Letter Of The Month: What Has Happened To Bondi Beach?

By Billie Schwamberg on September 11, 2012 in Other

Whilst I try to find space to perch my sandy bottom on top of Bondi’s ever-so-trendy ‘grassy knoll’, between the throngs of hipsters and bronzed bikini bodies, I too ponder like the indigenous no doubt did: “What has happened to Bondi?”

The area has always been popular, but has it reached a point where it has become too popular, a point where it is almost unlivable? The Bondi Estate has always seen itself as a little community, one that is self-sufficient, dating back to pre-1788 when the Aboriginal Biddigal tribe first settled. Bondi supplied them with an abundance of food, camping sites and a peaceful serenity. As the years went by and Western society took over, the area became swallowed by the hustle and bustle of Sydney Cove.

A transition in modern times has seen Bondi evolve from a lowbrow, working-class suburb to one of the most expensive and desirable postcodes in Australia. Perhaps it’s time we question whether Bondi’s popularity is detrimental to its own existence, or to the evolution of Australian beach culture altogether?

It’s a scorching December afternoon. To my right I’m propped rather closely to a whispy-haired, oiled-up Adonis in tighty-whitey Dolce nut-huggers. A few metres down my eyes arrive at the middle of the beach, where mostly Middle Eastern men have set down their towels. Their gold chains sparkle in the sweltering sun, as do their eyes whilst flirting with every female in proximity. Tucked in the southern corner of the estate are the surfer dudes, cutting through the bubbling swells, fighting it out in the surf to see who is the ‘biggest kahuna’.

However, without a doubt Bondi’s most regular and fascinating pack of individuals are tourists. Attracted to the essence the site radiates, this bunch does not fathom the ‘Bondi lifestyle’ nor do they pack their suitcase accordingly for any beach destination. They shuffle off the bus in their pristine Nike knock-offs and skivvies whilst securing their bum-bag and Canon S100. You’re soon to be starring in their Sydney album: naughty white girl in bikini. Your ‘relaxing’ Sunday beach-session has withered away into a fast-paced, claustrophobic rush to find an empty spot on the beach.

Bondi’s individuality is being lost in a commercial identity crisis. The quintessential Bondi boy has evolved from a golden-haired, weed smoking surfer driving an EH Holden to an image ‘self-conscious’, muscle bound, solarium tanned, cardboard cut-out in frayed jeans and a fluoro singlet. Locals are scarce due to more people having now discovered the same beauty that once brought them there.

Small businesses are hanging by a thread; the corner store and village atmosphere are being superseded by the introduction of corporate heavyweights. The old Hakoah block in Hall Street has been demolished for a five-year project encompassing the introduction to these faceless multinationals. With this precedent being already set for high-rise buildings, it will be only a matter of decades, or possibly years, before Bondi may mimic the commercialised lifestyle of the Sunshine Coast.

Bondi is just the start I fear. The golden Australian lifestyle will soon go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger; hunted to extinction. Our homeland is the prime target, being the biggest landlocked country in the world. With the growing population and that population’s desperate need to find their own little paradise by the beach, our country’s national identity will be buried under coastal high rises, Holiday Inns and ‘WantLongerLastingSex?’ billboards.

Imagine fifty years from now – not even, twenty years from now – not being able to stand on a piece of coastline without seeing a man-made structure. Commercialism and popularity are killing the very essence of what makes these locations so amazing. How long will they last like this? We already need to pay for parking in our own suburb, what’s next? Are we going to have to pay to go to the beaches that we as citizens have a right to use?