Day 42 – Bondi to Coogee Beach Walk

Saturday, Feb 27, 2016

I had decided to go on the Bondi to Coogee Beach Walk to see the beaches and the coastline, while getting some exercise. I had a late breakfast and caught the train to the Town Hall, caught another train to the Bondi Station and then finally took the bus to Bondi Beach.

On the bus I met a fellow from Chile that had emigrated to Australia and a young lady from Mississauga, Ontario that was in Australia for 3 months on a 1 year, temporary, working visa. Each had an interesting story.

The Bondi to Coogee Walk features six beaches and a number of coves and bays.

I arrived at Bondi Beach and started to walk on the wide path to Coogee Beach. This is a view looking back at the beach as I was heading south on the walk to the other beaches.

Bondi Beach is a modern and trendy coastal resort, which is very popular. It has a variety of cafes, a beautiful grass area, restaurants and markets which look out over the beach. As you can see, there is a large swimming pool on the beach and the waves frequently crest the sides, causing it to overfill.

The path was very well maintained and in some sections, wide walkways had been built to make it easier for people to walk along the shore.

I quickly noticed the unique rock along the shores. The rock appeared much harder than the shores along the Great Ocean Road in the southeast, but it had also been shaped by the wind and the waves.”

I’m not sure if the high waves were caused by the weather disturbance from the cyclone that hit Fiji but I don’t think that the waves are normally as high, as they were during my walk. The life guards were continually asking swimmers to keep closer to shore and within a specific area, because of the wave activity.

One of the beaches I came to was Bronte Beach and is famous for it’s surf, rock pool.

Clovelly Beach is a small beach that sits on the end of a narrow bay between Bronte Beach to the north and Gordon’s Bay to the south. The entire beach is locked between two rocky ridges that extend like two arms for 300 m seaward of the shoreline. A small pool is located on the southern side and can be seen on the right-hand side of the following picture.

Coogee Beach is well protected through its formation as a bay. The surrounding coastline is mostly cliffs, decreasing in height down to the beach in the western part of the bay. The beach offers park lands, free BBQ facilities, public amenities as well as many shops and restaurants near the beach.

I stopped at the Coogee Beach area to have lunch at the ” Black Pony ” before walking to the end of the walkway where it entered the suburban streets. At this point, I had walked about 5 km, so I returned the 5 km to Bondi Beach. I had planned to go for a swim before I went back to the motel but I decided against it when I reached Bondi Beach, late in the afternoon.

I walked back to the bus stop and retraced my steps on the bus and trains to get back to the motel. I took a quick shower and then I went to an Italian restaurant where I had seen a lot of people eating the day before. After I finished my Tortellini, I went to the nearby IGA grocery store and picked up a few items, before returning to the motel.

Tomorrow I have another outing planned for the afternoon.