Chutes and Ladders

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Yesterday (our Thursday) was a brilliant sunny day and Les actually had it off, so we decided to brave the famous cliff walk, stairs and all. We took Abby in her stroller and just mentally geared up for lots of portages, so to speak, up and down the cliffs. In all, there were about 8 sets of stairs and only one was so heinously steep that we took her out and carried her.

Well, it’s just a great walk. Worth every pulled muscle. It winds along the cliffs from Bondi Beach all the way south to Coogee Beach. In between you pass about four other beaches all with their own little thing. Some beaches specialize in play areas for children, some in surfing, some in snorkeling and some in cliff-side benches for leathery looking retirees in minimal bathing suit wear.

All the beaches have ‘baths’ which are actual pool areas carved into the cliff. These baths have real swimming lanes painted down them and are a very popular form of exercise. Many beaches have children’s baths that are either shallow or more tidal areas where kids can go nuts without being swept away by riptides or eaten by sharks.

During one part of the 6.4 km walk (don’t think that means I’ve converted to metric, I just have no idea what the equivalent mileage is - something like 4.78904) we passed by the Clovelly bowling club. Now, this isn’t bowling like we know, and for that matter it’s not like really anything as far as I can tell. It seemed that yesterday there was a tournament underway. It looked very busy and serious but neither Les nor I could figure out any rules. It’s not crocket, it’s not bocci ball and it certainly isn’t bowling in the pin and strikeout way.

As we watched we saw the members walk up to some invisible line with their ball (a small grapefruit sized ball) and stare intently down the pristine lawn and then roll it toward another unseen line. That was it. Really. But, they played their rolling game at the edge of the cliff with a fabulous view of the ocean and all the towns north and south, so maybe it’s all just a very elaborate ruse to have a reason to stand atop a cliff all afternoon.

The walk also takes you through the Waverley cemetery. It looks like a smart place to be buried. Big fancy tombs all with great ocean views - a guaranteed way to ensure people will come and place flowers on your headstone.

Our final destination, Coogee, is a beautiful town. It also comes after a final, fairly nasty jaunt up a ridiculous cliff, down into a steep and seemingly pointless beachless valley full of old grounded dinghies, and then back up, up, up, up to the top of a big hill which overlooks Coogee. When you finally stumble down the last bit of that stretch a Motel 6 and a McDonalds would look like a beautiful resort town. But let’s assume it really is a lovely place. It’s much less touristy and busy than Bondi with a quieter, more refined, beach atmosphere, still lined with cafes and people with happy dogs. We celebrated completing our walk by having ‘wedges with cream and chili’. Basically big wedge shaped French fries covered in sour cream and a sweet chili sauce. A heart attack in a bowl no doubt, but so, so good! I think we have found our new regular appetizer.

All in all it’s a great walk. Our guide books say there is an equally scenic walk north from Bondi to Vaucluse but I think we may save that one until we get a baby backpack. We probably only have one of these, “Pick up the front of the stroller. Now go sideways. Wait. Ok lift and pull the wheel out of the stair corner.” type walks in our marriage 
Ebay Australia is listing a lot of baby backpacks so perhaps a northern walk report won’t be far off…….

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Photos

Bowling
Note the 'game' behind Les.

Final Destination
The final stop - Coogee Beach.

Comments

[laurapb]

what a travel guide
Esther, you're amazing! Your plate is full yet you find time to enter these amazing recaps of your journey! It's wonderful. By the time your finished, you'll have a book that certainly over rides and current travel guide - one that's certainly much more entertaining! I'll look to send a personal update via comcast soon. I'm thrilled to be part of this special group watching your life from the sidelines.

[Jen]

backpacks
Abraham loves the backpack, although haven't used it for long duration yet. Cannot imagine doing that walk with a stroller! Looks like so much fun though!

[Daisy]

wow, the more I read of your journal, the more I wish Ed could get a 6 month stint in Australia!! It sounds beautiful and amazing.