Introduction
A global icon and the back drop to many a sporting and cultural event, the golden white sands of Bondi Beach have featured on many a television screen, post card and glossy magazine.
Bondi Beach is a popular beach and tourist destination as well as the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney. Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. Bondi, North Bondi and Bondi Junction are neighbouring suburbs.
Lifestyle
Bondi has a distinctive brand of relaxed beachside lifestyle which it shares with other adjacent suburbs like Tamarama and North Bondi. In recent years a new brand of luxury apartments has crept in while traditional semis and houses have been modernised or rebuilt to look cater for a more affluent and trendy set. Backpacking tourists and locals intermingle at a buzzing café scene while Campbell Parade features many popular eateries, restaurants and hotels, with spectacular views of the beach.
Now the home of a growing number of new luxury apartments overlooking the ocean, Bondi Beach was a working class suburb throughout most of the twentieth century. Following World War II, Bondi Beach and the Eastern Suburbs became home for Jewish migrants from Poland, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Germany, while a steady stream of Jewish immigration continues into the 21st century mainly from South Africa, Russia and Israel and the area has a number of synagogues.
Bondi Beach is about one kilometre long (0.6 mile) and receives many visitors throughout the year. Surf Life Saving Australia has given different hazard ratings to Bondi Beach in 2004. While the northern end has been rated a gentle 4 (with 10 as the most hazardous), the southern side is rated as a 7 due to a famous rip current known as the "Backpackers' Express" because of its proximity to the bus stop, and the unwillingness of tourists to walk the length of the beach to safer swimming. The south end of the beach is generally reserved for surfboard riding.
Pods of whales and dolphins have been sighted in the bay during the months of migration. Fairy penguins, while uncommon, are sometimes also seen swimming close to shore.
In 2007, the Guinness World Record for the largest swimsuit photo shoot was set at Bondi Beach, with 1,010 women wearing bikinis taking part. Bondi Beach was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2008.
Bondi Beach is the end point of the City to Surf Fun Run which is held each year in August. The race attracts over 63,000 entrants who complete the 14km run from the central business district of Sydney to Bondi Beach. Other annual activities at Bondi Beach include Flickerfest, Australia's premier international short film festival in January, World Environment Day in June, and Sculptures By The Sea in November. In addition to many activities, the Bondi Beach Markets is open every Sunday. Many Irish and British tourists spend Christmas Day at the beach. The Hotel Bondi is a famous landmark opposite the beach. The nearby Swiss Grand Hotel Bondi Beach is also a landmark development opposite the beach.
Bondi Pavilion is a community cultural centre, located right on Bondi Beach, which features a theatre, gallery, rehearsal, meeting and function rooms, art workshop, studios. Bondi Pavilion is the centre for major festivals performances throughout the year. Bondi Beach has been used as a location for a few Australian and International movies, various television series as well as music videos and a video game.
History
"Bondi" or "Boondi" is an Aboriginal word meaning water breaking over rocks or noise of water breaking over rocks. The Australian Museum records that Bondi means place where a flight of nullas took place.
In 1809, the road builder William Roberts received a grant of land in the area. In 1851, Edward Smith Hall and Francis O'Brien purchased 200 acres (0.81 km2) of the Bondi area that included most of the beach frontage, which was named the "The Bondi Estate." Hall was O'Brien's father-in-law. Between 1855 and 1877 O'Brien purchased his father-in-law's share of the land, renamed the land the "O'Brien Estate," and made the beach and the surrounding land available to the public as a picnic ground and amusement resort. As the beach became increasingly popular, O'Brien threatened to stop public beach access. However, the Municipal Council believed that the Government needed to intervene to make the beach a public reserve. On 9 June 1882, the Bondi Beach became a public beach.