Beachgoers at Bondi today shared the sunshine and sand with a different kind of tourist — about 40 cattle, brought to the city to raise awareness about the challenges facing people who live in regional areas.
Regional Australian's are seriously disadvantaged when their organs fail.
Transplants have to happen quickly and many people in regional areas can't get to the city in time.
There were less than 500 organ donors last year and their organs helped about 1400 patients, but there's still another 1500 sick people on the waiting list.
About a third of those live in regional areas and if they do get a new heart, lung, liver, kidney or cornea for example, living far from the cities where intensive medical care is available means relocating and significant expenses.
Steve Ernst was one of the riders at Bondi.
He's a coal miner and rodeo rider, and a decade ago he got a new heart.
"I was given basically weeks to live towards the end and was lucky enough to receive the heart at the right time," he said.
He had to make the emergency trip four times before he got an operation.
"I made a number of visits [to hospital]...where I was called down for a transplant [but] it wasn't going to match correctly and [I was] sent back home.
"It was quite traumatic for me, but I never lost hope."
The care he required afterwards was also difficult because of the distance he lives from the hospital.
"It can take me up to five hours each way, it's travelling costs, loss of work, parking costs...it was taxing in many ways having to travel so far to come to the clinic."
The Herd of Hope at Bondi brought recipients and donors, or their families, together.
Brendon Jones is an ambulance officer from Keith in South Australia.
He got a call 15 years ago to an accident that he discovered, tragically, involved his own son.
"I got out of the truck and shined a light on the vehicle.
"There was a police officer next to me and I said 'I know this car, this is my son's'."
At hospital his son Paul was declared brain dead and the Jones family decided to turn off life support and donate his organs.
"There's a saying, 'Dont take your organs to heaven, heaven knows they need it here.'"
Indigenous communities have high rates of kidney failure and often live a long way from treatment and support.
Jeena Howard flew down from Darwin to join the Herd of Hope.
"I've got a lot of close family and friends that are organ (kidney) recipients...and a lot of our mob are on dialysis in the territory."
Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt said there were many hurdles to overcome for those needing a transplant in a regional community.
Funds raised from the Herd of Hope event will go towards establishing initiatives that will support recipients and donor families in rural and regional Australia.
