Bondi Rescue: Inside star lifeguard Andrew Reid’s new treechange life and his next big move
Bondi Rescue favourite Andrew Reid reveals why he’s moved away from Australia’s most famous beach and what he’s learnt along the way.
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After a lifetime of summers, and beyond, in the water, cafes and pubs of Bondi, Andrew Reid recently made the tree-change to the regional city of Lake Macquarie, before it was the thing to do.
Splitting his time between Sydney and his new laid-back lifestyle has made the man known as ‘Reidy’ understand why so many more are seeking to do the same post-pandemic.
“We thought we would move up here to be closer to family and then see what happens,” he said.
“It’s been great to get away and live a simpler life.”
And as the Bondi Rescue crew gears up for another summer of shooting on one of the world’s most famous beaches, Reidy is wondering what comes next.
“I love being a lifeguard and I love being part of the show. I’m so lucky to have had the experiences I’ve had and made the friends I have,” he said.
“I still love it but it is very taxing on the body and they are long days in the sun. I might not love the travel [from Lake Macquarie] forever. We will see how it goes. Every career has a life span and I might move on in a couple of years but I will definitely be there to celebrate 20 years in the job.”
It’s a helter skelter job with serious responsibilities most of the time but those two and half months – December through to February – when the show films are the most frenetic.
“We say it’s like M*A*S*H* in real life,” Reidy said.
“A group of guys and girls who work together and have a good laugh but when the s*** hits the fan we are ready.
“I think the fact that it’s still going after all these years shows how watchable it is, but also how intense it can be on the beach as a lifeguard.
“You are dealing with so many different elements: the sand, the water, pulling people out of the water and dragging them up the beach and body retrievals. It is a very fluid situation.
“There are so many different scenarios. It’s great that our training and experience allows us to be prepared for anything that comes along.”
AT HOME WITH BONDI RESCUE’S ANDREW REID
Who: Professional lifeguard and Bondi Rescue star Andrew Reid.
Where: Single-story brick house at Caves Beach with wife Kate and daughters Winnie and Frankie
Favourite thing: My Garmin. I couldn’t live without it. People give me a hard time about it but I think movement is important to stay healthy and happy so the Garmin keeps me accountable by tracking all of it.
Inspiration: Simplicity. I really want things to be easy and for it to be more of a home than a house.
Home is: Where I get to spend time with my favourite people.
ANDREW REID’S FAVOURITE THINGS
Paddleboard
I spend a lot of time on this, doing a lot of open ocean downwind paddle boarding. It’s the best escape from a place like Bondi, you are out in the middle of the ocean and if something goes wrong you’re on your own.
That’s all part of the excitement. My mate Tim Mcgan and I did Wedding Cake Island, in Coogee, to Palm Beach [around 40km] one day. The water cops came out to check that we wanted to be out there and were OK.
Speedo spray jacket
I was given this when I made it onto the lifeguard team and it gives me a real sense of pride. I was a pretty overweight teen until I started to get into fitness. After school I became a garbo, but I really wanted to try out for the lifeguards. I will get around to framing it one day. It resembles a little bit of inspiration too. If I’m ever in doubt I know with a bit of hard work, anything is possible.
NordicTrack X32i Incline Trainer
This has its own room in our house. It’s so great I can get my runs done while the kids are asleep and know they are fine. With these machines you can do your workouts and also explore, say the Grand Canyon or go and run the Boston Marathon. They are a real gamechanger.
Didgeridoo
[Indigenous Ex-NRL star] Shannon Hegarty taught me how to play this on a road trip from Sydney to Mackay in his [Mazda] Eunos. They were good times. I still get it out and play it from time to time.
Athletic Greens
A while ago when I was in training for New Zealand’s Coast to Coast I kept getting sick and I started looking for some more wholesome nutrition supplements and I came across these. They weren’t selling in Australia at the time and they said: “we will send you some, take them for a month and let us know what you think”.
That was a couple of years ago and I’ve only been sick once since and it was so mild I trained through it. Not a day goes by when I don’t take it. They are great for your immune system and so much better than so many other supplements out there.
Marriage proposal photo
When I proposed to my wife Kate at [Sydney Harbour’s] Camp Cove, I had a photographer mate Craig Greenhill from Salty Dingo Media hide in the bushes to take a picture.
It looks like a scene out of ET. It’s a really nice photo with Winnie in Kate’s tummy in the shot.
Foam surfboards
I have three of these, they are great to learn to surf on. They are ready for the kids.
Old Akubra
Kate bought me this not long after we met. It keeps me safe and out of the sun. She might have seen a picture of my dad Brian wearing one. We used to have a holiday house on the Hawkesbury River when I was a kid and he would mow the lawn there with his Akubra on. They were good times.
Bikes
I have four bikes: two road bikes, a mountain bike and a Time Trial bike. I love riding. I rode in the Cairns Ironman earlier this year but haven’t been on these bikes since. We have a charity ride coming up, Bondi 2 Berry, to raise money for Dementia Australia, an illness my mother suffers from.
I’ve been an ambassador since it started. For me a bike represents being young and free, that stage before you have your driver’s licence, when for the first time you can go somewhere under your own steam.
More: Andrew Reid
All pictures by Beau Pilgrim
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Originally published as Bondi Rescue: Inside star lifeguard Andrew Reid’s new treechange life and his next big move
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