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Published: July 19th 2012
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Coogee Beach
Mid winter and people swimming:) The last few days have definately seen an improvement in the weather. Its still been very chilly at night, but in the day its been sunny with temperatures reaching over 20 degrees on several occasions. With the forecast for last Saturday promising to be good, we decided to continue our exploration of the Sydney suburbs, this time the Eastern Suburbs and the stretch of beaches between the famous Bondi and Coogee.
There is a great 6km coastal walk from Bondi-Coogee which Julian has done before, but I am saving that myself until we have company. Today we just wanted to explore the area by car and get a feel of the area.
We started to the south of Coogee and wandered down to the beach which was quite sheltered and so very popular with families. Most beaches around Sydney seem to have outdoor sea water pools by the beach and there were 3 public baths along the shore in Coogee, including one for 'females only'. We laughed at the payment system for this which consisted of a bucket and a sign asking for 20 cents per person. Coogee was quite busy and a typical seaside town, with its mix
of bit shabby and then quite trendy cafes etc tucked away and a HUGE hotel/bar on the front so imagine it gets quite lively in the summer.
It was a beautiful warm, sunny day, loads of people were out and we were greeted by a typical beach scene - people swimming, surfing & sunbathing, sea gulls, groups of people playing volleyball, smells of sausages wafting from the outside barbeque's. However, we were taken aback by the fact that
this was the Oz winter, UK's January equivalent and many of the people swimming didnt even have wetsuits on! It really was quite amazing to get our head around as there is no way that could be happening at home in January. Just bear this in mind if you look hard at whats going on in the photos.
We walked up to Dolphin Point on the Northern side of the bay giving a good view back down on the beach, to where there is a wonderful sculpture in memory of the 20 Australians from the Eastern Suburbs who were killed in the Bali bombings of 2002. Inside another structure was a list of all the names of those 20 with
Waverley Cemetery
What an amazing spot to end your days! photographs all looking young, beautiful and carefree. Very sad.
The shops in Coogee centred around one main street with some interesting little cafes and when we saw one selling Campos Coffee, decided this made for a good pit stop and had a fab coffee sat outside in the sun watching the world go by.
We then drove to the pretty little Clovelly Bay, home to one of the first surf life saving clubs in the world, Clovelly Surf Life Saving Club, which was founded in 1906.
Just a bit further round the coast is the famous Cemetery at Waverley. This covers several acres of dramatic coastline and with its cliff top position, has amazing views overlooking the sea. This is thought to be the cemetery on one of the most expensive real estate in Sydney and certainly takes some beating for a spot to end your days. Opened in 1877, it contains the graves of many prominant Australians including the poets/author Henry Lawson & Dorothea Mackellar and Australias first Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton. It also featured in Mel Gibson's 1979 film, 'Tim' which I watched by accident at the Chapmans house when back in the UK
earlier this year. I recognised several areas round here including Palm Beach where it is set which is just up the road from where we live. It looked a very old film now though with a VERY young Mel Gibson!
Next up was Bronte, built on a hill and the most frustrating place to park (unless you were local where you would get a residents parking permit). Because of this it initially felt very claustrophobic and almost put us off stopping, but luckily we eventually got lucky with a spot and pleased that we did as this was probably my favourite place of the day.
The beach is surrounded by Bronte Park and there is a really nice, large grassy area right down by the beach. This was complete with seveeral outdoor BBQ's, tables and benches and was buzzing with people picnicking and just enjoying the outside air. There was a row of restaurants leading away from the beach that all looked amazing and where we stopped for lunch and had a fabulous meal. While there, we sat next to a young couple with maybe the ugliest dog I have ever seen. I'm sorry, I know thats really
Outdoor Baths, Coogee
Swimmer not in wetsuit!!! bad to say, but its true. Has anyone else come across French Bulldogs? It was like their baby and they were so proud of her, but she was REALLY ugly! It was very sweet natured but we couldn't help feel so sorry for it. The breed must have loads of breathing problems😞
Anyway, moving swiftly on.....Next was Tamarama, apparantly nicknamed Glamarama as according to Wikipedia it 'is a beach where wannabe trend setters come to sunbathe and swim or simply try to be seen'. Well, there you go, we were there. LOL. It was very nice but can't say it had any more of a 'wow' factor than many other places we have been and failed on famous people spotting.
It
was home to Australia's first coastal amusement park complete with aquarium opened in 1887, but that has not been in operation since 1911 and was turned into what is there now, Tamarama Park, just a very pleasant public area by the sea.
However, Tamarama does have a little cafe in a prime location so a great spot for a beer or coffee. As with the UK, its not that common to find cafes right on the
beach, which are often just across the road or even in the streets behind.
Our last stop was Bondi which was still buzzing with people by this time enjoying the last rays of a sunny day. Bondi has everything you could want. Its' obviously famous beach, surf & lifeguards plus a large shopping centre (including its own Westfields Mall), restaurants, cafe's, bars etc etc. However, it is a very busy suburb with our preference being for the quieter beaches seen earlier in the day and lets face it, you are pretty spoilt in Oz for fantastic beaches and surf. So, after taking a last couple of photos, we had had enough and in true old fart style decided to head home. Maybe we will give Bondi another chance, on another day when we have renewed stamina!
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