Share Six: July 2023: Bondi to Bronte, Australia

Two months in a row we have tried to do a particular theme. It’s not happening. First, I came back from Australia to a dead computer. It took around 3 weeks before I got it back. Then this past weekend, I managed to damage my 34″ monitor giving it the kiss of death. A huge black spot and then black lines going up and down the screen. Reminded me of Christmas bows, and it was definitely a expensive oops. That said I managed to get a new monitor via Amazon within 3 days and it is all set up, and it is better than the last one so I am all good.

Most of us were challenged with the theme we had originally chosen. So to keep it simple this month, we made the choice easy. The theme we finally selected for Share Six is (Your Choice). However, just a heads up this post is going to be a lot longer than 6 images. I would like to keep the whole story in one blog.

So why Bondi Beach to Bronte? My childhood friend, who lives in Brisbane, shared with me that this was a must do on our list. She told me this was the opportunity to get out and explore the natural coastline of New South Wales, and to really enjoy the beauty of this area. Not everything is about the city.

It’s around 7:30am and we are trundling along the city streets, by bus, watching with interest the world going by. The outer suburbs of Sydney city are much older and the buildings are dated, but they are interesting as well. People hop and off the bus using the tap on and tap off system.

Richard always has these options of how to get to places that involve walking. We could walk from the main Bondi terminal or catch the bus. Obviously I opted for the bus.

The weather is not bad, but kind of hazy while we were heading along the walk. This is also the one day in Sydney that I carried a light jacket. I wasn’t expecting to be cold but there was a gusting wind coming off the ocean.

Bondi Beach

We finally arrive, about 20 minutes later, at the infamous Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is Sydney’s most famous beach. Is it a nice beach town? Absolutely. We did not explore the town as we were on a time agenda but it looked like there was a fair amount of shopping that could be done. As for the beach, it’s a wide open beach with lots of space and it spans a fair distance. I could imagine that it could be quite busy on the weekends. There were some surfers out, not as many as I expected. Perhaps because it was a weekday.

Richard walked down onto the beach. He loves to get his toes in the sand and he wanted to get closer to the ocean, since his camera was his phone.

Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach

I, on the other hand, decided to walk along the promenade taking photo’s of the graffiti. Eventually Rich and I met up again at the end of the beach boardwalk.

This image and the one below were really moving. I remember the bombing in Bali. It was just after we had moved to the USA, and just over a year after the 911 terrorist attack. What I did not know was how many Australians lost their lives.

Below I tried to capture the bay’s two heads and the rolling waves in-between. The surf appeared to be pumping, however the only person I saw going into the waves was the lifeguard. The were a few people hanging out on the beach enjoying the weather.

Northern head at Bondi Beach
Loving the wind and wave action here.
Southern Head at Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach has everything you could want. Lots of restaurants and cafe’s, some interesting shopping area, a grassed area for you to sit on or picnic, and a very interesting board walk filled with beautiful graffiti. I did spot this interesting surfers code below as well.

The life guard heading out into the ocean. My gut feel was that the water was definitely cooler than that which I would venture into.
Clearly this was her hang out house
I loved seeing people just hanging out on the beach

At the end of Bondi beach we climbed stairs (the first of many) up towards Bondi Icebergs on Notts Avenue. Bondi Icebergs is a local swimming club with a restaurant and a beautiful sea pool.

This is where we started our Bondi to Bronte walk. For the most part the walkway is concrete, with a lot of ups and downs. The map below gives you a time frame for the walk but I think that is for speed walkers. To give you a time frame, the first photo I took was at 7:58am (at Bondi Beach), and the last one of the walk was at 9.26am. Of course, I keep stopping to take photos and Richard keeps walking, eventually he would have to wait for me to catch up. Clearly the beach area is a more upmarket area and the homes are really nice along the walkway. Perfect views of the water line.

Another heads up is that this is a popular walk so you are constantly passing people. There is also a exercise workout stations along the way as well.

The map at the start of the walk
I have no clue what this person was doing but this was an interesting image.
Bondi Icebergs swimming club and restaurant

We walked through some incredible rock formations. The pathway left the concrete road way and headed down some steps and along a created cement pathway.

Bondi Beach to Mckenzie’s Beach follows this kind of pathway which also includes steps up and steps down.

I loved the rocky out crops and the different colors in the stone . We passed Mackenzie’s point lookout, and were heading down towards Mackenzie’s Bay. From what I read every so often Mackenzie’s Bay becomes a beach when the sand gets washed up. For the most it is a bay.

Wave action heading towards Mckenzie’s Bay
A lone jetski out in the ocean
Mckenzie’s Bay with Tamarama Beach/Bay in the distance

Beyond Mackenzie’s Bay we arrive at Tamarama Bay seen above in the distance. Tamarama Bay generally offers rough surfing conditions and strong rip tides and is generally better for suntanning. As you can see there is a wide open beach.

Every so often I tried to remember to look back. This gives you an idea of the walkway we had just navigated.
The rocks are a great place to just stop and relax.
We did not see a lot of natural wild life, but this Australian Magpie was one of them. It is about the size of a crow and has a similar attitude.
Tamarama Beach
What I thought was a canoe from the distance turned out to be graffiti.
Signs are posted warning of rough conditions, however the beach looked awesome.
The green area looked very relaxing as well, and what I would have done to sit in one of those chairs for a while. However, I am not sure I would have been able to get out of it.

Moving along we now were on the last stretch of the walk, from Tamarama Beach, to Bronte. Again there is this rugged coastline to traverse and steps going down and back up again. While Bronte is a surfing beach, the water can be dangerous at times.

My picture of Richard was photo bombed. What can I say, Bronte was definitely a surfers paradise. Sorry I could not resist, lol
Out in the waves
Watching from the rocky outcrops.
The little town of Bronte, with it’s very interesting restaurants heading up the street. The grassed area has various picnic sites and you are definitely able to just hang out on the grass if you want to. This was also our final destination where we could catch our bus back to initially the Bronte terminal, and then switch busses to catch the second leg to Sydney.
It looked like it was a surfers delight on this particular day. There was more than one surfer out and about.
There seemed to be some discussion as to the wave action before the guy with the red board took off to go and jump into the water from the rocky outcrop.
If you were to continue walking you would pass Waverly Cemetery on the way to Gordons Bay.

Bronte was the end of our journey, but the walk continues and you can follow the trail to Coogee Beach and Gordon’s Bay and beyond to Malabar Headland.

The one interesting thing that happened was switching busses on our way back. If you are traveling from Bronte to Sydney, the bus drops you off outside the terminal in Bondi. The pick up bus was about 15 steps away from where we were dropped off. However, due to our lack of knowledge we ended up walking into the terminal and then had to look at virtually every pick up point before trying to find our way back out of the terminal to the street. My advice check the outside bus stops prior to going into the terminal.

Bondi to Bronte was a beautiful walk and I certainly recommend it if you are traveling in the area. The area is rugged and stunning and like Day 2 on The Great Ocean Road it coast line was very impressive.

This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. The sneak peaks are stunning and I cannot wait to see the rest. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Janet of @wiredtothemoon_ is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her IG page. Definitely check out her incredible art.

Next up is Days 2 of exploring Sydney – The Opera House, a short walk alongside the Botanical gardens, a bit more exploring through the city before packing out bags to head to Melbourne.

Look out for more blogs.

Stay well

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Sydney and it is day 2…Sunrise over the bay

Sleep came early the previous night. 5pm and we were lights out. That does not bode well for wake up time. 3am and we are hello… it’s still dark outside. Somewhere around 4:30 Richard decides that he is going to walk down to the Opera House and go and watch the sunrise. Well, of course I am going to go, but I see no point in going all the way back to the hotel, to go all the way back virtually to the Opera House to start our day.

So off we go…… navigating our way in the semi dark, down to George Street and along to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It’s somewhere around 5am. We are going to hang out there to watch the sun come up around the Opera House.

George Street and the trams are on the move.
Heading down to Circular Quay

We stop at the end of the pier adjacent to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The bridge is one huge piece of metal. Fascinating structure that spans the river from one side to the other. Interestingly, you can actually climb the arch of the bridge. Not something I would choose to do but I found it interesting that others would want to do that. It’s a lot of steps and I am not crazy about heights. When you stand under the bridge you really look so small. Looking across the river, you can see Luna Park, the amusement and theme park, in the distance.

In front of the harbor’s international passenger terminal

One thing I do have to say about the people of Sydney, they are very health conscious. There were more people out running so early in the morning than I expected on a work day.

Coffee in front of the brewery seems conflicting but it certainly started what was to be a long day.
A huge ton of steel that spans across the Paramatta Rive, which ultimately becomes the Bay that Sydney is settled on.
On top of the bridge is the Australian flag and the Aboriginal flag. The Aboriginal Flag is recognized as one of the official flags of Australia. Designed by Harold Thomas in 1970 the black upper portion represents the aboriginal people of Australia, while the lower red portion represents the earth, and color of Orche. The circle in the center represents the sun. For more on the flag click here.

Sunrise is happening and there is nothing nicer than watching the day start with the sun peaking out through the clouds. OK, the setting sun is pretty awesome as well but we really did not do any of that on this trip. However, watching the sunrise over the Opera House is pretty epic. I never thought I would ever see that happen.

The ferries were off on an early morning start to pick up passengers and ferry them back to the city.
The incredible Sydney Opera House.
Like the trains, trams, and buses, the ferry system in Sydney, is a tap on tap off system and very efficient. All ferries leave from Circular Quay but there are multiple combinations and stopping points. An excellent system for getting around.

This morning was the culmination of a dream that has long been on our hearts. Standing in Sydney watching the sun come up was a thrill. Standing in the city of my grandfathers birth was even a bigger thrill.

Next on our agenda is the Bondi Coastal walk. So another cup of coffee and sausage roll later, yes…. I said sausage roll. Do you know when I last had a decent sausage roll? Not for a long long time, unless I made it myself. Okay I digress. With the coffee and sausage roll in hand we head back to Circular Quay to the bus that will take us to Bondi Beach. Join me as we walk along one of the beautiful coastlines of New South Wales in my next blog.

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