The café culture took over Bondi in the 80s, a decade that saw rents double and school enrolments halve. In 1977, there were 1000 children attending Bondi Public School. Fifteen years later, the number had dropped to 250. The newcomers were steadily changing the character of the place. Fox Studios took over the Show Ground and Bondi Beach became a haven for wannabes. The higher cost of living displaced many locals to neighbouring suburbs or else further along the coast. Suddenly, the “locals” of Bondi were the café goers, who seldom stepped foot on the beach, let alone entered the surf. The surf had become a backdrop for a steady stream of traffic, with the occasional sports car purring past envious onlookers.
Dan Webber
Bondi Stories 
It was a sad day when I realised living at home wasn’t fun anymore. To get milk at the corner shop I had to stand in line. I couldn’t get a bus to work without 5 going straight past, too full to stop. Friends started moving away, and strangers moved in.
These days I still go back there to cleanse my soul and remind me who I am. I go to flat rock where we spent so many summers in the early to mid 80’s. I see the younger generation (probably children of my friends) diving off the rock and into the ocean. I am instantly transported back to a time when we really lived.