Phyllis Tedesco has lived in western Sydney for 50 years but has never visited the city’s most famous beach, Bondi – until last weekend.
The 67-year-old, who migrated from Italy when she was five, lives in Fairfield. On Sunday, she hopped aboard one of the free buses operated by her council this summer, ferrying locals to Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches to help combat the “many barriers to access”.
For Tedesco, the bus is a golden ticket. Apart from being free, it’s air-conditioned and heads directly to Bondi beach, about 30km away – offering a relatively effortless escape to the sea for those living inland.
“I’ve always wanted to see it [Bondi],” Tedesco tells Guardian Australia. “My daughter told me about this bus, and she said, ‘Mum, this is your chance’.”
Tedesco says she and her husband had previously tried to plan a trip to Bondi, “but it’s this train or that train”. It often seems “easier to get the plane to go overseas than get to Bondi”, she jokes.
Travelling from Fairfield to Bondi takes an hour in a car but can cost $100 once you factor in tolls, fuel and parking for the day. Public transport is cheaper but involves various trains and buses – and an almost four-hour return journey.
Fairfield City Council ran free buses from western Sydney to Bondi, Manly and Cronulla beaches in January and early February. (There were two trips to Bondi.)
Expensive cars flank the bus as it rolls into Bondi on the first Sunday in February (about 55 minutes after it set off), but the passengers are transfixed on the blue beyond. A unified “wow” rings out as the beach comes into view.
The Fairfield council mayor, Frank Carbone, when announcing the initiative in mid-December, said: “People from the west and south-west have been locked out of iconic beaches, which belong to everybody.”
“Let’s face it. Pondi just isn’t Bondi when it comes to enjoying a day out at the beach with real waves,” he said. Pondi is the nickname given to the man-made Penrith beach that opened in late 2023.
Duong Nguyen, also from Fairfield, is on the bus to Bondi with her daughter and niece. The five-year-olds and Nguyen’s sister are also first-timers.
“My daughter has eczema, so the beach is actually good for her, but it’s very hard for us to drive there,” the 42-year-old says. “This is just hop on hop off. I hope the service continues.”
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The council says demand was strong for the bus trips, with almost all seats booked most Sundays. Nearly 400 people signed up across the four visits, which cost the council $15,000. A reverse cultural exchange bus trip from Bondi to Cabramatta on Sunday had 35 participants.
Britney Ong, 20, born and raised in Cabramatta, is on the bus to Bondi too. She believes “the beach is free, so it’s for all of Sydney to enjoy, rather than just the ones who live on the coast”.
Phyllis Tedesco wants to see the express bus continue to operate.
“Look, you live where you live, so I don’t expect it to be free, and burden the taxpayer, but it would be incredible to have another option that doesn’t take all day to get there,” she says. “I’d be happy to pay.”
At this stage, there are no plans to make the council-funded bus trips a permanent summer fixture. Fairfield council wants the state government to provide free public transport and toll-free travel for those heading from western Sydney to the city’s beaches on weekends.
After six hours at Bondi on Sunday, Tedesco returns to the bus for the return journey home to Fairfield. She is thrilled to have finally seen the world-famous sand for herself.
“I absolutely love it, the atmosphere, the shops. We told the waiter we came from Fairfield and he gave us a complimentary dish to celebrate my first time to Bondi.”