Australia

Every year during the Australia Day holiday, Bendeela Campground becomes a gathering point for campers coming with family or arriving to experience an Australian summer by the river. Over the long weekend, the site fills with temporary homes, shared meals, and familiar routines.

The area is known for evening sightings of wombats and kangaroos, which often move across the grass as the light fades. Campers create convivial spaces across the open ground, with carefully built setups and food playing a central role in camp life.

Braids and Jess, in front of their 4WD camper setup.

Yalchim and Seyhan, originally from Izmir, Turkey. They settled in Wollongong in the 1980s and return each year with their adult children over the Australia Day weekend.

Steve and Nicole, with their children, visiting from Shoalhaven.

Isabelle, Jack, Jane and Dan, from Dapto.

Oliver, standing beside the camper trailer he built himself, complete with a kitchen used for his YouTube cooking channel.

From Balgowlah Heights, a few boats are already visible, scattered across the water. People arrive early, binoculars in hand, scanning the sea long before there is anything clear to see.

Some bring folding chairs, others lean on the railing. A glass of wine appears, shared between friends while the race begins to take shape offshore. The boats are still distant, but the routine is familiar — watching, pointing, waiting, talking.

Binoculars move from hand to hand.

People search for a particular boat — one sailed by a friend, a neighbour, a family member. At this distance, it’s hard to distinguish anything. Sails overlap, hulls merge. Finding the right one is difficult, even when you know it’s out there.

Not long after, the fleet clears the heads and reaches open ocean.

Chairs are folded, glasses emptied. People drift away in small groups, unhurried. The race continues south, but on the headland, the gathering quietly comes to an end.

After a week at the desk, we drifted down to Dee Why. The last light skimmed the water while families unwrapped takeaway on the grass and people wandered between the park and the ocean.