Surf City, Sydney

Beautiful, jewel-like travel log of Bondi boys, including John Adair who’s been busy sending me heaps of great images and info, on a North Coast trip in the mid 1970s and 80s. Uploaded by Monty Webber to his excellent youtube page. Here’s what the description says… Featuring each of the six Webber brothers plus John Adair, Paul Bucknell, Rodney Dahlberg and Wayne Williams. Filmed by Paul Bucknell, John, Greg and Monty Webber. Edited by Monty. The opening waves are of Spookies. Dan’s wave is at Flat Rock, filmed by John. Ben’s wave is at Spooky Beach. The other waves are Angourie Point, except John’s long right-hander, which is at Lennox Head and was filmed by Paul Bucknell. Diving by Mont.

Ross Bailey – Mel Gibson’s stunt double in Phil Avalon’s Summer City – poses for promo pic at Tamarama, 1977

Mel Gibson made his big screen debut in Summer City, directed by Phil Avalon in 1977, which tells a story of surfing up the NSW coast in the 1960s. Newcastle surfer Ross Bailey stood in as Mel’s stunt/surfing double and even helped out with the storyline and action. Big thanks to Murray Walding’s Surforama for info and Ross Bailey for photo and ongoing support.

Long Reef Beach surfers hang out in local derelict house late 1970s, photo courtesy Warren MacKenney

Got a pile of photos from Warren MacKenney today so I asked him a few questions about the board riding club scene and life around Long Reef in the 70s…

Were you part of a board riding club?

We were all part of the boardriders – it was less competition and more social, there were so many small groups and this [the boardriders] combined the beach. The thought behind it was the more people the more parties you could go to.

Where were you guys living – were you locals?

Yes the ones that formed the boardriders were true local neigbourhood kids – we had a block of land and a derelict house [the shack hangers] that we used for years as a hang and no one seemed to mind too much there was a bit of noise we made that made some unhappy but there were other groups like the Motelys, the Forry guys the L.R.B.Ps.

What kind of things did you get up to at the beach besides surfing?

What did we get up to? – Friday nite was Timo the Time N Tide Hotel [Flowers/Glasshouse], the Narrabeen Antler [Midnight Oil], 1066 Wine Bar Collaroy and give the publican shit when they tried to kick us out at 10 timo, 12 Antler and then party at someone’s house on the same sat nite. We surfed all weekend, wagged school during the week, surfed and just hung around at our beach. Played touch footy, baseball, skated as a group of guys and girls just for fun. We also snorkled, played pinball at Cons in the back room [Long Reef milk bar] tennis, fruit fights.

Terry Ward with yo yo, Long Reef 1970s, photo courtesy Warren MacKenney

How old were you all at this stage?

The ages ranged – the older ones picked on the younger ones in fun, everyone was close and we all still are in touch having made great friendships.

What was the relationship to the clubbies, if any?

Everyone picked on the carpark ticket collector. The Clubbies were our friends too. I was one untill I got too many ‘penalty patrols’ then I thought I’m doing this for free and if you couldn’t make it you got more for punishment – still good friends with a lot of them – a good connection.

Outside the clubhouse, Long Reef 1970s, photo courtesy Warren MacKenney

Who took the photos?

There were a few guys that took photos – the main ones were Trudie Woods, Jeff Morris, Chris Sellers, Clifford White and Mark Andrews that i’m still in contact with. Cliff took the photos of Stuart. Trudie took photos mainly around the carpark.

Tim Vanderlaan and home made ‘spear board’, 1974 courtesy Tim Vanderlaan.

Thanks to Tim Vanderlaan for sending this and a great pile of other Cronulla pics from the 70s, which I’ll post in coming weeks.

I asked Tim to tell me about the boy and the board…

This kid is me, taken in front of the family home at Wanda, Cronulla. It was early 1974 and I’m displaying my first home made board.

My older brother Rick and myself made the board and bought the materials from Graham King’s home at Grays Point. The blank and materials cost me $33, that was a lot of money considering the milko i helped do morning deliveries paid me $1.25 for 3 hours work.

The board was 5’10” and 13″ wide. My brother read somewhere that the width of a board should be the measurement between your nipples plus 2 inches.

We had seen magazine shots of Terry Fitz riding something similar at sunset in hawaii and we thought the spear shape would work at a Wanda beach break. I persisted trying to ride it for ages but Icouldn’t turn the thing.

I later sold to to Max Garlings of the Benz shop in Cronulla. He had the board on display amongst all the bikinis. (big thanks Tim Vanderlaan)

Thanks to Warren MacKenney for sending in this pic of Mitchell Beck taken at Long Reef around 1976. Would like to know more about the Long Reef story, so will see what we can dig up.

Edited sampler of footage shot around Cronulla in the mid to late 70s by local surfer, film-maker and board riding club mover Alastair Waddell, courtesy of Alastair Waddell.

In 1976, when he first screened his movie Just Cruising – An Australian Surf Movie Alastair Waddell had been surfing around Cronulla for almost 20 years and closely involved in the local boardriding club scene. He shot the affectionate flick using a camera bought from Jack Eden and a lengthy lens that used to belong to Bob Evans, two of surfing’s big hitters of the 60s. His aim was to promote Australian surfing overseas and give Cronulla surfers a rare opportunity to shine on the big screen. It was a pleasure to meet and interview Alastair today and get his perspective on 60s and 70s beach life, movie making, competitive surfing and Cronulla waxhead culture.

Alastair on the beach near Red House, Cronulla, for Just Cruising promo shots in 1976, courtesy Alastair Waddell

Super 8 footage shot by David Clifton around Bronte Beach, 1976, courtesy David Clifton

No stretch of footpath, driveway, storm water channel, overhanging bush, cement slope or random act of paving was safe from the onslaught of mid 70s skating, as shown here by the guys around Bronte Beach in 1976. Surfer David Clifton was nursing a broken arm that summer so turned his time to filming his friends in and out of the surf. The new polyurethane wheels and flex decks, hot from the US had reignited a skater craze, complete with the latest moves – layback cutbacks, handstands, double deckers, tick-tacks, coffin rides and the rest of it.

Tony Edwards’ Captain Goodvibes, the dope crazed mutant pig, gears up for a bracing surf somewhere in Sydney in 1973. Taken from Tracks Magazine October 1973, held in a private collection.

Photo of David Bell, on a trip out of town back in 1976, courtesy David Bell.

Eastwood surfer David Bell in 1976 with his Ron Wade rounded pintail, that was, according to David, a pretty lousy ride. At this time, a typical beach day for him and his mates started at the crack of dawn with a bus and train trip to Circular Quay, gunning for the 7.30am Manly ferry, crossing the harbour with a high spirited pack of board carrying ‘westies’, before shuffling up the corso past sneering locals, along the beach and over the headland to Freshwater, where ‘there was usually a group of girls we were keen on’. A day’s surf at Freshie could also involve a quick hike over to Manly and back for an unbeatable pie. Obviously cars changed everything in the next year or so, with hunts for a wave stretching north as far as Narrabeen. Still surfing today, David and his 3 boys live less than 50 metres from the sand at Queenscliff. Take that you sneering locals…

Photo courtesy Stephen McParland

Here’s Concord surfer, surveyor and board builder Stephen McParland at work on what he reckons would have been a reject* blank from Dions, at Quintessance Surfboards, Cabarita, around 1974. Somehow Stephen found time to tape record bands, film mountains of surfing action, in between making boards, getting married, keeping ahead, to pull together the most staggering archive (and knowledge) of surf music and film in the known universe. Glenn A Baker reckons his contribution to music history and culture, mainly in print, is ‘titanic’. His output of books and reference works is mighty impressive- check em out here.