SYDNEY'S LATEST CRAZE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 124, 18 February 1908, Page 8

SYDNEY'S LATEST CRAZE.

SURF-BATHINC. CONTINENTAL DIPPING DAY AND ' NIGHT. Sydney has passed that stage of prudisliness which hesitates at the question of mixed or, as Sj'dnoy loves to call it, continental bathing. To tho New Zealandcr tho spectaclo of thousands indulging daily in a surfbath is a revelation. ' Salt water bathing has always bccii a popular diversion in Sydney, and oven that has come on tremendously, and. thero aro now baths everywhere; but surf-bathing is a rcccnt innovation, and it has "caught' on " with oVoryone—male and female,'young'and'old, shy and bold—to tho extent of a craze. Tho reason for tho wonderful popularity of tho recreation is easily explained. Sydney's seaside resorts are fortunate in the possession of glorious stretches of shallow ocean bcach— lino yollow sands without a pebblo for miles, and yet, on account of tho " grey fellows," it is highly dangerous to venture for a swim in . tho sea. This is tantalising, especially when' tho mercury in tho thermometer is bubbling near tho roof of its coll, and even tho most orthodox feels that clothes of any description aro' an affliction. To get rid of tho superfluous, and dally with tlio waves, someone must havo said, "Let us paddle!" and from paddling they went out.to meet curling breakers, found themselves buffeted delightfully and refreshed enormously, and so surf-bathing came to Sydney. As a matter of fact, peoplo havo bathed in tho surf for ages—there is nothing new, even under the Sydney sun —but' in its ment into a craze, and tho effcctivo manner' in which it has swept away tho'objection to mixed bathing", tho recreation is unique. When Professor Macmillan Brown wrote his belief that if any further infusion of white blood into Australia was stopped, its peoplo would become an " all-brown" race, ho must have been on Manly Beach watching tho surf-bathers. Three - out of, every five seen by -the writer- were .burnt, as brown as any Maori—men and women alike—and to keep the skin from burning and cracking the assurance was given'that many of thorn, used cocoanut oil. All these brown skins smothered with cocoanut oil, and-yet the-catch-cry is for a ,'Whito Australia! y • ' What does appeal to the .visitor to Sydney is tho manner in which tho local bodies look after tho people's pleasure." It is; obvious everywhere. Tile Borough Councils 7 have orected rows of roofless dressing sheds 'along tho beaches for. tho bathers,-and no charge is made for' tlio use of'them.' There is a risk of one's clothes being ."gone through" while you are going through the breakers, but ono is not supposed to go benchwards with more than a pair of duck pants : and a soft shirt; and, in any easo, there is a place ■ where valuables can'be.left.-with safety.- : , Tho men wear shoulder-to-thigh . costumcs. —more or- less —and the ladies, throwing appearances to the wind for tho nonco; appear to wear-any appropriate garments! Most of thorn . affect the ordinary lady's, swimming costume, with short' skirt or rather . exaggerated flounce, usually loose-fitting. Some add as an antidote to. the 'jprofessorV all-brown theory. • But:why talk of costumes? Stout mothers take, their stouter babies to" sea; lanky men with grey whiskers may bo seen ;"browning'' in the., foam with the same seriousness .'as they would take: a; plunge. at home. . Girls arid boys play in 'tho - foreground, and' kiddies roll about the.,'wot. sand building castles and moats as:unstable as foam froth. The sexes join hands', joyously and.clash into, the snowy-crested waves, roil. beachwards, ; or with only a face'protruding out of the wave 'dog-paddle" swiftly inshore'.' Surf-bathing may not .'bio for Npw .Zealand, but is. is the most exhilarating! , sport' 'that Sydney, knows, nor. is it' confined; to\the~day. Visit Bondi or Coogeo. as late as) 10.p.m.,' .in warm, weather,, 'and hundreds ■ may/bo seen diving, jumping, leaping,' yelling - and; laughing in tlio waves. : j -v :