Southerly is about to hit!

ELEVEN

Hard to believe it but Aquabumps turns 11 this week. Yep. 11!

Bit freaky really, can’t believe that many digits have passed and the audience has grown and grown and grown.

Don’t worry, I am not going to get all emotional nor are we throwing a huge party like we did a few years ago – just a BIG thanks for reading this thing, it’s been a nice little journey turning it into something bigger than I ever dreamed of. Loads of people come into the gallery and say they’ve been reading this daily email for 8-9 years…impressive, puttin’ up with all those typos and all.

When I check into my Google analytics I am amazed at what countries follow Aquabumps…name a country and there are subscribers (e.g. Poland/Russia). Anyway…post a comment up here if you feel like it, tell us where you are from, or why you check in here regularly.

Back to waves – it was a bit disappointing all weekend without swell…waves finally arrived today and the southerly is on it putting the wobble on those faces. Bondi had sets 3-4 foot with barely anyone out at all…good day to go for a paddle.

Impressive sunset at North Bondi last night. Amazing colours as the skies filled with storm clouds that brought the howling winds last night. The bbq lid is probably in the neighbour’s yard again.

Seeya, :: Uge

Amazing sunset last night

Will Whitaker, man grommet No.1

Mid bondi peak looked the best

Bruce Stafford, Man grommet No.2

68 thoughts on “ELEVEN

  1. Hey Uge, great site. I wanted to advise heaps of my mates in South Africa follow your updates as they are all keen surfers and beach-goers and often check it out to see how I am styling most days at the beach. They also love your photography and concept. Not quite sure it can be replicated in SA, maybe J-Bay in winter and Kommetijie..

    Cheers

    Will

  2. Hi Uge
    Congratulations on 11 years.
    Your daily report I always look forward to as if I can’t make it to the beach everyday at least I get my saltwater fix. The site is very well done and the photos great.
    Keep it going.
    Cheers
    Miles

  3. Good Job Mate – In Sydney over Easter with the lady. We will have to pop in and check the gallery out.

    Congrats.
    Pilko

  4. Way to go UGE, you’re a teenager – might have to let you catch a set wave off the peak now.
    Keep up the great work brah.

    h

  5. happy birthday, uge! Aquabumps is a wonderful creation that the world loves (clearly).

    Love your North Bondi pool photo.

  6. Hey Uge, fantastic site!

    We absoultely love it and to be honest, it’s a bit of a morning ritual to check your site while having my morning cofee …

    I’ve sent the link to few of my friends from Slovakia…

    Keep up to a great work… and thanks for sharing amazing atmosphere and Bondi lifestyle with us.

    Katarina

  7. I was put onto this site about 5 years ago by a colleague at work…long way from W.A. but remember Bondi and Nthn beaches from a brief stint in Emerald City. Great to check the waves in the morning whether I have gone out for an early or not and really good resolution photos on your website, cheers, Dave R

    PS Thanx for tip about Lembongan, took my board and surfed 3 breaks, stoked 😉

  8. Congrats Uge…..we still have the sunrise shot from 24/2/2004 we bought from you to celebrate our daughter’s birth….cracker shot. Back then there was no gallery and I collected it from you in the city.
    Thanks for the escape everyday.

    MJ

  9. i grew up at Bondi and now live in Las Vegas

    I check out your email daily Thank you for taking me home everyday!

  10. I get your email everyday.
    Its a highlight.
    Fantastic photos of our fantastic coast.
    I’ve sent the link to my mother-in-law in the US.
    Congratulations on reaching 15.
    keep going.
    thank you

  11. Hey Uge,

    Nice work on turning 11, great to see the image standard just keeps getting better. As a fellow photog I know how hard it can be to keep up the inspiration factor! Hey, I believe you’re a mate of SD (Sergio)? Two degrees of separation there mate, we went to school together in Perth all those years ago (Willeton SHS).

    Keep the awesome work coming mate!

  12. Hey Uge, I live in Hong Kong and about this time morning stare at your pics for about 10 minutes remembering how much i miss the surf. It’s torture!
    Congrats, Matt.

  13. Well done mate. Keep up the great work, you are a legend of the modern game.

    Incidently, my better half is an avid photographer and she has started doing a lot of underwater photography. She often gets me to critique her work which is nice but what would I know? The only advice I ever pass on is ‘well what would Uge say?”

  14. Hey Uge,
    I moved from Bondi-Tama a tic over 5 years ago. Your emails have served as daily reminder of a great 10 years in Bondi. It is however a two sided sword, would love to be back there but also great to know the place is still there and it’s business as usual.
    Congrats on the 11 year mark.. Dont worry about those typo’s, just keep on “clicking”. I am waiting to hit the store to pick up a print, managed to score several gift vouchers at x-mas so looking forward to doing that soon!
    Rupes

  15. Awesome work bro! Is My last year in the hood and The bumps will be the best way to be in touch with some awesome surfin times! looking forward for another decade of aquabumps
    Peace and feliz cumpleaños !

  16. Well done Uge,
    Stylemaster in the surf and in your artistic craft!
    Great site, great gallery!
    Look forward (hopefully) to the book.

  17. Stumbled across your site a few years back after a write up in a local paper – originally from Sydney but now living on Norfolk Island. It is the highlight of my day waiting for your email to arrive in my Inbox. Can’t say enough about the amazing photos and the daily write up. Thanks for keeping so many of us in touch with the ocean while at work – it’s a great distraction! Congratulations on 11 years – keep it happenin!

  18. Well done mate!
    Only a recent subsciber myself, started an office job 2 months ago and it’s been painful to drag myself away from bondi each day so this is my escape. By the time I sit down at my desk each morning I’m already looking forward to the latest snaps later that arvo!

    Thanks heaps for keeping me sane,

    cheers,
    nick

  19. Checking in from Western Massachusetts in the US at the moment. Lived in Manly for the past six years, but am visiting family (dual citizen) and looking to do some traveling now.

    Love your work, Uge. Keeps me motivated and pining for a peak.

    G

  20. Top site – don’t get in the water nearly enough (at least for a surf) since our wonderful girls have arrived but the ‘bumps’ keep the juices flowing and are an oasis for the imagination to go to when in the office. Our overseas visitors get your shots regularly to remind them of their time in bondi and how lucky we are to live here. Hope you are here for at least another 11.

  21. Happy 11 Big Ones for the Bumps Uge.
    It’s part of my daily mediation to see your great pics. This pack are all mucho envious of your day gig too!…and yep, link has been pushed thru to some far off places, so keep it groovin!

  22. Congrats on 11 years, Uge.
    It’s a great site, and great photography.
    Makes a day in the office much more interesting and enjoyable (apart from when it’s pumping and I’m at my desk).

  23. Bumped into you in the Mentawais and been following your site since. Some great images and some interesting processing. Definitely a fan from SA

  24. Happy 11th!
    A northern beaches girl, i live for the photos.
    Only getting to them in the early evening, it inspires me to get up early and run to the beach before the chaos of the day begins.
    Keep them coming.

  25. congrats on 11 years!!!
    i check your newsletter each morning and i’m always mightly impressed!!!
    GREAT JOB!!!
    regards from germany

  26. Hey Uge, big happy birthday, well done a fab way to start the day… I’m hooked …

    Excellent photography … keep up the good work …

    later Jimmie

  27. I am from Barcelona but I am currently in Switzerland. I lived in Sydney for 2 years and since I left, I ‘ve been receiving your Aquabumps every day. It is great. It keeps a bit of myself in Sydney. I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!!

  28. Hey mate, thanks for all the great shots.
    I was turned on to your site by a Bondi girl about 5 years ago on holidays. I am originally from San Diego, California, but now living in Lyon France, far from the waves (really miss the before/after work sessions), and these emails keep me going between surf trips. Looking forward to another 11 years.

  29. Reading your daily report from Monza – Italy! I’ve been 9 months in sydney and still i’m reading it every day!

    Every day beautiful pictures from the place that I loved a lot! The memories are merging with the desire to come back.

    Keep rocking,
    Fabian

  30. from where?
    berlin/ germany
    why?
    cause its kinda nice to check the mails in winter here and see thats somewhere its summer.

    keep on!!

  31. Happy birthday aquabumps! I love getting the email everyday here in landlocked Madrid, even though it makes me insanely jealous in the cold, dark heart of a european winter. But at least when I talk to my surfer dad I can talk about what the swell is doing back home!

    One day when I have my own place I´ll buy a print, but the problem will be choosing from the thousands of brilliant shots. Every day there is something wall-worthy.

    By the way I am actually impressed at the lack of typos.
    Cheers!

  32. Hi

    I live in the North East of England. My son and his girlfiend live in North Bondi – he surfs and I log on to your site every morning in the hope that he is in a photo – which he was about 2 months ago! It also makes me feel closer to him as I can see his flat on most of the pics. I visited your gallery last year and bought two fantastic prints which have helped see me through the long dark winter months here. Keep up the good work.

    Yvonne

  33. Hi!
    Im from Norway and I stayed in Bondi a few years ago and started surfing there.. Now i work as a surf instructor both in Portugal and Brazil so i`ll give a big thnx to Bondi and the waves there for giving me so much!
    Always droppin in on the aguabumps page to check how old bondi is doing and i really love your work Uge! Keep it up!

    Lars

  34. Wow! 11 years!

    I bet you wish you were still sweating it out in some interactive agency building sites all day instead of the life you lead now?… NOT!

    You really craft a beautiful pic and I thank you for generously sharing them with us.

    Love the surf stoke on your man grommies!

    a la prochaine fois au ‘Bra

  35. hey Uge,

    Congratulations on turning 11 !!!! Great work!
    I’m checking your side every day since i have spend some weeks working and living at Bondi, it is the best place on earth! My big dream for this year will be to go back to Sydney, visit your gallery and bye one of your photographs! and of course surf a lot down there!
    Keep up the great work!
    Greetings from Munich/Germany!

  36. Hey Congrats on 11 years . I ‘m Local Bondi girl living in Hamburg and miss so much Bondi every morning so this is the next best thing although it does make me miss home. Its great to see photos of my mates surfing, Hey Bruce !

    Thanks again for all your spectacular photos! Emma

  37. Been with you for about 10 of those Uge. Aquabumps keeps me sane, in a ‘Bondi’ kind of way. Thanks

  38. I’ve been living in New Orleans for 17 years, but Oz is still home. And of all the places I love in Oz, Bondi has my heart. I don’t get back often enough, but I can visit every morning thanks to you Uge. Keep up the excellent work, mate.

  39. 11 years. Wow. Happy bday ‘bumps!
    Althought I’ve only been following for the last 3, I reguarly go back into the archives and look at previous years (all the great things I do apart from homework)

    needless to say the pics are amazing uge, not only that but the whole concept of it.
    The year is early, I’m sure you’ve got something amazin planned

    so congrats!
    might seeyou tomorrow bro

  40. Eleven years of great work which has gone from strength to strength with time. I live at Tama (would like more of this beach) and enjoy your photos of the sunrises, the scenery and the surfing world around this beautiful part of the world captured by amazing photography. Well done and please keep it up. The text is informative and well written also.
    Loz Davo

  41. Hey Uge,

    I lived in Coogee for 5 months while I was on exchange from the states. I ran to Bondi every morning on the Ocean path and always stopped to watch the surfers…the daily email I get from Aquabumps takes me back to those beautiful mornings. Happy birthday, can’t wait to see what else Aquabumps has in store!

  42. Jeremy here from Washington, DC. Been following the site since I studied abroad in Sydney back in 2004. Good work! If only I could make it back to Bondi now that I can actually afford to buy one of the pictures!

  43. Uge,
    Congratulations on eleven years. My best boyhood memories involve life near the ocean: surfing, free diving, the beach. I moved to Las Vegas forty years ago. It’s a great place for triathlon and other fitness activities. But the blue water still pulls me. Your daily post is a powerful connection to a great venue and great people. I feel like I could move into Bondi, take a swim at Icebergs, and cruise over to the gallery. Your practice is an opus. Thank you. Z.

  44. Hello Uge, I found your site in June 2000. I was searhing for wave reports and stumbled on your report.
    It has been a part of evening almost everyday. I have always wanted to surf in your part of the world. Your report let me tale a mini mental vacation.

    THANKS…and….CONGRATS.. from Arizona, USA

  45. Congrats Aquabumps on turning 11!!!!
    I am originally from North Bondi and now live and work in London ( unfortunately ). Love your site and I was very happy with the purchase from the gallery over Christmas when I was over on hols.
    Keep up the good work and thanks for the beautiful pics every morning that I get to see before I start work.

  46. Congrats Uge!

    I’ve been receiving your email for about eights years now after spending some time in Sydney whilst traveling through Oz after uni back home in the UK – I vowed I would return one day and finally did two years ago. We now live in the valley of Bondi and have one of your panoramics hanging in our pad and I get to surf everyday – thanks for reminding me of what I was working towards.

    Cheers and keep up the good work!

  47. Thx to you, i can stil keep in touch with bondi where i ve been for only couple of month.it s really Nice to see everyday some fotos and feel I ll come back in Australia.thx I’ve and maybe…see you 🙂

  48. Congratulations Uge on 11 years. What you have done is amazing and very classy. Well done.

    All these great pictures need to be put into a large classy glossy photo book. What publisher would turn down that offer? What person would not want to buy a collection of prints in a beautiful book format?

  49. Happy 11th Uge and da Bumps. Been an avid fan since day 1. Used to live in Tama back in 1992-4 and surfed either Bondi, Macka’s Tama’s or Bronte every day back then. In surfing dullsville now (Perth) and the da bumps is my daily escape back to the best time of my life. Thanks for the ongoing memories. Cheers ScootMcDoot.

  50. 11 yrs – sensational work Uge! Congrats! Your photography & equipment has come a long way in that time. I’ve been enjoying your daily reports for around 8 yrs and it’s great to read the feedback from all over the globe. Now, if u can just get that spelling right … (joking) 🙂 Keep it up bru.

  51. Aquabumps before coffee every morning – That is some achievement here in the cold and grey UK.
    Congrats on the B-day
    11 years, huh – Funny how time flies when you do something you love.
    Keep up the good work
    Got one of your prints straight out of the gallery in the Lounge and hope to add another in December.
    Meantime the daily email is a lifeline to saline sanity.

  52. 11 years of excellent work – and I think I’ve been with you more than half of them 🙂
    Your beautiful pictures bring cheer to my days, especially through the British winter. I got linked into Aquabumps before I first visited Australia and then I came to live in Bondi. Even though I couldn’t stay (damn those visa rules!) I couldn’t give up the coast and now I live 150m from the sea in Portsmouth. Not quite so good for surfing here and the only swimmercam action you’d get is an 80 year old dude who even gets out there in his speedos in freezing December!
    When my own view’s grey, I can rely on you for something great to look at. Thanks and keep on it

  53. Nice one, Uge. Congrats on the first 11 years… can’t wait to see what you do with the next 11. A little sanity and a taste of home every morning…. and who would have thought it would just keep getting better?

  54. Uge – similar story to many others – I am in London, read your email everyday – it cheers me up in the dark English winter (but it also makes me damn homesick)!

    You are living the dream dude – well done to you for making it happen!

  55. Top stuff, Uge…. the whole family love bumps and i don’t know how many I’ve sent you on to. Strangely my fave shot of all time is the kooka and the cocky !!

    Keep it up, methinks you enjoy it !!

  56. i live in austria and just got back from a 3 week trip to the south of portugal, was really nice to get back into water, since there is no surf in austria 🙁 i spent 4 years living in Sydney (tama, bronte, bondi) and i loved it. so aquabumps is kind of looking back to those great days i had over there. even had a couple of pics online on aquabumps, when the surf was huge and people were surfing sydney harbour (nielsen park)…anyway keep up the great work and hooray for the years to come!!!

    cheers jaz 🙂

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