Boy is Bar Beach regular Libby Maskey happy. She's happy because, you guessed it, the beach buoys are back.
Libby led a hard-fought campaign to have the buoys replaced [OK, it was only one story in the Herald].
The row of 10 white buoys were destroyed in the September storms, prompting concerns about safety among swimmers.
The buoys had been at the northern end of the beach for decades. They're linked by a rope attached to anchored poles and situated among rocks, where people swim. That area of the beach is known as "the bar".
Mrs Maskey pushed for the buoys to be replaced for safety reasons.
"I've been swimming on that beach for 60-plus years and the buoys have been there longer," she said back in September.
Libby is delighted that the buoys have been replaced, following the City of Newcastle looking at options to reinstate them.
"Bar Beach is safe again for all swimmers young and old," Libby said.
The beach buoys sure do create good vibrations.
Saved by Surfers
Speaking of beach safety, a UNSW study is researching the contribution of surfers to beach rescues.
It's well known that lifeguards and lifesavers in NSW are responsible for saving thousands of lives each year at the beach. But many people are saved by surfers.
UNSW Sydney Professor Rob Brander - known as Dr Rip - published a study in 2015 that sought to assess the contribution of surfers in Australia to rescues of swimmers in distress.
Now he and his colleagues aim to establish the number of surfer rescues worldwide.
"It's estimated that over 35 million people regularly participate in surfing - that's a lot more than the entire population of Australia," Professor Brander said.
"And in Australia alone there are an estimated 2.5 million surfers, which is about 10 per cent of the population."
In the previous study, researchers estimated that the number of rescues made each year in Australia was on a par with those conducted by lifeguards and lifesavers.
Green is Mean
Speaking of Dr Rip, we recall interviewing him years ago for a story on the danger of rips.
His slogan for rips was "white is right, green is mean".
Rips were found in the calmest areas - the green water. But the white water - where waves break on the shore - was likely to have a sand bank underneath.
Root of the Problem
Every time cricketers in the Australian team hit a four this summer, four trees will be planted to help restore bushfire-affected areas.
It's a nice bit of greenwashing by scandal-hit Cricket Australia, which hopefully gets to the root of its problems one day soon.
