North Bondi Density

Deluge Reprieve

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 parts of NSW like the Mid North Coast have attracted 600mm of rain over the past few days.

Sydney’s main water source – Warragamba – is overflowing. 90% of Sydney Harbour’s volume is currently being released through Warragamba Dam per day, and this rate could increase in the coming days. @Ben_Domensino – nuts! Just over a year ago, I was shooting Warragamba from a heli showing how devastatingly low the levels were. See my drought blog post

To blow your mind, this day a year ago they shut Bondi Beach due to Covid19. See that post too. Closed

To distract you from what’s going on outside here’s some summery imagery, shot earlier this month. Wasn’t a great morning to be wandering around shooting down the beach. There are waves though, in the pouring rain. Just watch the ear infections as the water looks gross.

Stay dry :: uge

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One Wave turns 8!

Monochromatic

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 […]
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This morning's colour flash.

Flash

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 […]
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When all else fails, head to the Bergs for a shot

Mundane

These days are the hard ones. Trying to find inspiration in a dark, rainy, onshore, closeout day ain’t easy. It takes me ages to find something interesting in the mundane – and I’m not sure I found anything at all! I visited the beach three times this morning, in hope of someone catching a wave. […]
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Junior Propulsion

Crepuscular

It was a dim, overcast morning down the beach. Lots of crew sleeping in, probably because of the darkness or cooler weather. The sun is rising so late, makes it a bit harder for work crew to squeeze in activities before diving into their day. There’s a little bump, knee to chest high waves. It […]
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Take-off, Bronte

Nippy

It was the first cool start to the year; you probably wore an extra layer. Thankfully all that !@#!$ rain has subsided, giving way to some glorious sunshine. Clear skies will be shortlived before diving back into rainy days for the rest of the week. Yeah, more rain. Can you believe it? There were junkie […]
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Cloudy skies, wolf pack waiting. Bondi Beach

Waterworld

Even though the surf was dribbly and without push, it was a fun vibe in the water.  Firstly, it’s warm in the brine – 23+ degrees. The warmest time of year to swim, so get into it. Secondly, there’s good banks and the odd 1-2 foot had a loggers wall spilling to the beach. I […]
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Water is still warm - get in! Bondi 7:40am

Hackneyed

A pretty stock standard morning down at Bondi. I’ve seen plenty like this, subtle colours at sunrise, slight onshore, 2-foot waves and a busy beach full of exercise maniacs. After writing approximately 6,000 of these posts, sometimes I get a bit stumped. Today is one of those days! The next time you’ll find waves is […]
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Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club training at sunrise

Funny Farm

It’s wild out there, chaos. Boards flying in all directions, rights on lefts, lefts on rights, 5 per wave. Wear your Stackhat and dodge the torpedos – it’s 2 foot and packed! Its incredible how much the surf dropped out overnight, slipping three gears and idling at sunrise. Clean morning, glorious conditions brought out the […]
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The North Bondi Hook, Sunday 7th March 2021

Tail-end

We are now on the tail end of a solid SSE swell. Yesterday was real big; I saw sets in the 8-10 foot range. Now it’s a more manageable 3-4 foot, and most of the beach is surfable, whereas yesterday was just the North Corner or Benny Buckler Novelty waves. I can imagine there would […]
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Big crowds, big swells and big offshore winds

Viva La Bondi

The 24 hours that preluded this mornings windy southerly was epic. It was paradise; the waves were great – winds gentle, and the sun was in great abundance. Yesterday and part of this morning were mega beach days… At about 9 am this morning, a 20-knot southerly hit, ruining all the fun, but it’s not […]
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Bronte Pool, into the sunrise

Harvest

There’s fruit on the trees, and finally, the onshores have subsided. The sunshine has come back, and it’s one helluva day outside. Let’s party. It’s easily 4 foot, and from the South, so Bondi is milky every bit of energy from the ocean. It’s too big for beginners and other flotsam jetsam. For the frothers, […]
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This morning, no oil painting!

Intermission

We’ve had some pleasant conditions and inspiring mornings lately – not today, unfortunately. This morning was dark and gloomy, overcast and cool. Its the first morning that I’ve worn a jumper – so Autumn is setting in. The surf was mega-junkie. The fact that only a couple of surfers headed out is very telling. It […]
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