All electric on the beach, EV9 Kia our newest partner

Rain Dance

I spent the morning seeking sanctuary from the rain under bus stops, Icebergs overhangs and giant Norfolk Pines. It was not the most photogenic morning down at Bondi! I believe there’s a direct correlation between my cameras being out and rain squalls – the rain dance! Need rain? I’ll pop over with my cameras, I’m sure a squall will follow.

The waves are actually pretty decent – 3-5ft, South Bondi with a virtually empty lineup. Friday’s usually busy – not today.

KIA x Aquabumps
With all the bad weather and lack of photographic gold you’ve come to be accustomed to on salubrious Aquabumps.com – I’d like to announce our latest exciting partnership with Kia Australia. I’ve recently made the jump to electric, and it feels so good — especially after putting solar on our home. Now I’m charging the car straight from the sun. The new beastie Kia EV9 is an absolute dream to drive — so smooth, crazy comfy on those long North Coast road trip missions, and with a 500km range, it’s the perfect road trip weapon. Plus, I can load it up with 8–12 surfboards internally… aka the ultimate surf wagon. More road trips to come.

Sunday, May 11 is Mothers’ Day
Celebrate Mum with the Aquabumps Mother’s Day Bundle – a limited-edition Aquabumps x Leif gift pack paired with our 25-year book (Save $25). Perfect, one for Mum and give one to the in-law Mumma! One stone, two birds and all. Combo Deal

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Thursdays, with some new paint

Never-Ending Shower

Did someone forget to turn off the tap? Oh boy, it’s been wet in New South Wales lately. Trying to polish up these grey, stormy mornings is quite the challenge. Chilly as well, 25 knots of southerly will do that. Max 18 and low of 14, you’ll feel the coldest you’ve been in quite some […]
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Little Viking dropping into a hollow one, Bondi 7:30am

Clearing Skies

The sun is out, let’s party! Oh, don’t worry – the rain will return by 2 p.m., but at least you had a dry half-day. The waves were clean as the onshore flow finally dropped. It’s decent, 3-4 foot and well worth a paddle. Over the years, Aquabumps has helped lots of people. You’d be […]
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Easter, this wave was enormous

Back At It

Geez, we sure do live in a rainy city. We’ve had weeks of on-and-off rain, hellish onshores, and rogue swell. The Easter Bunny delivered the most spectacular swells, exceeding our expectations and closing many beaches. I’m back at it, shooting and posting after two weeks off during the school holidays. The forecast looks bleak, with […]
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Yamba, sunrise

Il Defino

We didn’t exactly nail the timing on a north coast road trip to visit the coastal town of Yamba. Whilst the weather has been tricky and the surf unworkable, it was nice to see Byron’s quieter cousin, a town based on the Clarence River. Yamba’s got that unpolished charm, a pub with a view, a […]
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Tommy, stabbing with stitches. South Bondi

Dip, Click, Repeat

Half-asleep and half-hoping for a few little peelers, I rolled down to South Bondaka for a swim in the bathlike conditions. The tide was high, and the waves were fat – but it was a fruitful hour of shooting in golden light. The shorey was chest high and really the only surfable option, kinda unrideable […]
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Felix Ettelson, double drag for the bowl

Bondi Bowlo

The conditions aligned for Australia’s most hectic beach. Bowls in the south turned on with the right tidal and rip mix. It’s head high+, busy and clean at sunrise. It seems we’ve got a new south swell feeding directly into the bay. The new bank set up seems fickle on the tide, too high and […]
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Pile on! Bondi 6:30am today

Clocked out

Daylight saving has officially ended, and we’ll have more light in the mornings. Combine this with some fantastic head-high waves and clean grooming offshores, and you get most of the 2.5 million Australian surfers paddling out at Bondi! $10 bucks says you can’t get a wave on your own today! Between 6am to 7am Bondi […]
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With manageable surf conditions the crowds are back

Friday Shindigs

By 7 AM, the work crowd hit Bondi Beach, squeezing in a quick dip before trading saltwater for spreadsheets. The coffee queues at Glory and Prom were already at critical mass by the time I got there. A DJ was spinning tunes in the middle, typical of a Bondi Friday (yes, that’s becoming the norm). […]
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Thunderbumps from the outer banks

Thumping Sets

It’s been exciting around here lately, with enormous swells lashing our coast. Everybody loves a big swell story—and this one was surprisingly big – kinda caught us all off guard. I mean, that wave that Lifeguard Chase Hardaker paddled into on Tuesday was a monster, quite possibly the largest paddled in wave for the Eastern […]
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Couple of riders amongst the rogue at Ben Buckler

Neptune’s Fury

It’s no secret that our coastline is being battered by an enormous rogue swell. Although it’s smaller than the peak last night, it remains seriously chunky. I’m calling 5.5-metre waves from this South Easterly swell. Remarkably, it’s clean offshore, so somewhere other than Bondi would be completely cranking. Bondi is tidak bagus in giant swell. […]
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Ben Buckler Stormrider, 7am today.

Truly Unruly

We’re experiencing huge, unruly, unmanageable surf and winds in Sydney right now. After days of stormy weather, the ocean roars to life and pushes water high onto our beaches. North Bondi resembled a semi-surfable wave, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Ben Buckler has some legends on Rhino Chasers, but that’s always a nice novelty wave. […]
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March 21 - cracker sunrise

March in Review

To be honest, my shots from this morning were pretty boring. The rain, dark skies, and onshore breezes do not make for beautiful photography. There’s still a 2 foot crumble on offer, but it’s not perfect. And so… I won’t show you imagery from today; here’s a little March in review as we’ve had some […]
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