By Danielle Smith
Let's talk beach etiquette.
Or not.
A woman stumbles on a long guy rope on a crowded Bondi Beach in SydneyCredit: Janie Barrett
It's people wielding umbrellas, tents and beach shelters like weapons. It is people shaking their towels over people right next to them, and others flicking sand.
And how close should you sit to the person next to you?
In a public space, we have to be courteous with each other.Credit: Janie Barrett
Hint: Not on top of me like the inconsiderate family who decided to erect a tent so close they could've undone the straps on my bikini. So close they could've read my book.
To recap, it was 8am this Thursday. We were nicely relaxed after Christmas, and ready for a nice morning and a swim with kids and friends down at Bondi Beach.
It was packed between the flags, so we sat nearby where we could put up our umbrella without bothering others.
By 8.30am there were 30 umbrellas around us, and the land grab resembled an inner city auction for a renovator's delight.
The chaos was typical of the fight for sandy real estate on busy Sydney beaches. Credit: Janie Barrett
By 9am two women turned up with a tent big enough for eight people. It was ridiculous: how much space do two people need?
They started hammering a large stake into the beach centimetres away from three sun bakers.
Valuable beach property.Credit: Janie Barrett
Then the women started banging on the other side; this time hammering so near to a man and his son that they had to move their things away.
The women blocked the view of those behind them, who had arrived much earlier.
A beach shelter, with hazardously long guy ropes, takes a large space on a crowded Bondi Beach in Sydney. Credit: Janie Barrett
Is that OK?
I don't think so.
How much space do two people need?Credit: Janie Barrett
It made my blood boil. This behaviour is encroaching on other beach goers' space.
And it was rude. The women didn't say, "Excuse me" or "Do you mind?"
To escape the madness, we left earlier than planned.Credit: Janie Barrett
The tent's guy ropes were so long that people were tripping over them.
It was chaos, and increasingly typical of the fight for some sandy real estate on busy Sydney beaches on a hot day.
To escape the madness, we left earlier than planned.
I had just started packing up when a man in his 70s shoved his umbrella stake half-a-metre away.
"Don't mind me, I am trying to get your spot," he said.
At least he was pleasant, and acknowledged what he was doing.
Within a minute, he had his umbrella and chair set up in my place.
We exchanged smiles, and we left.
If you are going to be hammering, it is not okay to do so a foot away from people's heads and feet. It is good to look around, and be aware.
It is a public space, which has to be shared, and that means we have to be courteous with each other.
Come on Sydney, we can do better than this.