Last week’s powerful low punched Sydney’s beaches in the face and left a legacy of shattered shore fronts and stripped sand, but also helped create what is thought to be the largest wave ever ridden at Bondi Beach.
Surfer Chase Hardaker said he took the day off to go out surfing.
“Frothing to be able to surf it, put it that way,” he said.
The 23-year-old was snapped on Tuesday afternoon, slicing the face of what was thought to be a wave seven metres tall.
“It was just this long wall, pretty much to Bronte,” he said.
“It was actually pretty scary, the people on the cliff are whistling, and when they whistle you know something big’s coming.
“I was in the perfect position, so I was lucky to swing into it.”
On Bondi’s rocky northern flank, the giant fans of spray created were making it hard to get that shot for photographer Orlando Goldfin.
“It was becoming salty on my lens, making haze, so I’m quite lucky it actually came through,” Goldfin said.
Goldfin would catch Hardaker in motion before the motion of the ocean would catch him.
“Unfortunately when I did hit the bottom, is when the wave hit me at the same time,” he said
“It was not really the first wave, it’s the second one that landed on my head when I was already out of breath, then the third and the forth.”
Even for a years-long Bondi lifeguard, it would be a lesson learnt about what can be the cruel sea.
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“It was a good wake up call cause I didn’t realise Bondi could do that to me,” he said.
“It was just the pure, raw energy of mother nature that one.”
But thanks to Goldfin, Hardaker can claim the biggest wave ever ridden at Bondi Beach
“I’m sure there’s old school Bondi guys and Bronte guys that have surfed and charged here all their lives. They don’t have the evidence mate.
“They don’t have the evidence, so that’s the difference.”
