Sydney Part II: Battered and bruised on the beach
Trip Start
Jan 14, 2008
1
7
22
Trip End
Mar 05, 2008
Sydney,
Australia
Friday, January 25, 2008
So Andrew and I woke up on Tuesday and had breakfast at Simpson's consisting of an assortment of fresh breads and french press coffee. We left the hotel and walked through Kings Cross to catch the 380 bus that would take us to Bondi beach. After a 20 minute ride through various Sydney neighborhoods filled with their hip restaurants and trendy shops, we ended our journey in the beautiful suburb of Bondi.
We walked down the hill admiring the beautiful view of the beach and picked up a couple of towels at a convenience store that robbed us of $40 for two towels. Armed with my Blue Bondi beach towel and Andrew with his yellow Australia towel we practically screamed American tourists as we approached the mile long white sand beach with rolling blue and turquoise waves. There were beautiful people everywhere and Andrew and I set our things down to enjoy the early afternoon sunshine and took turns braving the waves between the flags under the watchful eye of very experienced lifeguards cruising the beach in their ATV's. It was perfect beach weather... warm with a little bit of a breeze to keep us comfortable but not too cool.
After a couple hours lounging in the soft sand, we ventured down Hall Street to find a spot to have lunch. After scoping out our numerous options, we opted for the cafe that seemed to be packed with locals. I think the place was called Le Paris-A-Go and if you ever find yourself at Bondi, you must go as it was spectacular. I had one of the best salads I have ever had that consisted of a standard Greek salad with incredibly fresh ingredients with fantastic tuna and an enormous orange mango frappe to quench my thirst. I could see why the locals were in such great shape as this was a meal that was healthy that I could eat every day!
After lunch, Andrew and I decided to do the cliff walk towards Bronte Beach. We took it slow as Andrew had developed an amazing blister after our two 10+ mile walking days through the streets of Sydney. Andrew had unfortunately opted to wear his cool looking Diesel shoes instead of his Nike Trail runners our first two days in Sydney, and I have to admit that it might be my fault as he thought that I might disapprove of his clunky trail runners, but I told him that this vacation was not about being fashionable. Anyway, there we were, taking a wonderful stroll past crashing waves, fit runners and beautiful views of the Australian shoreline. As we returned to Bondi we watched surfers, who had probably just returned home from work, run down the rocky shore and time their jumps into the ocean surf perfectly between 20 foot waves and paddle out to sea. It was an amazing sight. No wonder why some of the best surfers are from Australia. Upon getting closer back to Bondi, we couldn't believe it was already 5pm as we were meeting Kate at Icebergs at 5:30pm.
Icebergs is an awesome private Swim Club at one end of Bondi. It has spectacular views and individuals who reside outside of Sydney can be granted access to enjoy food and drink. Andrew and I changed from our beach clothes and sat down on the deck overlooking the two salt water lap pools below. Andrew and I loved watching the waves crash against the wall and occasionally make it into the pool where swimmers were doing their late afternoon laps. We had a couple of beers and took in the scenery as the surfing crowd began to grow in the distance. Kate came in fresh of of work and gave us a little history on Iceberg's. Apparently part of the initiation process is to show up in the very early morning on 12 consecutive Sunday's and swim for an hour in the chilly pool with nothing more than a bathing suit (or for men, a "Budgie Smuggler" as they call it).
The three of us walked down to Bondi to the Bondi Open Air theater, one of 3-4 outdoor theaters that emerge throughout Sydney during the Summer. We had purchased tickets to see "Death at a Funeral" prior to leaving the states. We wanted to go to the St George Theater located in the Botanical Gardens on the harbour overlooking the Opera House and the Harbour bridge, but those tickets had sold out almost immediately upon going on sale, despite costing twice as much as the other theaters. So we settled on Bondi and it was a great choice.
As we entered the open air theater and settled in on our bean bags, we listed to a live band and had some wine as we waited for the sun to set in the distance. We loved the relaxed vibe in the place and really enjoyed sitting in the late afternoon sun just hanging out. Before entering into the small amphitheater, we grabbed a bottle of local Shiraz to take into the show with us. The sun set around 8:30pm and with that the crowd quieted and the movie began. As the full moon rose to our right we were highly entertained by the hysterical British comedy. There were moments when Andrew and I were crying we were laughing so hard. I think we were both shocked by how great the movie was and it wasn't just because we were sitting under the stars drinking wine and watching a movie. It was just so good!!
After the movie we were in great spirits and hopped in a cab to Surry Hills where we walked back through King's cross to our charming Bed and Breakfast.
We woke up on Wednesday morning a little bit burnt. Apparently we had missed a few spots when applying our sunscreen. Andrew had missed his feet, which had already taken a beating and I missed my neck, which now was bright red surrounding the outline of my wishbone necklace I forget to take off. Undeterred we made our way down to Circular Quay to hop the ferry to Many Beach, a 30-minute ride from downtown Sydney. Upon arriving we were starving and were directed by Keith at Simpson's to walk to Shellie Beach, a smaller beach near Manly to have lunch at a place called Le Kiosk. On our way there we passed an adorable cafe that looked like it had great food and upon making it to Shellie Beach we decided to return to the little cafe called Bower Restaurant where we sat down and had the most spectacular view of the ocean through the wide open windows. We felt like we were in an oceanside restaurant in Greece or Croatia with it's white walls and blue ocean outside. We had a wonderful lunch there.
After lunch we made our way back to Manly where we rented surf boards right on the beach. The waves looked a little big for yours truly, combine that with many breaks and having only surfed once before and Andrew having sworn off surfing after his last day at Ocean Beach a year or two ago we approached the water slowly with boards in hand. We spent the better part of half an hour riding the surf and fighting the strong currents that seemed to constantly drag us right to where the surf was the worst. After enduring some fairly significant scrapes on my stomach and thighs and a nice sand burn on my right knee, I felt utterly defeated (I should mention here that Andrew and I both got up which was a big accomplishment considering the circumstances. Andrew repeated, "I'll be happy if I never set foot on a surf board again" and with that we turned in our surf boards for boogie boards and body boarded through the crowds in large waves. I got tossed a few times and looked like a drowned rat when the end of our hour had arrived.
Battered and bruised and Andrew with his blister, sun burnt feet and chafing legs from having a swim suit on for two days straight made our way back to the ferry and opted for the 4:45pm Jet Cat that would get us back to Sydney as quickly as possible. Our trip to Manly was a little less enjoyable than our trip to Bondi, but who can complain when you are on a beautiful beach in Sydney in the warm Summer sunshine.
We both took long hot showers and nursed our wounds back in our room. Feeling much better we made our way up Challis to get a well deserved drink. Keith had told us to go to the hidden back room of Lotus, a super trendy restaurant. We made our way through the hipsters to the small doorway and were immediately introduced to a dimly lit small room with a back lit alabaster bar and a bar menu with some of the most incredibly cocktails. After having our staple beer for Andrew and Martini for me, we ventured out of our comfort zone and ordered a detox julip and the old Cuban. Both were fantastic!
It was 8:30pm when we left the bar and we were surprised to see it was still light out. Oh how I love the Southern Hemisphere in January. We decided to have dinner at this cute little bistro I had spotted the night before called Macleay St.
On the beach at Bondi
Bistro. It was BYO, so while Andrew ran to the bottle shop to get us a bottle of Peter Lehman Shiraz to formally introduce us to our next destination, the Barossa Valley, I scoped out the delicious menu. We had freshly shucked oysters and I had the spinach and ricotta Gnocki with roasted capers. Andrew opted for the Spatchcock with peas and pancetta that he claims was his best meal in the last two weeks. You may be asking what Spatchcock is, as we had to ask ourselves the same question. Apparently it is a young chicken and it was beautifully presented, thankfully unlike in Hong Kong... without the head. After an incredibly enjoyable dinner we finished packing and got ready for our early flight out to Adelaide and the Barossa Valley. We were both very sad to leave Sydney, but that is what happens when you have a short time to travel, you have to keep moving. I think Sydney will remain in the top 5 cities that we have visited, right up there with Florence, London and our very own San Francisco. But as I finish this entry, I might have to say that Sydney has taken over the #1 spot!! Onwards and forwards we go. Golf and wine tasting, here we come!
