The infamous Beach Bowl - imported from the USA Down Under to Manly ...
For skate fans, The Beach Bowl is a bit of tease – it’s only making a temporary, celebrity appearance in Sydney for the Australian Open. But there are four, permanent iconic Sydney spots you should check out …
MONSTER SKATEPARK & VERT RAMP
Image by courtesy of www.sla.net.au
Location: Sydney Olympic Park, opposite Telstra Stadium, Homebush
The name says it all. More like a professional training ground, this world-class facility is monstrous. Featuring the biggest vert ramp in the country, standing at a whopping 14.5 foot high and spanning 68 feet across with an extension on one side and a mega roll-in on the other, this is where Tony Hawk comes to skate when he’s in town.
Next to the vertical beast is spined mini set-up: a conglomeration of smaller ramps to roll around on for days. And then you enter the indoor park… A huge undercover space filled with large funboxes, Hubbas, ledges, rails, flatbars, and surrounded by banks and quarters. This place is magic, but certainly not for the faint hearted.
Monster holds regular coaching clinics and skate camps and houses a café and skate shop as well. As a closed-in premises, you need to check session times, there’s a fee to enter and helmets are compulsory (sweaty, used ones are provided if you haven’t got your own), but if you’re looking for an all-round radical experience, then Monster is where you’ll find the madness.
http://www.monsterpark.com.au/
http://www.skateboard.com.au/v2/index.cfm?smithgrind=view&id=1127
http://skatin.it/monster-skatepark/
WATERLOO STREET PLAZA
Image Courtesy of www.boardworld.com.au/skateboarding/
Location: Waterloo Park, Corner of Allen and Elizabeth Street
Waterloo is the local skatepark where everyone goes to meet. It’s the hot hang-out and the regular warm-up spot before you go hit the suburbs for some raw street shralping. ’Cause it’s so central and the basic, concrete plaza-layout is so simple, it’s also where all the touring pro street skating demos happen.
Built on the old Fernside foundations, to the side it still has the original metal half-pipe, which has now been cut down to a really fun mini. The smooth cement park is fairly small and features minimalistic blocks, manual pads, stairs, Hubbas, a rail, a Euro-gap and banks. Nothing over head-high here, just flowing lines and fun times.
http://www.skateboard.com.au/v2/index.cfm?smithgrind=view&id=100
BONDI SKATEPARK & BOWL
Image courtesy of http://skatin.it/
Location: right on the shore of Bondi with all the hipsters
Set against one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, skateboarding in the trendy suburb of Bondi has gone through a lot of changes over the decades. Out with the old ’80s vert ramp and seaside mini and in with the modern, transitional park and vert bowl.
The classic, two-tiered bowl boasts a 12-foot deep-end and a tight, five-foot shallow. With pool coping and tiles surrounding her edges, this full-figured cauldron is where the best chargers strut their stuff for all the bikini-clad onlookers to admire.
The intricate and unique skatepark right next door is the newest addition and, like the bowl, isn’t exactly built for groms or kooks. The labyrinth features plenty of whippy hips to air over, concrete coping to grind and carvable curves around every corner.
Just don’t get wiped out or you’ll be facing an embarrassing rescue courtesy of the surf life saving patrol.
http://www.skateboard.com.au/v2/index.cfm?smithgrind=view&id=1072
http://skatin.it/bondi-skatepark/
MANLY SKATEPARK & MINI RAMP
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Image courtesy of http://skatin.it/
Location: Keirle Park, Pittwater Road, Manly
The legendary Manly skatepark has bred many-a-good skateboarder over its years. It originally hosted one of Australia’s few, rare vert ramps, which still remains, but has now been cut down to a mini.
Despite the concrete street park undergoing several facelifts with lots of patchwork, you can’t go past this iconic stopover. A little rough around the edges, the quintessential arrangement goes back to the old school, with a small bowl that surrounds the parameter and then directs everyone to a funbox in the middle. The tranny outskirts has metal coping and varies in height, with hips, pimples and extensions scattered throughout, while the central pyramid is tranny on one side, banked on the other, with a cute little rail going down and flat-block on the side.
It’s well worth a visit to this landmark to tick off your checklist.
http://www.skateboard.com.au/v2/index.cfm?smithgrind=view&id=89
http://skatin.it/manly-skatepark/
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