Bondi Beach is up there with the Copacabana as one of the world’s most famous beaches.  I’m not a  great fan of lying on a beach, soaking up the sun, but it was inevitable that I would visit Bondi during my time in Sydney.  It’s one of the things that has to be done.  To get there, I took the train from the city centre to Bondi Junction and then a bus to Bondi Beach.  A quick look at the queue for the bus revealed what Bondi is most famous for:

Bondi Junction was a bit of a concrete sprall, with the train and bus staions sitting next to a couple of substantial shopping centres.  The area around the beach itself had some more character but certainly didn’t, for me at least, have the charm of Darlinghurst.  I needed to find breakfast, and TIme Out suggested a place called Il Piadino.  This served (very good) coffee and flatbreads (or folded pizzas) with interesting toppings/fillings.  The one I chose was topped with smashed avocado (it really is ubiquitous here), dried oregano, crumbled feta and roasted cherry tomatoes:

It was wonderfully savoury, though the intensity of the oregano and the saltiness of the feta was just a little too marked for my tastes.

I strolled down the the beach and up to the North end of it, took my shoes and socks off and walked the length of the beach, paddling in the surf.  I’m not a surfer but even I could see that Bondi has quite astonishing surf.  Busy though it was, it is a beautiful beach, steeply shelved in places but tucked in a lovely bay with rocky outcrops projecting on either side.

Peter and Jenny, the Melbourne couple I had met at Manly, had recommended the Sculpture by the Sea walk from Bondi Beach to Tamarama Beach, the next beach south of Bondi, so, at the south end of the beach I headed for this.  Sculpture by the Sea is and annual event in Sydney and 2016 is the 20th iteration.  Sculptures are installed along the footpath between the two beaches, the catalogue listing 104 pieces.  Signs on the bus had suggested that there would be congestion as a result of this exhibition and I was astonished by how many people were walking the path, enjoying the art.  I’m no connoisseur of art but some of the works were intriguing, some puzzling, some entertaining and some challenging.  Some, of course, simply made me wonder how they could be called art.

“Travelling Bag” by Yumin Jing, with Bondi Beach in the background

The coastal path not only featured these sculptures but also provided simply stunning views of the Sydney coastline.  It was so beautiful that, when I got to Tamarama Beach I decided to carry on along the path.

A typical view from the coastal path, with North Bondi on the far right

One notable sight you pass is the Waverley cemetery, a very large cemetery, located right on the cliffs’ edge.  Looking at a few of the headstones and monuments revealed this as the resting place of governors and archbishops, amongst other but most notably, for me, the Australian cricketer Victor Trumper also rests here.

A view across Waverley Cemetery

I thought quite seriously about continuing as far as La Perouse, the headland at the south tip of this length of coast where New South Wales Golf Club (where I’m playing tomorrow) is located.  NSW is famous for being located on a spectacular piece of land and this walk was certainly whetting my appetite for the game there tomorrow. I walked on for a couple of hours but decided that La Perouse, at least two more hours further on, was too far.  I reached Coogee Beach and had a late lunch at the Coogee Pavilion.  This three story building was striking and it’s light and airy interior made for a really cool place for lunch.  It was very busy and, I suspect would be a great place to have an evening drink in the summer.

Prawn and Scallop Ceviche

 

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