‘I needed a change’: Why Bondi Rescue’s Whippet is trading the ‘craziness and chaos’ of Sydney for a fresh start
The Bondi Rescue star has packed up his family of five and headed north.
After spending his entire life in Sydney’s lush Eastern Suburbs, Bondi Rescue star and former Home And Away actor Ryan Clark – or “Whippet” as we’ve come to know him – hit a point where he craved a change of scenery.
What initially started as an itch to pack up his caravan and do a lap around Australia turned into an interstate move.
And that yearning for something new ultimately had Ryan, his wife Gina and their three sons, Nixon, 12, Jett, 10, and Marley, five, all saying goodbye to Bronte and hello to the Gold Coast.
Motivated by a desire to take his wife back to her home town after 17 years in Sydney, the beloved TV lifeguard swapped the relentless pace of Bondi for a slightly slower, family-focused life up north. “I’d lived in the Eastern Suburbs my whole life,” he says. “I love the Eastern Suburbs, but I just felt like I needed a change”.
CHANGE OF PACE
The relocation aligned perfectly with Gina’s career and returned her to her roots, allowing her to be surrounded by her parents and extended family after almost two decades in Sydney.
Transitioning the family of five interstate was no small feat, says the 43-year-old, but his three boys have fully embraced the shift to a much more “relaxed rhythm”.
“It’s definitely a slightly slower pace,” laughs Ryan,
“It feels like everyone up here thinks they have an extra half an hour or hour in their day.”
With seemingly more time on his hands, Ryan says it’s poured directly into active parenting, which means choosing sand over screens.
The boys don’t own iPads or phones – instead, their free time is dominated by camping trips, fishing and of course, surfing.
While still every bit the larrikin, Ryan is very much the household disciplinarian and leads by example when it comes to physical and mental resilience.
Whether he’s tackling the English Channel or an ironman competition, he wants his sons to witness the value of grit.
“I actually really like the idea of them seeing a parent struggle in physical things so that they realise it’s not always easy and you’ve got to put a little bit of hard work in,” he says.
He encourages dads, and other carers, to “make the most of it” when it comes to raising young children.
“I know what I was like when I turned into a teenager, I didn’t need my parents around as much. I still need them around for advice all the time, but in day-to-day things, you lose that. They don’t need you like they do when they’re little… so while they need you, make the most of it,” he says.
ACTING DREAM
Despite their idyllic new base, with the family often grabbing a post-surf juice at cafe hotspot The Salt Mill after hitting the waves at his favourite surf spot, Currumbin Alley, Ryan hasn’t completely severed ties with his old stomping ground.
He’s still a casual lifeguard at Bondi, and occasionally dips back into the “craziness and chaos” he still deeply appreciates.
Locally, he also lends his expertise as a casual lifeguard for the Gold Coast City Council.
“I love being able to help people in whatever community I’m in, and at the moment that’s the Gold Coast, it’s a lucky job to be able to give back where you live”.
With his eldest starting high school and his youngest entering prep, Ryan’s immediate focus is supporting his boys through another school year.
But fans of Ryan will be pleased to know he’s keeping the door to the entertainment industry firmly open.
Currently the actor works as a water safety officer in films and TV productions, and he has recently filmed a part in Aussie comedy Kangaroo opposite Packed To The Rafters star Ryan Corr.
Looking to the future, the busy dad says he’d be open to a Queensland-based reboot of Bondi Rescue.
While he laughs at the logistical nightmare of filming across such a massive stretch of coastline – the local service boasts 250 lifeguards over summer compared to Bondi’s 30 – he wouldn’t rule it out.
“There’s plenty of action on the beaches up here. I love doing TV work,” he admits, even hinting at interest in joining Seven’s SAS.
Wherever the cameras roll next, it’s clear Ryan and his family are living their best unscripted life.
