Bondi Pavilion

After seeing blue skies from the shower room window, Alex bounced up the stairs like a child on Christmas morning, to look out across the roof terrace at a cloudless Sydney morning. Eager to make the most of this break in the poor weather we decided to hike the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach coastal trail (there might have been no clouds but it still wasn’t sunbathing weather). This is a 12km return trail but because we are complete hiking masochists by now we decided to walk to and from Bondi Beach adding a further 12km to this.

We walked through Kings Cross with its bustling farmer’s market and cafes serving coffee and artisan eggs on toast to a weekend brigade. Past car dealerships selling super cars to the city’s financial elite we climbed up through Bellevue Hill with large homes sat behind gates and foliage, reminding us of Los Angeles. We gently descended down to Bondi Beach, which rose to prominence at the beginning and throughout the 20th century with the boom in surfing, which is now synonymous with this beach. The winter season did not keep people away and there were many on the trail, on the sands and even in the water. We past the famous Bondi Baths, swimming pools built adjacent and level to the sea. On a calm summer day this would be very appealing but today strong winds threw thunderous waves against the pools’ foundations that crashed upwards and across the calmer waters of the pools. On the trail we past people playing volleyball on the beach, boys playing rugby in the parks and a steady stream of runners along the trail. Sydney appears to have a positive attitude with being outside and active, even on a winter’s day.

The trail rose and fell to curve with the contours of the wild coastline. Moon face rock jutted out on the peninsulas to be buffeted by winds and sea spray whilst soft sands slept in quiet coves. A paint palette of colour covered the landscape, turquoise and cobalt waters thrashed white against yellow and brown of rock and sand, which was dressed on the edges in the greens of plant life.

Rounding a further peninsula we came across possibly the most scenic final resting place in the world, Waverly Cemetery, where old vaults and tombstones stretched down the hills to the very edge of the wild coastline (plots available apparently). Yet we did not rest until we reached Coogee Beach, eating lunch in front of captive audience of seagulls. On the return we blissfully found the winds at our backs to propel our aching knees and feet forward. Stopping to marvel at surfers twist and turn their way through chaotic waves, we finished the final return leg to our hostel before the sun came down.

Tomorrow we may sit.Read more