Beaches

On Friday, when I got back to Sydney, I had a couple of must-dos before leaving the city for good. One was to go to manly - I had wanted to go last weekend, but the weather was crap. It was nice enough now, though, so I went for the evening.

The last thing I had to do today was the Bondi-Coogee walk, in a different direction from Manly, but on the coast as well. It's not fair to compare them, I now see. Manly is this really nice, quiet, fairly posh suburb. It would be a fantastic place to live and commute to work via the ferry, full of adorable shops and great looking restaurants, not to mention the beach and the coast.

Bondi is the flashy, hotspot beach, and I was assuming it was all glitz, because it's where everyone goes to party, but the beach itself has strong currents, so it's not actually that safe to swim (there is a popular reality show here called Bondi Rescue, about the lifeguards). But go to the beach on a day like today, where it is warm and clear, and the beach is fantastic, with soft white sand and cool, brilliant blue water. The walk down to Coogee (a more southern beach I actually liked better, and has better currants) was spectacular. If I were here longer, or more of a beach nut, I would be there every weekend.

Seriously, look at this coastline:

Besides that, all of the swimming beaches have pools that go right up to the ocean. Great for pictures, but can you imagine swimming your laps THERE?