WHETHER the sun was shining, the wind was blowing or the rain was pelting, dedicated lifeguards protected our beaches these school holidays.
The official surf lifesaving season kicked off on the October long weekend, with Great Lakes Council lifeguards and volunteer surf lifesavers beginning their patrols at Forster Main Beach and One Mile Beach (southern end) at Forster, Elizabeth Beach at Pacific Palms and Bennetts Beach at Hawks Nest.
Two lifeguards were patrolling the four beaches weekdays over the school holidays from 9am to 5pm, while volunteer surf lifesavers are keeping watch of a weekend.
The weekend patrols will continue until the end of the Easter school holidays next year, while the weekday patrols will recommence at the start of the Christmas school holidays.
This year marks 100 years of beach patrols in NSW.
Last season, NSW surf lifesavers performed more than 6000 rescues and over 180,000 preventative actions.
Great Lakes Council owned swimming pools also opened to the public on the long weekend at Tuncurry, Stroud, Bulahdelah and Tea Gardens.
These pools are open from 6am to 6.30pm and will remain open until the last day of the Easter school holidays.
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