No Royal Tour would be complete without a visit to the iconic Bondi Beach. In 1954 Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh attended an international surf carnival held at Bondi in their honour. It was an exciting occasion for many Australians and thousands travelled to the beach to glimpse their new monarch.

The wreck of the Hereward caught in the breakers at Maroubra Beach in 1898 drew curious crowds. Parts of this magnificent ship lay concealed for many decades, a well-known hazard among local surfers.

More than 200 000 people attend a concert at Bondi in 1989 to protest against sewage pollution. Beach pollution was abhorrent to the general populace and the groundswell against it could no longer be ignored.

Living in a tent on Palm Beach’s Governor Phillip Park, this couple surround themselves with the furniture and homewares of a more permanent home. This c. 1950 photo reflects the reality of life for them and other campers who were facing an uncertain future on coastal reserves.

Australian ‘Midget’ Farrelly becomes the first World Surfing Champion, at Manly Beach in 1964. Seen here shaking the hand of a competitor, Farrelly won the title in front of huge crowds. The spectators’ imaginations were captured by this new brand of competition in the surf.

Cars huddle in the magnificent sand dunes behind Greenhills in an unconventional and secluded surfers’ car park in 1964. By the 1960s, car ownership was becoming more common and surfboards were smaller and lighter than ever before. Surfers could travel to newer and more distant surf breaks.

The Bondi Pavilion, a marvel of modern design and the centrepiece of the spectacular Bondi Improvement Scheme, is opened to great fanfare in December 1929. This photograph captures the vast crowd that came to share the excitement that surrounded the Waverley Council’s biggest beach investment.

The Randwick Council had great expectations for the extravagant Coogee pier. Modelled on the pleasure piers of the British coast, this was the first to be built at a Sydney ocean beach. But it failed to captivate local beachgoers and was demolished by the council in 1934.

Girls relax at the beach, enjoying the sun in their bikinis. Banned in the 1940s, the bikini was eventually culturally accepted by the 1960s when women won the right to wear the clothing of their choice at the beach.

Fit young men proudly represent the North Steyne SLSC in a march-past during a surf carnival at Manly in the late 1920s. Demonstrating surf lifesavers’ discipline and physical prowess, such displays have always been a more serious part of the spectacle.

Jean Howat and J Prentice, two lithe beachgoers, display their agility in an impressive balancing act during the 1930s ‘beachobatics’ craze on Bondi Beach. Beaches have always been a place for creativity, imagination and freedom of expression.

Vast rolling sandhills up to 20m high once dominated the landscape around Bondi. The drifting sand often irritated beachgoers and covered local roads and buildings. Frustrated, in the early 1900s the government constructed fences and planted the dunes with grass, but had little success at containing the sand.  

A contented family sits by the gently flowing Farrell’s Lagoon at Newport in 1910. A well-known part of the local landscape, the lagoon would later be filled in and the reclaimed land would become a solid foundation for local suburban development.

An artist’s reflection captures the transformation of the Tamarama gully from untamed scrub into carefully landscaped ‘pleasure grounds’ under the auspices of the Royal Bondi Aquarium. The fish and marine creatures on display here captivated visitors, who also came for the aquarium’s novelty attractions.

Children from country New South Wales experience the joy of the Bondi surf for the first time, courtesy of the Far West Children’s Scheme. Before a permanent home was built at Manly, the scheme brought country children to beach camps so they could enjoy the health benefits of a seaside holiday.

This stunning shark tower guarded swimmers at Manly Beach from 1939 onwards. Part of the pavilion that won its designer a Sulman Award, the imposing structure and others like it had been recommended as an essential installation for any Sydney beach by the government’s Shark Menace Advisory Committee.

Despite standing tall and proud, the North Steyne Pavilion was left vulnerable in 1950 after winter storms caused heavy seas that scoured sand from beneath the building. It was feared the building was in ‘imminent danger’ of collapse.  The storms also undermined the promenades at North Steyne, Cronulla and Dee Why.

The Bondi Pavilion, a marvel of modern design and the centrepiece of the spectacular Bondi Improvement Scheme, is opened to great fanfare in December 1929. This photograph captures the vast crowd that came to share the excitement that surrounded the Waverley Council’s biggest beach investment.

Manly Beach in the 1870s, a popular tourist attraction with several hotels and boarding houses nestled along the pristine coastline. Distinctive rows of Norfolk Island pines would later transform the beach into an iconic tourist landscape.

Two stylish socialites pose in the latest beach fashions on the sands of Palm Beach in the 1930s. Palm Beach holidaymakers were the envy of many fashion-conscious Sydney women and the subject of feature articles in magazines and newspapers.