A local has turned a powerful photograph from Torquay’s Fight For The Bight protest into a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle
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28.09.2020

A local has turned a powerful photograph from Torquay’s Fight For The Bight protest into a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle

Words by Talia Rinaldo

Reminding us all that Torquay was one of the many communities around Australia that rallied together.

Saturday November 23rd was an iconic day for the surfing community, as surfers and beach lovers around Australia came together in their tens of thousands to protest against plans by Norwegian fossil fuel giant Equinor to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight.

Following a rolling series of protest paddle outs earlier that year that drew tens of thousands of people to beaches right across the country, this particular ‘National Day of Action’ in November saw rallies take place on beaches right around the Australian coastline between Exmouth in Western Australia and Townsville in Queensland. More than 10,000 people took part in about 50 paddle-out protests all around the country, from Perth to Townsville, including Bondi, Manly, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Tasmania and South Australia.

The Torquay surfing community also joined in, with thousands of local protesters descending on Cosy Corner to highlight their opposition to plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight.

Torquay surfer Damien Cole of the Surfrider Foundation Australia led the initial round of paddle out protests in March and coordinated November’s National Day of Action:

“What we saw with the paddle outs wasn’t ‘radical activism’; it was the people of the Australian coast drawing a line in the sand and saying no. These are coastal communities whose way of life is being threatened by a large fossil fuel company. The paddle outs had everyone from young kids to people in their seventies, surfers and non-surfers alike, and there was an incredible feeling out in the water. What we’ll see on Saturday is as much a celebration of Australian life by the beach as it as a protest against Equinor.”

An iconic event to witness, Torquay freelance filmmaker and director of Hynesight Productions Bryan Hynes has now turned an image of the powerful scene into a 1000-piece puzzle, to remind us all that Torquay was one of the many communities around Australia that rallied together, loud and proud!
Incredibly hard, really high quality and probably the best of its kind, the puzzle itself is cut on high grade Vinyl to eliminate white boarders for a clean final puzzle image, and the total size sits pretty at 715mm x 530mm.

“The image was shot on November 23rd, 2019 at Torquay Front Beach. The scene is a paddle out demonstration that united communities around Australia to protect the incredible Australian southern coastline from oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight,” the description reads.

“With each piece you assemble you will be bringing together a surf community of thousands as they fill the air with an electric energy, enough to give anyone goosebumps!”

To be honest, this is the kind of puzzle you’d want to put in a frame once you’re done.

You can purchase it online here for $69.95, or exclusively from Surfcoast Wholefoods, The Salty Dog Cafe Torquay and Ocean Grind in Torquay.

For more information and back story on the event that took place visit: www.fightforthebight.org.au