| Bondi Beach |
Article Index for Bondi |
Website Links For Bondi Beach |
Information AboutBondi Beach |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BONDI BEACH, NEW SOUTH WALES | |
| beaches of australia | |
| suburbs of sydney | |
| visitor attractions in sydney | |
| venues of the 2000 summer olympics | |
| surf breaks in australia | |
| surfing locations | |
| surf culture | |
|
Bondi Beach (pronounced "Bond-eye" with a long ''i'') is a hugely popular Beach and Suburb of Sydney , Australia . It is situated in the Eastern Suburbs , several kilometres from the centre of the city. Large numbers of tourists visit Bondi Beach throughout the year and many Irish and British tourists spend Christmas Day there. Surf LifeSaving Australia has given different hazard ratings to Bondi Beach as at 2004. While the northern end has been rated a gentle 4, the southern side is rated as a 7 (with 10 as the most hazardous) due to a famous Rip Current known as the "Backpackers Express" (also known as "Bronte Express" because you would supposedly end up at Bronte - two beaches south - if caught in it). In actual fact there are up to five rip currents operating along the beach, the Backpackers' Express being the one closest to the designated swimming area. The beach has an underwater Shark Net in place during the swimming season, though this is removed for repairs in the winter. Bondi Beach hosted the Beach Volleyball competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics . Bondi Beach is the end point of the City To Surf Fun Run. The run is held each year in August. Until the mid 1990s the run was held in October, late spring, until a number of heat-related deaths forced organisers to reshedule the event in the cooler month of August. The race attracts over 60,000 entrants who complete the 14 km run from the Central Business District of Sydney to Bondi Beach. Other annual activities at Bondi Beach include Flickerfest , Australia's premier internation short film festival in January, World Environment Day in June, and Sculpture By The Sea walk in November. In addition to many activities, the Bondi Beach Markets is open every Sunday. This market is for the trendy bargain shopper. HISTORY In 1851, Edward Smith Hall and Francis O'Brien purchased 200 acres of the Bondi area that embraced almost the whole frontage of Bondi Beach, and it 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. It was not until June 9, 1882, that the Government acted and Bondi Beach finally became a public beach. Bondi Beach was a working class suburb throughout most of the Twentieth Century . Bondi Beach and the Eastern Suburbs also became home for many mainly Jew ish migrants as people fled war and the Holocaust from Poland , Russia , Hungary , Czechoslovakia and Germany . This can be noted by the Synagogue s, Kosher butchers and the Hakoah Club , one of the Sydney Jewish Community's most important establishments, a steady stream of Jewish immigration continues into the 21st century mainly from South Africa , Russia and Israel . During the 1970s and 80s it was renowned for its immigrant New Zealander population. The Bondi Astra hotel, now an apartment complex, was notorious as a place to buy illegal late-night Liquor and Heroin . A major factor in Bondi's seedy image was the fact that Sydney's Water Board maintained an untreated sewage outlet not far from the north end of the beach, resulting in the term 'Bondi Cigar' - a somewhat exaggerated reference to human faeces floating in on the tide. The sewage outlet was closed in the mid 1990s when a deep water ocean outfall was built. In recent decades Bondi has become Gentrified and is home to many famous Australians such as media baron James Packer & TV personality Larry Emdur . Numerous festivals and events such as the annual Miss Bondi beauty pageant have made Bondi Beach a popular tourist destination among travelers. ORIGIN OF TERM .]] ''Bondi''; derived from an old Indigenous Australian term meaning, approximately, "sound of water breaking on the beach". SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|