Filling The Pages

There are a lot of great things about Sydney. Great nightlife, busy streets, and all that comes with it. But of course you can’t really talk about Sydney without mentioning the beaches. I’d say three of the most famous beaches are the three I’ve visited over the last week: Bondi, Coogee and Manly.

Last week I hit Bondi Beach with a few friends to spend some time on Sydney’s most famous strip of sand. It’s not huge, especially after you see Manly, but it’s big enough and it’s PACKED mostly with the likes of us, i.e. backpackers, and surfing aficionados, i.e. not us… The surf is KILLER. There’s probably some cool surfer dude term for that, but I wouldn’t know…ahhh one day. I did attempt swimming for about three minutes. I went out until the water hit my thighs (so you know, ten feet from shore) before the waves were already creeping up and over my head, sucking me under. I’m a strong enough swimmer to handle that, but my bikini is not, and after a couple of minutes I decided that was enough indecent exposure and headed back to shore. Not to self: buy more secure bathing suits…

Craig did rent a surf board and gave it a go, but I think after a handful of near death experiences the board was kindly returned to its shop. I think we all need lessons…

I’ll most likely be headed back to Bondi Beach on Christmas day so you’ll hear more about it soon.

Coogee Beach was a brief visit for a free barbeque with Oz Party Bus! I took a walk around the beach talking about the greatness of the Oz Party Christmas Eve Cruise and their bi-weekly party bus that rides around a few of Sydney’s bars each Thursday and Saturday. I found a lot of Aussies on Coogee. Okay, sounds crazy – Australians on an Australian beach?! What?! But honestly, after Bondi Backpacker Heaven, it was actually strange coming across so many locals.

Beach number three: Manly. My favourite beach. Maybe because it’s on the north side of Sydney (the side I also live on) or maybe because it really is the nicest. It’s a little confusing because there are rather small unimpressive beaches next to Manly Wharf but walk through town and you find a large, soft sand beach. Bigger than Coogee and Bondi and in a nicer part of town. The waves here are much more manageable, the atmosphere is more catered towards families, and you don’t trip over beer bottles and cigarette butts on your way to the water’s edge. Not that Bondi or Manly are unpleasant – I promise they’re still fun. In fact, Bondi is the best beach for accessibility the the centre of Sydney, and for social events as it is where you’ll find most of the working holidayers around here. But for chilled out afternoon lying on the sand. Manly is the way to go.

My next stop is Melbourne for a few days!

Update: I am working! At the moment I have some promotions work which means I get to walk the streets, let myself into random office buildings, and walk around the shops all day, and on top of it all they send me on business trips to Melbourne! Not bad. I’ll be spending a lot of the time working, but I’ll do what I can to explore the city and report back.

Until then, Happy Holidays!