Bondi Beach - not that impressed....

Today has been a bank holiday, so after a fabulous sleep, Em and I did what all Aussies do on a BH and took an Uber to the beach!

Got to say, I am just not sure what all of the hype is about Bondi Beach - it's nice and all, but it is just a beach, and not all that big either. we have better beaches in the UK - but what we don't have is the weather...

It is Autumn here, and I was swimming in the sea! Pretty cool. We did not swim at Bondi, we did the Bondi to Coogee walk - it is supposed to take about an hour, but as I am so old (I am 65, a retiree and very unfit) it took us much longer than that.

Moscrop Girls back together again!

We started at the Bondi Icebergs, which is a famous club, like a lido with man made pools and a bar and restaurant. It looked ok, there is an entry fee - but the swimming is shark free!

I went toe to toe with the Iceberg Club mascot...

I think I could take him....

We stopped at Em's favourite beach - Bronte Beach - which is where we swam, and it was fresh!

Again there is a lido type pool (no fee) where we swam first (no sharks allowed) - what3words agents.teeth.bronze, then we moved on to the more open area just off the beach, but it is still protected by some fairly hefty boulders, so again - no sharks.... the beach is much bigger than the pic shows, I was just focussed in on the rock pool area.

It was nice just to take it easy and wind down a bit, just shoot the breeze and get familiar with each other again - she was carrying a sign at the airport to remind me who she was afterall.

The walk took us right along the coastline, up and down the cliffs (a LOT of steps, and ALL of them different height treads!)

but the sea has made some pretty patterns in cliff faces, it really brought home the power behind the waves.

We passed another bowls club - I tell you, it is a BIG thing over here

This one does have an added advantage (in season)

There were lots of other beaches and swim spots that we passed along the way, including a really pretty place called Clovelly (what3words rapid.vonunteered.cafe) which is perfect for a pre work dip - why? because although it is a lovely beach in a deep cove, so fewer waves, it has an area by the swimming pool which is only rocks so much easier to shower off and get to work without still finding sand in your pants at lunchtime.

We ended up here

which is Coogee beach (what3words windy.supper.tools) - a really vibrant and buzzing place.

Lots of families throwing sangers on the barbi and either playing beach volleyball (they bring their own nets etc. as well as the ones provided on the beach)

or Aussie rules football...

or playing with their dogs - there are a LOT of Dachshunds here for some reason!

The bars that we passed seemed really busy with folks partying and making the best of the BH weekend.

I agree with Em, there are nicer places to swim than either Bondi or Coogee, but it depends what you are looking for.... did I mention that I swam in the sea and there were no sharks.....that is all I was looking for.

At the end of the walk Em told me we could Lime Bike it home (think Boris Bike in London - Lime Bikes are big here - and yes, they are lime coloured) I did think she is trying to kill me, but she was just kidding and we took the bus home - it took about an hour and cost 53p - absolute bargain!

Just as we were getting on the bus Em got a message from her neighbour - she had left the keys to her house in the front door and they must have been there all day! She was silent all of the way home - really worried that she might have been burgled (again!) but when we got to the neighbours house she had the keys safe and sound - it turns out that another person had noticed the keys in the door and knocked on the neighbour's house to tell them! How nice of them - a. not to burgle the house and b. to tell the neighbour so she could take them in for safe keeping! I mean I would have been gutted if my new macbook had been stollen when Em has only started teaching me how to use it!

Em suggested we went for a walk around Sydney Harbour, but one look at my face and she got the message that I was all walked out for the day, so she made me a delicious dinner of mushroom fajitas and at 8pm we are settled in for the night. Poor Em has to work tomorrow, but I am sure I can find some shenanigans to keep me occupied