ABSTRACT
I .1 Bondi Beach, the embodiment of a national culture in the interwar years, as represented in Percy Trompf's 1929 poster, Australia for the National Travel Association.
of beach stories, views and nostalgic reminiscences appear on television lifestyle programmes and in articles written for every type of magazine and newspaper. Indeed, FPC Magazines recently launched Australian Coastal Style, a magazine devoted to covering every conceivable aspect of living on the coast -housing, decorating, accessories, cuisine and fashion . Editorialists maintain a constant vigilance over the beach while the nightly news religiously reports beach conditions, dramatic rescues from turbulent seas, visits by whales and dolphins, sightings of and attacks by sharks, international surfing competitions and big lifesaving carnivals. Flashes to popular annual events-Coogee Beach Family Fun Day, Dee Why New Year 's Day Community Breakfast, Sydney Fringe Festival's Nude Night Surfing at Bondi, Warringah Council's Symphony on the Sand, Wollongong's Breakfast on the Beach-add human interest and provide an antidote to the standard fare of sensation, titillation, conflict, misery and disaster that swell the news.
