We knew it all along... but isn't it fun to discover that the Ontario Geographic Names Board is recommending that it be enshrined officially!
We are often asked about the name BONDI, and yes, Grandfather Joseph Tapley did name the bay after the famous beach in Sydney. He was on stage there (and in London) performing as a tenor in Gilbert and Sullivan productions.
This picture was taken in the 1890's at Bondi Beach, Australia, with Joseph and friends enjoying hamming it up at a picnic.When he arrived here, with his young wife Elizabeth, it was before the dam went in at Baysville -- that dam raised the lake almost five feet, flooding a lot of the shallow sand beaches on Lake of Bays, and leaving our original big crescent of sand as a more narrow strip of beach, with an excellent shallow sandy bottom, ideal for swimming. And hamming it up.
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