Could it be that those who decry Bondi as a “beige Byron” are just annoyed that they are not living there? After all, the core USP of Bondi remains its gob-smacking nature and its democratic, free for all beach culture, which remains unchanged. That wide-angle, kilometre-long scoop of amber sand, the surf, the surfies, the sun, the headlands. The hallowed cult of the body-beautiful. I.e., nothing new. In this sense Bondi still has the same essential scene, the same heart – and this in spite of the travails and heartaches of last year’s awful anti-Jewish shootings. Bondi is still Bondi.
Inevitably though, silly property prices aren’t a friend to creativity or bohemianism. Or literary verve — the kind you’ll find at Gertrude & Alice Cafe Bookstore on Hall Street (a last reminder of counter-culture Bondi, it was one of the inspirations for our ill-fated rom-com).
An ideal way to make Bondi mindful again is via a session with Ryan Der of Love, Ryan Ceramics, who teaches pottery classes as well as making his own work. His introduction to wheel-throwing, a ten-minute walk from the apartment down the coastal path in Tamarama Point, teaches the basics of centering and throwing clay. Der’s style is to focus on slow, tactile, hand-thrown clay pieces that celebrate small marks, curves and natural imperfections. A magic morning by the ocean.