Best known for capturing the biggest, heaviest, scariest waves on the planet, as of late, Tim Bonython has been hanging at home on Australia’s Gold Coast. And while Kirra may have had a moment his winter, the Goldie hardly produces the kind of juice that Bonython seeks. So, when the forecast maps popped on the other side of the country, he charged his batteries, packed his bags and beelined it to Victoria.
“Winter down here in the Southern Hemisphere has been a little slow,” Bonython tells SURFER. “A few hit-and-misses had me itching to get out there and chase something. Then the forecast for world-famous Bells Beach in Victoria appeared and I couldn’t ignore it.”
And like that, he hopped a plane and headed to the home of the world’s longest running professional surf contest. A seasoned traveler, it was a relatively easy jaunt to familiar territory. And did it pay off?
“Three days of pumping Bells. Well… Bells and its next-door neighbor wave, Winkipop, which actually features heavily in this edit. But this trip was about more than just chasing waves. Bells Beach is where my filming career with my first paid shooting which began back in 1981. My very first visit was 45 years ago, when Simon Anderson changed surfing forever by riding massive 15 to 20-foot waves at Bells on a revolutionary three-finned board that would become known as the Thruster. So there’s some history in this one.
The edit from the trip not only features pumping surf with notable performances by Laurie Towner and Torren Martyn, but also a nice chat with long-time Bells surfer Chris Ray, who has been a fixture along this iconic stretch of coast since 1962.
“This isn’t one of my crazy big-wave missions. It’s a revisit. A look back at where it all started for me, mixed with three days of beautiful Victorian waves, some serious surfing and a few stories from the people who have lived it,” Bonython adds. “Bells Beach. 1981 to 2026. Some places you never really leave behind.”
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