Bondi Rescue

- Season 6

(2011)

It's a sunny day without school, so Bondi beach is crawling with youngsters on top of tourists and regular locals. The lifeguards are flat out, with Whippet making most rescues. Hoppo spends hours taking lost local Bobby (9) under his wing, even retrieves his belongings, only to see the rascal return to 'kindred spirit' Maxi. While a falsely accused man protests his arrest, the accuser assures his own prosecution by attacking the handcuffed man.

Four months ago, the 36 lifeguards all passed rigorous tests in pool and ocean. Maxi did them without swimsuit to make up for rival rookie Jake's faster pool times. After 3 years, youngest-ever trainee Maxi must either be properly engaged are let go. He volunteers to bring in and bury the corpse of a shark and gets a part-time contract. Fellow trainee Jake gets to man the tower for lack of experienced colleagues on call while a floating body, signaled by the police, must be searched for down the cliffs and is awarded another year apprenticeship.

On a rainy day, tourist still arrive, often even poorer swimmers then their English, like an Indan family getting in multiple trouble. Harries, as avid fan, gives most famous fictive lifeguard David Hasselhoff, known here as 'the Hoff', on ice-cream promotion tour, a warm welcome. More rescues, including one by a volunteer who needs pro help soon, and bruised cliff divers. Even a seasoned English skateboarder makes a nasty fall on the slippery ramp.

A hot, busy day spells extra work, so Chappo reinforces the rostered life guards. Dunstan must stay in the tower when everyone helps a Korean student who needs the defibrillator, so a tourist is sent to deliver the machine. A week later, he attends the debriefing with a reanimation expert.

Bondi's lifeguard team must switch to nursing mode when hundreds of swimmers are stung by an armada of Portuguese man of war ('bluebottle') jellyfish, whose long, poisonous tentacles hurt for half an hour. A Brazilian dancer went down and is totally paralyzed.

It's a lively surfing day, but that also means swimmers are easily deceived, so rescues must be worked off serially. Even a giant Yankee who is an excellent swimmer but drunk needs rescuing. Kyle Pao, who enjoyed his apprenticeship on Bondi two years earlier, now hosts on his Hawaian beaches, where the surf is monumentally stronger, an Aussie trio comprising Wippet, old Kerrbox and Dunstan, who come to learn about high waves rescues. Meanwhile a Canadian demonstrates braveness with his ninth dislocated shoulder and H's spying helps the police deal with beach thieves.

Christmas Eve and day are traditionally extremely busy on Bondi and this year is even worse. Especially tourists and drunks get into trouble by the dozens. Many lifeguards generously sacrifice their own family merriment, seeking some compensation together and with free seasonal beach entertainment. Yates even dresses up as Santa. They all stay hours after their official shifts, knowing drowning can't be prevented otherwise.

Bacon bravely takes manual charge of clearing the nippers pool of stingrays that drifted in during high tide. A brave local adolescent pulls off a toe nail that was ripped off in a cliff fall. Recruit Max Ashford starts on the job around the New Year's mass beach dance. Troy and Kailan handle a fresh homeless theft suspect until the police can arrest him. Next day, Sunday, a fire in the historic pavilion. A teenage victim cares more for her prank-lost bikini top then drowning risks, even with Whippet on duty.

Eight months age, big wave surfing champion Kobi broke his neck smashed to a rock, but mercifully has spinal cord didn't snap, so emergency surgery gave him hope to walk again. Friendly rivalry peaks like every year as the boys train their super-fit tails off for the prestigious life guard teams iron man. Quinn's paramedic training comes in handy with refuge boy Kenny's drunk near-drowning likely to have incurred secondary drowning. Against doctor's advice, Kobi exercises ever more and even partakes in the iron man. Hoppo can be especially proud of him, Harries, Bacon...

The annual skateboarding competition Bowl-o-rama attracts the world's best for $50,000, but serious injuries spare nobody. Kobi finally returns to duty. Back Cloud's bad luck 'curse' reputation works again on the beach, including students and a wheelchair user. However an unusual incident at the risky Flatc Rock cliffs initiated by jellyfish attacking a spear fisher takes the cake, requiring an air bridge by helicopter.

Sydney Mardi Gras means daft competitions, including drag races, but also alcohol,abuse and even illegal party drugs. Ever more tourists speak so little English that translations must be recorded on iPods. A novel problem slithers in: a poisonous sea snake, which Bacon actually rescues.

The weather-forecast for Australia day was record heat, but it starts with heavy fog, a rarity, so bad the beach must be closed several hours. Then an inflatable devices record is set. Drunk young Daniel says to ignore how he incurred a deep arm wound an a smaller one, suggesting glass cuts. After Matt selects an Aussie face for the day, a pointless fight occurs. Nxet day, brothers Azza and Kobi help an skateboarding accident victim and the team looks for a missing boy, soon helped by police, successfully despite misleading cloths description from the mother.

Sydney faces an unprecedented six days heat wave, causing droves to flock to the beach, where sunstrokes abound, like dehydration, which doesn't square with vomiting as after getting in seawater. More cliff cut victims. A prankster pretends to be stuck under a grid.