Bondi Beach: Australia’s Busiest?

With less than two weeks to go before winter here in Australia, time for a little escapism.

This weekend I will be drawing the blue solar blanket across the top of my swimming pool as I put that little fun spot into hibernation for the winter. But that doesn’t stop us going to the beach today. Via YouTube of course.

As you know, Australia isn’t short of a beach or two. In fact, the place is one great big wraparound beach. As Sydney is Australia’s busiest city, and Bondi Beach is Sydney’s most visited beach, I think it’s fair to say that Bondi Beach is the most crowded beach in all Australia.

Bondi Beach.

Bondi beach is only one kilometre long, but on a busy summer’s day it can host up to 40,000 visitors. Like most popular beaches here in Australia, you will find volunteer Lifesavers dressed in traditional yellow and red, working between the flags and helping to save lives. They patrol the beaches on weekends, public holidays and during the busy summer months.

But in addition to these Lifesavers, Bondi also has Lifeguards. Lifeguards are dressed in blue, paid by Waverley Council and work 365 days a year.

On a quiet day, nothing much happens. But on a busy day, Lifeguards can rescue as many as 200 people from the sometimes dangerous waters of Bondi. Over the course of a year, more than 2,500 rescues will have taken place within that short one kilometre stretch. Busy enough to make a TV programme…..

Bondi Rescue.

Of all of those thousands of visitors to Bondi Beach, some cause more of a stir than others. Let’s take a look.

Here’s one that got the boys all excited….

And this one had the girls screaming….

The Lifeguards enjoyed these visitors the most…

Then there was this fella………………

Hmm. Not surprising he didn’t draw a crowd.

We’ll be going back to the beach next week when I prove that I haven’t yet run out of Australia’s bad things. I’ll also reveal one of my own childhood fears at the same time.