Waterside wanderings
Sydney is known as the Harbour City, thanks to its siting on either side of the rather expansive Port Jackson—comprised of Sydney Harbour, North Harbour, Middle Harbour, Lane Cove, etc. But the harbour(s) is far from the only water that defines the city. There's also the Parramatta, Lane Cove and Georges rivers (to name just a few), Botany Bay, and of course, the Pacific Ocean (more specifically, the Tasman Sea—the part of the South Pacific which separates Australia and New Zealand).
Truly, Sydney is a city that is synonymous with water. After all, think of Sydney and probably the first things that come to mind are surfing, the Harbour Bridge, and the Opera House, with its sail-like form. All conveniently related to water.
While I am hardly a beach person, there are plenty of opportunities to interact with the coast without stepping foot on the beach. And over the last few weeks, I have gone to see the sea quite a few times, from a range of different vantage points.
Sunday morning, Candice and I ventured out to the suburb of Bondi—home to arguably one of the most famous beaches in the world. Though, in all fairness we didn't actually go out to the beach, but instead went to meet some friends for brunch. We spent the morning in the waterside suburb and enjoyed an amazing meal, catching up with mates, and a few hours in the back garden chatting and playing with cats. All in, an excellent way to spend a sunny spring Sunday.
Speaking of spring, the weather has been warming up as Australia quickly moves towards what promises to be an unforgiving summer. During the day, temperatures will get into the low-20s (mid-70s F), while at night it still gets down into the low-teens (low-50s). With the sun, however, it can feel pretty toasty during the day.
You can bet as the days get longer, I am using plenty of sunscreen as the sun is actually stronger in Australia than pretty much anywhere else in the world. No joke.
And in another effort to combat the harsh rays, I am now the owner of an akubra—the genericised (not technically a word, but it should be: think "kleenex") term for the quintessential Aussie hat, which borrows its name from a brand (which likely borrows its name from an Aboriginal word). It has the added benefit of coming in handy when I get asked to take my turn as PM (I am referencing a specific, infamous incident with the old PM Malcolm Turnbull) for a few days at some point during my time here. After all, if you learned anything from my politics lesson last month, it's that pretty much everyone in Australia will get a chance to be PM.
I digress (as usual)...
While we were practically beach-adjacent this weekend, the topic of being near the water prompts me to wrap up some final thoughts from the last few weeks.
Undoubtedly, Bondi is the most famous of the Eastern Beaches, but there are plenty of things to see along the coast. One of the nicest walks you can take in the city is undoubtedly the Coogee to Bondi walk (nearly the reverse of a walk I did in 2012), which traverses sandy beaches and stony cliffs. It is a must to see for any visitor, and the way we filled Zach's last day in the city. It was definitely worth the wait.
After spending the morning shopping for souvenirs at the big market in the city, we caught a bus down to Coogee Beach, just a half-hour ride from my place. We found a restaurant for a hardy lunch as we knew there was a lot of walking in our future.
We started out on the trek northward to Bondi, rising from the sandy beach (which was surprisingly busy for a winter Friday just after noon; shouldn't these people be working?) to the cliffs.
The walk from Coogee rises first to Dolphin Point, offering a panoramic view of Thompsons Bay. It then follows the clifftop around Gordons Bay and out a point before diving down to the shore on a very narrow beach called Clovelly. The path then rises back up to Shark Point, which offers great photo opportunities with a dramatic rocky cliff (see akurbra photo above).
After Shark Point, the trip then goes into one of its neatest parts: Waverley Cemetery. Perched on a sloping lawn ending in a steep cliff-face over the Pacific, the setting couldn't be more stunning.
The next beach along the way (which of course involves another descent from the cliffs down to the beach, followed by an ascent back up the cliffs on the other side) is Bronte, another wide beach like Coogee.
Truly, Sydney is a city that is synonymous with water. After all, think of Sydney and probably the first things that come to mind are surfing, the Harbour Bridge, and the Opera House, with its sail-like form. All conveniently related to water.
While I am hardly a beach person, there are plenty of opportunities to interact with the coast without stepping foot on the beach. And over the last few weeks, I have gone to see the sea quite a few times, from a range of different vantage points.
Sunday morning, Candice and I ventured out to the suburb of Bondi—home to arguably one of the most famous beaches in the world. Though, in all fairness we didn't actually go out to the beach, but instead went to meet some friends for brunch. We spent the morning in the waterside suburb and enjoyed an amazing meal, catching up with mates, and a few hours in the back garden chatting and playing with cats. All in, an excellent way to spend a sunny spring Sunday.
 |
| Very, very excited about brunch. |
Speaking of spring, the weather has been warming up as Australia quickly moves towards what promises to be an unforgiving summer. During the day, temperatures will get into the low-20s (mid-70s F), while at night it still gets down into the low-teens (low-50s). With the sun, however, it can feel pretty toasty during the day.
You can bet as the days get longer, I am using plenty of sunscreen as the sun is actually stronger in Australia than pretty much anywhere else in the world. No joke.
And in another effort to combat the harsh rays, I am now the owner of an akubra—the genericised (not technically a word, but it should be: think "kleenex") term for the quintessential Aussie hat, which borrows its name from a brand (which likely borrows its name from an Aboriginal word). It has the added benefit of coming in handy when I get asked to take my turn as PM (I am referencing a specific, infamous incident with the old PM Malcolm Turnbull) for a few days at some point during my time here. After all, if you learned anything from my politics lesson last month, it's that pretty much everyone in Australia will get a chance to be PM.
 |
| Sun protection isn't a joke; even if I look pretty funny. Note that I am totally dressed for this week's update, complete with nautical stripes on my shirt, anchors on my shorts, and a seaworthy background. |
I digress (as usual)...
While we were practically beach-adjacent this weekend, the topic of being near the water prompts me to wrap up some final thoughts from the last few weeks.
A trip to Manly and North Head
As I have mentioned before, Manly is a suburb on the north shore and is home to Sydney's other famous surfing beach (along with Bondi). The 30-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay to Manly offers spectacular views of the entire harbour and is definitely a must for any visitor.
Now, while I have wandered Manly a few times over the years, I had never taken time to go visit the National Park situated on North Head (the northernmost peninsula forming the mouth of the harbour at the Pacific Ocean). After a lunch of fish and chips, Zach and I struck out along the Pacific coastline, climbing up and up from the beach to reach the top of the cliffs which form the headlands. The walk traverses acres upon acres of scrub and low forest on the large rocky peninsula, much of it comprising the North Head Sanctuary—military facilities dating to WWII, and before.
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| Some of the best views were from a clifftop cemetery from the 1800s, when the area was used as a quarantine station. |
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't know of the area at all. And considering it includes dozens of buildings, monuments, and historic artifacts from the 1930s and 1940s, there's quite a bit to see. Even though we had a few hours, we barely scratched the surface. I hope to go back soon to explore more.
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| The view toward the Sydney skyline from North Head Sanctuary. |
Our visit to Manly was cut short by the need to get back to the city for dinner with friends (Sushi on Stanley, so you know I wasn't about to be late) that night. Of course, the journey back was something to look forward to as well, as it meant a sunset ferry ride through the harbour.
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| Heading back to the city on the Manly ferry. |
Eastern beaches
While back-to-back coastal excursions may seem a strange thing to do with a visitor, especially in the winter, the variety of vistas offered on the different sections of coastline in Sydney makes the activities pretty distinct. Thursday in Manly was nice, but I knew Friday out at the Eastern Beaches (the Pacific beaches on the south side of the harbour, east of the city centre) would be an ideal way to tick off an important Sydneysider site.
Undoubtedly, Bondi is the most famous of the Eastern Beaches, but there are plenty of things to see along the coast. One of the nicest walks you can take in the city is undoubtedly the Coogee to Bondi walk (nearly the reverse of a walk I did in 2012), which traverses sandy beaches and stony cliffs. It is a must to see for any visitor, and the way we filled Zach's last day in the city. It was definitely worth the wait.
After spending the morning shopping for souvenirs at the big market in the city, we caught a bus down to Coogee Beach, just a half-hour ride from my place. We found a restaurant for a hardy lunch as we knew there was a lot of walking in our future.
We started out on the trek northward to Bondi, rising from the sandy beach (which was surprisingly busy for a winter Friday just after noon; shouldn't these people be working?) to the cliffs.
 |
| Looking south down the coastline back toward Coogee from Clovelly on the walk north. |
The walk from Coogee rises first to Dolphin Point, offering a panoramic view of Thompsons Bay. It then follows the clifftop around Gordons Bay and out a point before diving down to the shore on a very narrow beach called Clovelly. The path then rises back up to Shark Point, which offers great photo opportunities with a dramatic rocky cliff (see akurbra photo above).
After Shark Point, the trip then goes into one of its neatest parts: Waverley Cemetery. Perched on a sloping lawn ending in a steep cliff-face over the Pacific, the setting couldn't be more stunning.
 |
| What a way to spend eternity. |
The next beach along the way (which of course involves another descent from the cliffs down to the beach, followed by an ascent back up the cliffs on the other side) is Bronte, another wide beach like Coogee.
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| Looking south across Bronte Beach. |
Finally, it's a quick walk to Tamarama Beach, a narrow beach like Clovelly, though from all accounts it's pretty great for surfing, before rounding Mackenzies Point and descending to the grandest beach of them all: Bondi. All in, the walk took around two hours. We couldn't have asked for better weather.
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| Bondi, in all its glory. |
So there you have it, a bit of info about some of the waterside wanderings of the last few weeks. Now that I feel I am caught up enough on all the highlights, I hope to return to my regular once-a-weekend post schedule. Fingers crossed.
Also, I've added a few photos of me into things, which I used to not do as I said I would post things on Facebook. Clearly, I've been falling down on the job. Hope the brunch and akubra photo more than makes up for it! Or, if you want a personalised post card, make sure I'm up to date with your address.
Also, I've added a few photos of me into things, which I used to not do as I said I would post things on Facebook. Clearly, I've been falling down on the job. Hope the brunch and akubra photo more than makes up for it! Or, if you want a personalised post card, make sure I'm up to date with your address.
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