Elouera Beach ’72

Elouera Beach ’68

1968. The Elouera surf club has just been built and this was their first surf club carnival. These images taken from the original surf club balcony looking, north towards and showing the wanda surf club and the sand dunes beyond. Tim Vanderlaan Collection 

NEW SIGNAGE HIGHLIGHTS SURFING HERITAGE

Sutherland Shire Mayor, Carmelo Pesce today unveiled new signage at Elouera Beach as part of a suite of interpretive signs along Bate Bay explaining the National Surfing Reserve, the development of the surfboard and past champions in the recently installed Cronulla Surfing Walk of Fame on the Cronulla Esplanade.

Documenting the famous Cronulla beach culture, the latest addition to the sign suite at Elouera draws attention to the role of the Elouera Surf Lifesaving and Boardriders Clubs. Importantly the sign paints a picture of our past, depicted by a wonderful image of the Midway surf shack taken by Bob Weeks.

“The shack was built by a few school kids in June 1962 from discarded timber and corrugated iron. It was used for surfers to shelter from the elements and to stand their long malibu boards against,” Bob said.

The shack did not last long but remains etched in the minds of surfers from that generation.

“It was an era of no wetsuits, when a fire on the beach was the only way to warm up on a cold winter’s day and nothing but sand dunes extended to the north of Bate Bay,” recalls local surfer Dave Wilson.

Mayor Pesce said the community is rightly proud of its wonderful Bate Bay beaches and the rich history tied to the establishment of surfing as a sport in its own right, the founding of the surf lifesaving and boardriding clubs and the development of young locals with big dreams who took on the world’s surfing best.

“This area of Australia is truly unique which was recognised in 2008 when Cronulla was declared as a National Surfing Reserve, acknowledging the role our community has played in developing Australian beach culture.

“The Crown Reserve highlights a number of significant surfing sites within Bate Bay including Sand Shoes, Shark Island, Cronulla Point and Voodoo. Importantly it also acknowledges our community surf lifesaving/boardriders clubs and the fact that surf legend Duke Kahanamoku surfed our shores just over 100 years ago,” the Mayor said.

The unveiling of new signage at Elouera by Mayor Pesce coincided with the 35 year celebration of the Elouera Boardriders Club.

The image used to represent the Elouera Boardriding Club on the interpretive signage at Elouera was supplied by Chris Stroh.

For more details on the Cronulla National Surfing Reserve visit: http://www.surfingreserves.org/cronulla.php

1968 Australian Titles

Elouera Beach Aussie Lifesaving Titles

Miss Elouera Beach Quest ’78

Another competitor in the Miss Elouera Beach Quest photo Tim Vanderlaan