi. My 25th year. What a […]
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Friday's at North Bondi

Happy holidays

It’s great to see the sunshine and swell hitting Bondi this morning. Waves are large but breaking quite straight. I scored it 3 out of 10 – towards the middle looked the best. Christmas is an interesting time of year; all the Bondi locals disappear, and global tourism takes over. So many of my friends […]
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Hopefully the bad weather clears and we get back to this

Laydays

It’s a very unimpressive day outside in Sydney. Rain dominates the landscape; weirdly, I’m wearing a jumper in summer. The beach looked deserted with small waves under a southerly siege. Unfortunately, Christmas Day looks to be similar to today’s weather setup. I’ve shot a lot recently, and here are some recent images that have not […]
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My favourite swim spot

Niugini 

Our time in Papua New Guinea (Niugini in Pidgin) was short but full – we saw a lot. Australia has a significant presence and is a big part of PNG’s history, administering the territory from 1914 until its independence in 1975. It is a country so close to Australia that people have jet-skied to it […]
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I used to draw waves like this on my school books.

Chocolate Slabs

I did little research before coming out to remote Papua New Guinea for a surf mission. Actually, I did try, but there’s not much information on the place. The swell forecast charts showed endless days of 0.5m (knee-high waves), so I presumed we’d be fishing or snorkelling for most of our time. I was pretty […]
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Paradise, New Ireland region, PNG

Idyllic

The surf has been a little fickle, so we’ve relocated to an idyllic part of the New Ireland island chain. Very remote, very blue and an ocean full of life. It’s like one giant swimming pool. Every time we hit the water, the kids from the local village race out in their canoes. We could […]
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Tommy Mackay, finding jungle tubes, in remote PNG

Pee-N-Gee

We’ve arrived at one of our neighbouring nations, Papua New Guinea. A place I’ve not been before but keen to explore. We’re up very north, hunting swells amongst the northern monsoon. It’s raining a lot here, and oh boy, it can bucket. It’s not famous for surfing in PNG, so there are no crowds – […]
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Fraser-D getting nasally, Mid-Bondi bank, 6:40am

Friday Swims

It is heating up and only getting hotter. You’ve all heard tomorrow is going to be a steamy 39. These warm mornings are conducive to ocean interaction – and Bondi is the capital of that! Swimming, surfing or lazing on the beach – it was all happening down at Bondi from first light. It’s only […]
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Morning rush hour, Bondi style 6:10am

Nugg Farm

Yesterday’s gale has subsided, and clean conditions prevail. Bondi had a few peaks in operation, but I favoured a little left-rip bowl, throwing out the odd 1-foot nugget. It was a glorious morning with mostly clear skies. Twenty-eight degrees forecasted, and it will only get hotter – Saturday will be a steamer at thirty eight! […]
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At Bondi, there's so many different groups

Groups

Twenty-two knots of southerly diminished your hopes for an early surf. It’s one of those rare Bondi days that it’s UN-surfable. After a warm 23-degree night, there was plenty of activity at sunrise – regardless of the surf conditions. There are groups of people doing stuff everywhere! It will be offshore tomorrow morning; that sounds […]
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Is J.O.B in town?

The Skanky Port

A port is a part of my water housing that allows me to shoot in the brine. You have different ports to match your lenses. Over the years, I’ve shot with dozens of lenses whilst swimming. Today, I swam out with an old port from the back of the cupboard, and it had all kinds […]
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