A tribute to Chloë

Dave Byron with the Bondi Beach mural of his daughter Chloe

It's just like her. Sydney mural artist Droogie has painted Chloë on the beachfront at Bondi. She looks out over the waves where she once surfed. And somehow no matter what end of the beach I'm surfing I can see her watching me.

She was my little girl. Just 15. Now she's gone.

Baby doll. That was her nickname from the time she was a few days old.

Chloë had a great sense of humour - a real belly laugh. She couldn't sing, but she had that much athletic ability. She did 5th grade women's basketball when she was just 12 years old. At 14 she got voted player of the year by her peers. At eight she was playing rugby league so she could be like her big brother. She always wanted to do everything he did.

Chloë was a terrific surfer. She'd been in the Bondi nippers since she was a kid.

I took her to Hawaii in 2000. We were on long boards catching waves and the locals were all calling out to Chloë "Go sister". She wore a flower behind her ear and they took her for a Hawaiian girl.

Everyone loved Chloë. She was great to be with. And she never left anyone out. If someone was on the outer at school she would bring them back into the circle.

Some 1000 people turned out for her funeral in Bondi. The church only seated 700 so they lined up along the walls and spilled out onto the stairs. Every kid in Bondi was there.

Chloë was a huge part of our lives. Everything is different now. We go to do the supermarket shopping and reach for something because we know Chloë would like that. Then we remember.

The unit is so quiet without her. Nothing was ever that quiet with Chloë around.

I still remember my last words to her. I was walking past the restaurant in Kuta where they were all eating that night. When I saw her through the window I yelled out wahihi 'surfer girl' to her in Hawaiian. She looked up and laughed.

-- David Byron