Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach

Manly to Bondi - March 7th

Yes, I would say I am in beach heaven! Starting my day in Manly beach, saying goodbye to Dev, the sweetest old Indian man who owns/runs & lives at the Manly Beach House, I did my morning beach walk and this time visited the ‘Oceanworld’ aquarium. It was built in the 60’s and was one of the first aquariums to introduce the use of tunnel walkways for audience enjoyment. Enjoy I did! SOOOOOOO many types of fish and so many found along the Great Barrier reef. Pipefish, Hula fish, Stonefish, Frogfish, Blackfish, Gloomy Octupus, Bluelined Octupus, stingrays and seahorses too. My favourite had to be all the different types, sizes and facts of the sharks. Understanding their teeth and how they use them, their sonar and then to see them: Port Jackson Sharks, Epaulette Sharks, Wobbegong Sharks but the big Grey Nurse Sharks were the best. To see 4 of them at once just slowing circling, checking us out in the tunnel below allowing us to check out their gills, fins, sharp teeth and glaringly white eyeballs was incredible. Again surprisingly calming. It was neat too to see the large school of silver sweep frantically swimming by as if late for something really important! Then it was on to the feeding frenzy that the 2 tortoises (not sure of the plural…… points for who does!) and large stingrays were partaking in along with soooo many other fish. Oh and just incase anyone was wondering Dori in the movie ‘Finding Nemo’ is a blue Tang. Very cool place but I am a fish lover at heart 


Well my time in Manly wrapped up with a bus to the Manly wharf to catch the ferry, this one called ‘Freshwater’ back to Circular Quay and from there another bus down to my final destination for the day, Bondi Beach. From Circular Quay, we passed by Hyde Park, the posh, rather swanky neighbourhood of Paddington, through the bustling bus hub of Bondi Junction and out to Bondi beach. My next few nights will be spent at Bondi beach backpackers which is right on Campbell parade, the main drag of Bondi. I kept thinking that with all the hype, Bondi beach just might be able to hold up to all the pressure & just maybe it wouldn’t be all that it was made out to be. I was wrong………………… it is gorgeous & breathtaking! With its long, inlet creamy beach, packed with sunbathers and surfers alike, capped on either end with wave and wind swept cliffs and rock pools at low tide. From Icebergs pool and restaurant at the south end passed the art deco arches of the Bondi Pavillion through to Ben Buckler Point this is a magical place. Not sure how but this bit of land & water can hold a massive amount of people and still not feel packed. With the surf, sand and sun it is truly a relaxing good time walking and lying on the beach. It is also a workout haven for running and working out. As I ate my silver dori fish and chips (well yeah!!) I watched a workout group run, lift weights and do pushups…….. priceless! I don’t feel too guilty as I have done a great deal of walking and do plan to go for a run on the beach tomorrow. More than anything I hope the smell of chips wafted their way as they were told to do more situps haha. As the sun began to set and the shade rose from south to north over the beach, that did not deter many of the surfers who carried on to the point where I wasn’t sure if they would see each other if they got on the same wave. I sat over by the kids pool, people watching as I do best the families, the dog walkers, runners, swimmers and surfers and even the Bondi beach surf club massive surf boats. Very cool! I like it here yet also feel like I need to drop like 10-20 pounds to fit in oh and seriously work on my tan. Not bad for a to do list for me 

Coogee to Bondi – Tuesday March 8th, 2011

Well another fine start, this time with a walk along the promenade of Bondi beach out to Ben Buckler point and back. A lot of running on the sand and the first sessions of surf school are out bright and early. After a touch of organizing this morning, I got the 381 to Bondi Junction and switched to the 400 bus that dropped me off at Sydney Children’s Hospital. Quite the easy trek and so I scouted out the place abit, noting that the Prince of Wales adult hospital is directly connected with the children’s hospital. Also met the nurse manager of recruitment, Marguerite, and it was so great to put a face to the name.


Then the morning continued with a quick detour down Coogee Bay Rd to Coogee Beach. This inlet has more swimming than surfing but I still cannot get over the detail and thought put in to all the promenades and walkways for the beaches. Aussies do think of everything!! While I had a bite to eat I even enjoyed a plane writer spell out ‘Miss U Baby ’ Haha now every guy in town is saying they did that for their girlfriend! So I made the trek up from Coogee beach via Dolphins point, around Gordon’s Bay, with its slate rock cliffs and up & over to Clovelly. Clovelly is this rather narrow inlet that looks like it must be good for snorkeling as everyone was geared and up and swimming around checking out the fish and coral. Also it was an area truly studded with sunbathers that were doing a lot of checking each other out  Then it was up passed the most incredibly scenic lawn bowling location, almost made me want to join, & on to the old Waverly Cemetery. Definitely an amazing view for a final resting place. I sat and watched the Tasman Sea crash and bounce off the rocks and the huge freighters in the shipping lanes off in the distance. I soaked up the sun and tried to take it all in. For the last legs of the journey I took in Bronte Beach, to Tamarama Beach and Mackenzie’s bay where the waves crash against the rocks while surfers wade out, timing the waves in order to not get pushed up against the rocks and damage their precious boards!


Back to Bondi for a relaxing lie on the beach while reading my book…….. early night for an early surf lesson. When I signed the safety waiver and contract this afternoon, there was a whole section on ‘you may be bitten or stung by a ocean creature e.g. fish, stingray, jellyfish or shark’ haha here’s hoping that none of that occurs while trying to swim, paddle my board, and just, in general, stay alive!!


Bondi Beach – Wednesday March 9th, 2011


I really don’t think there is a better way to get up than to head to the beach for a surf. That’s exactly what I did this morning, joining the 8 a.m. surf lesson with the ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ surf school. After getting into our short wetsuits (since the water is incredibly warm!) and green rashguard shirts (more so we can be spotted by the instructors, other annoyed surfers and laughing onlookers on the beach) the 10 of us and our 2 instructors, Blake & Adrian, headed for the beach. After a brief safety session, stretching and a review of our goals for the day (mine was to stand up and ride a couple waves in……. I think it is good to be realistic and have fun at the same time!) we grabbed our 9” foot boards and started dragging them down to the ‘surfing section’ of the beach. Blake was really good at explaining, through sand demonstration of course, how the sand bars create waves and on either side are the rips, deep water sections that the waves barrel back out to sea through. Avoiding the rips is rather key as a learner, and not too worry our group did A OK on that. After feeling it out, getting use to the waves crashing on, over and every which way really just in standing and holding the board in a ready position. With Blake’s help at first, I rode some in on my stomach, pushing myself up and feeling the ability to turn the board just by leaning left or right. Moving on with 2 of the other guys, we worked on our popup, foot placement, and timing of the wave cresting on the back of the board. Very cool and SUPER fun!. I definitely stood up and rode several of them in, my best being the last one in! Of our group of 5, I was up there in looking pretty good (not that that mattered by it felt good none the less). My nose, mouth, throat and lungs definitely have had a thorough sea salt water cleanse. Amazingly exhausting though……. And was content when Blake said we had been out there for nearly 2 hours and the lesson was over. I couldn’t imagine going at it for any longer. I do look forward to renting a board and giving it another go sometime soon!

Oh and just if anyone tunes into Korean T.V. in their spare time you could potentially spot me being interviewed by 2 Korean girls. The 2 of them were the others in my surf lesson and of course came with entourage of translators, 2 cameramen (one in the water often getting in my way!), organizer and I am pretty sure makeup person. The 2 girls are part of some reality tv program and this episode is one that will air in April about them traveling through Australia. Now I should mention, neither of these 2 girls even attempted to say hello during the entire lesson and pretty much just played for the camera the entire lesson. & yes, I was really close to taking out the cameramen in the water, I figured ‘hey buddy, this is MY surf lesson too!’ haha anyways at the end of it the organizer lady asked me if I would mind being interviewed about surfing and the lesson & I looked at her and honestly, laughed out loud. Picture me exhausted, covered in sand, my eyes completely bloodshot from the water and my hair doing whatever it wants, standing there in my bikini. So she won that round and you could potentially see me surfing at Bondi beach on a Korean television program near you 

With a little revival post shower and food, I just took the day to putter around the streets of Bondi, window shopping, reading my book & relaxing at the beach. A truly fantastic day capped off with my sitting in the park, watching the massive cumulus clouds over the beach with surfers, swimmers, paddle boarders and lifesaving rowboats scatter the waves and beach. I really like it here!