Bondi beach blues

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- FOOD: Good food at Coogee with Hunter Valley 'Cockfighter Ghost' wine

- AREA: Half hour walk to Bondi beach from Bondi Junction; impressive sea but not so impressive beach; coastal walk to Coogee beach past big cemetry and little coves with great splashy waves.

- PEOPLE: Depressed Oz dormmate; last night with Ruth, Kelly and Mia and goodbyes again.

- WEATHER: Grey and windy but at last the sun appeared.


Wed 31st: I wasn't able to collect my bag that I'd left in the pizza place until later on so went back through rush hour to my hostel, had a shower and then returned to Bondi (where Tom lives) to visit the beach. There were more bags in my room so my time of having the dorm to myself was over. Suppose I can't expect a 6 bed dorm to myself for the whole time I'm in Sydney! The bummer about not being able to collect my bag was that my camera was in it so I couldn't get any pictures of the beaches (hence more pics of the Opera House and bridge!)

Got back to Bondi and walked for half an hour to get to the beach (I was really under the impression you could stroll from the city centre to the beach but not the case!). I was REALLY surprised to find that the beach wasn't actually that nice!
The sea was very clear and turquoise and the beach golden sand which yes, is LOVELY. But.... the beach is so much smaller than I expected and the wall behind it is covered in grafitti, with a fair bit of rubbish around. There's no cafe culture along the front which I suppose you could say mean it's unspoilt but across the road there are tower blocks and bad architecture.
I couldn't believe it after hearing about this famous beach so much - maybe the Brazilian beachs spoilt me somewhat. Anyway, I've since discovered that hardly anyone likes this beach, including some locals. So it's not just me. Maybe it just gets its reputation from the Brits who spend Xmas Day here!!

I guess the grey sky and strong wind didn't help my opinion! I walked along the coast to Coogee to see if the beaches improve. There are lots of spectacular views of waves crashing onto rocks and tiny bays with such clear sea... but if you look the other way, the 70's style grey tower blocks with graffitti and litter (like a run down UK seaside town) mixed with the posh and modern is quite a surprise.
This walk takes you through the huge and impressive cemetry which has the graves of famous Australians. The oldest grave I could find was dated 1877!

Coogee beach was my favourite and thank god the sun had come out at last so I found a nice cafe to sit outside where I had fab food and a wine from NSW Hunters Valley with a fantastic name - Cockfighter Ghost! The view was yet again a mish mash of styles - on the one hand big palm trees swaying gently, on the other horrible shelter things with chipped blue paint that are the perfect cover for teenagers to make out. On the one hand, sweet little cafes like the one I found, on the other a big chain type checked shirt brigade pub.
Maybe my expectations were just too high!

I got back to my hostel to meet my new roommate - a very depressed Oz girl who looked like she'd arrived in a rush and was about to cry (relationship breakdown?). I headed straight out to meet Ruth, Kelly and Mia for our last night together. Kelly had to leave early though as she had a very early start at her waitressing job at the Opera House the next day - particularly important not to be hungover as the Prime Minister and other importants were there on a conference. Although from what I've been hearing about him, it would be a good thing if she did spill red wine all over him!
The rest of us only had a few and then an early night. The Oz girl freaked when I turned the light on in the bathroom, even though I was being really quiet. Then her phone kept ringing all night (definitely a relationship split up).

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