Life at the Beach

Following in the tradition created on previous trips to Sydney, our first stop after landing was the Balmoral Bathers Pavilion for a proper Aussie brunch overlooking the golden sand. Sipping great coffee in the strong bright sunshine, and listening to the gentle surf, whilst being cooled by the breeze through the open full-height windows, makes this one of my favourite holiday spots.

Our base for this visit was the suburb of Paddington. Colourful period terrace houses interspersed with boutique shops and hip cafés give the area a unique character, plus it has easy access to the ocean beaches near Bondi. Our second day started overcast so we planned to walk the cliff path from Bronte to Bondi. The sea was thick with surfers at every beach we passed, and there were some real experts putting on a great show of skill in the huge waves that eventually crashed into the beach—no swimmers were being allowed into the water such was the force of the waves. At Bronte we prepared for our walk with an Aussie fry up (familiar, but with added avocado) and delicious banana bread slices the size of door stops. Since it was Good Friday, we had spicy and fruity hot 1 cross buns as a mid-morning snack while we sheltered from a light rain shower at Tamarama.

Back at Bronte, the rain had blown away and although it remained overcast this made it a perfect temperature for just sitting on the foreshore, watching the world go by, and enjoying a fabulous toasted B.L.A.T. sandwich and more good coffee. Refuelled, we decided it was time for a quick dip in the sheltered rock pool. The water was a little bit cool, but refreshing after our long walk and at water level the giant waves were even more awesome, and could cause quite a surge even through the sheltered pool.

Our final day began with browsing the arts and crafty Paddington markets, then we took a trip to Watsons Bay to admire the majesty of Sydney Harbour from South Head. There was a great family atmosphere here with lots of children enjoying the sunshine and the placid water. The famous fish and chips from Doyle’s lived up to their reputation too—beach life is pretty good when it is this civilised.

  1. “hot” because they were served cold[]