Bondi was once covered in towering sand dunes that stretched from the middle of the beach all the way to Rose Bay. The sand dunes bore testimony to the ancient waterways and prevailing ocean currents that deposited the fine grains of quartz and feldspar, year after year, layer upon layer creating these shifting hills of sand. Bondi Bay is thought by some geologists to have been a delta for the Nepean River that once flowed from the harbour to the sea. Several creeks and their tributaries fed freshwater lagoons in wind-protected 'sweet' spots among some of these colossal dunes. The lagoons were home to ducks and other native fauna that thrived in these lush watering holes. The traditional land owners, the Gadigal people, traversed these dunes and knew these oases as a place of refuge and a source of fresh water and food.

Courtesy the Waverley Library Local Studies Collection and the State Library of New South Wales.