Hanging with the Bondi Caveman

Bondi Caveman

Since Time Out Sydney started it’s been a goal to profile Sydney’s colourful identities, the characters that define the city, our folk heroes and villains. One we’ve always been fascinated by is the "Bondi Caveman", the apparently homeless man who lives on the cliff face of Bondi.

Bondi Caveman

Anyone who’s ever made the walk from Bondi around to Coogee would’ve spotted his mess of tarpaulins off the edge of the footpath, right on the cliff face. To the casual observer he’d be easy to write off as a crazy, probably drunken, antisocial recluse, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bondi Caveman

When a writer and i ventured off the path and into his precarious waterfront home he couldn’t have been more charming or accommodating. Offering coffee and a seat he introduced himself as Jhyim Mhiyles, later explaining the odd spelling is due to a fondness for the letter Y in the middle of his name and a theory about it representing the trinity. He’s certainly an eccentric but he’s far from crazy.

Bondi Caveman

We chatted for almost two hours about his life, sharing tales from his 8 years living on the cliff face and primarily transient life before that. He’s not a fan of the ‘homeless’ label, preferring to think of himself in the Australian tradition of the ‘Jolly Swagman’. He’s proud of the way he maintains the place, feeding all the local birds and making a point of being friendly to the curious gawkers who walk by.

Bondi CavemanBondi CavemanBondi Caveman

Meeting people like Jhyim and being let into their lives for a brief moment to take some photographs is an incredible privilege.

The double page story, written by Stephanie Goldberg, is in the "Summer Holiday" issue of Time Out Sydney out now.

Bondi Caveman

8 Comments

  1. You’ve caught a good variety of moods and expressions there. He certainly looks like a friendly and interesting bloke. Sounds like an enjoyable couple of hours at work.

  2. Yes! I saw this article when I picked up a copy of TimeOut while I was in Sydney. Picked out all the photos you took and read some of the articles whenever I could.
    Nice work, Dan. Though, it says here “Jhyim Mhiyles”? 😛

  3. Oh I was hoping you’d taken the photos of this one, it was such a beautiful article. I’ve always wondered what his story was as I jogged past – he has such a sad history. Great story and amazing photos.

  4. Hey Anthony, you’re quite right about the spelling of his name. He was very particular that the Y had to be the middle letter of each name. I’ve edited the original post with the correct spelling now.

  5. great article Dan, I was hoping it would keep going into the next page 🙂 I always notice the blue tarp when sitting on Bondi now.

  6. hi there great photos i had heard about this guy in nz and was curious..pretty sad that some idiots trashed his home but he looks happy and what a great place to live..

  7. Thanks for the info on the spelling of Jhyim Mhiyles’ name. Since I’ve been following his struggle to remain at his home on Bondi beach, I had always thought that might have been how some Australians spelled Jim. I hope he visits the states someday. I’d bet CNN or NBC would like to interview him. He’d probably would enjoy the California coast, especially Big Sur.

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