Matthew Ellks

Scum Valley Matthew Ellks

This book is about the community of Bondi before the cafe culture of the 80's and 90's displaced it. It follows the local boardriding culture through a period of decadence and high times. It is the first book of a trilogy about the challenges that faced the subterranean surfing culture as it began losing its heritage to the yuppies who took advantage of negative gearing in the late 80's and started buying up Bondi. As property values and rates climbed, school enrollments fell and so started the decline of the working class folk of 'Scum Valley'. Us surfers used to call the beach 'Scum Valley' because of the old stinkpipe at north that used to pump raw sewerage out into the ocean for us to surf in. We valued street credibility above all else and the community was very tight considering it's close location to such underworld locations as Kings Cross, Darlinghurst and the CBD in general. Being a city beach meant that a colourful cross-section of characters graced our town with the millions of other tourists and beach goers. The story has a David and Goliath twist to it as a rich kid waltzes into town and sets up a surf shop and begins winning friends and influencing people. A staunch local named Dan has a run in with him and so starts a feud that lasts for a decade (Span of the 3 books). Dan eventually opens his own shop and the fallout between rival surf shop clubs sends ripples through the beach. It divides opinions and sets a precedent for ongoing battles that are fought in the streets and in the water.