Welcome to backstreetbondi.com
I live in a flat on the edge of the cliffs at Bondi with the sea out the front and all of life a few steps from my door. The place is in a constant state of flux and ferment. … Continue reading →
View ArticleMr Bondi
by Elisabeth Wynhausen I had heard all about Mr Bondi long before we sat down to talk. People aware I was writing about Bondi said if there was one man I must meet it was him. When someone used his …...
View ArticleNew Year’s Eve with men in masks and the-then Mr Dogg
by Elisabeth Wynhausen Fair warning: this post has enough swear words in it to make your hair curl. I don’t look like the sort of person likely to spend New Year’s Eve having my eardrums drilled by the...
View ArticleGive us this day our daily amaranth and quinoa
by Elisabeth Wynhausen Just after six am, four hours after he arrived to get the ovens going, baker Gus Morrison, a tall man with a slow, shy smile and a flour-dusted apron, stood at a pine benchtop...
View ArticleBelle’s of Bondi
By Elisabeth Wynhausen Belle’s Lingerie and Frock Salon was a fixture on Hall Street, Bondi, for so long it was possible ever afterwards to close one’s eyes and picture it as it had been. Boxes were...
View Article500 square metres of Bondi
By Elisabeth Wynhausen There is often a moment in people’s lives they look back on later on, wondering if everything fell into place for them at that instant. For Luke Wilson that moment came the day...
View ArticleGertrude, Alice and Jane
By Elisabeth Wynhausen There are too many cafes on Hall Street, Bondi, but there is one we couldn’t possibly do without. Not just the locals, either. The Gertrude and Alice Café Bookstore has so ardent...
View ArticleAunty Pearl at the Astra
By Elisabeth Wynhausen Aunty Pearl Martin doesn’t look her age and doesn’t see any reason to reveal it to the world. But what she will say if the question arises is: “I’m the oldest Maori lady in...
View ArticleHot ham and pudding at the Three Steps
If I were mayor handing out awards to places and people that hold the community together, one of the first would go to the Three Steps on Bondi Road, a local institution that calls itself a café but is...
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