9/5 Sydney: Hiking Coastal Paths plus Train, Bus and Ferry Rides

Months ago, I had read up on and seen a video of Sydney’s most famous, most popular and best walk: the 5km long Bondi-Coogee walk in the city’s Eastern Beaches. We had decided to do it in reverse, i.e. starting at the southern terminus and then walking north toward Bondi, pronounced, we discovered ‘Bondeye.’ The reason behind this was, after completing that hike, we were then going north again to Watsons Bay at the northern part of the inlet for another coastal walk.

We arrived at Coogee Beach about 10:30 eager to get a move on after taking a train to Sydney's Central Station and then a bus to Coogee. 

Seeing the sandy beach with sunbathers and intrepid swimmers was fun although we had no wish to join either group because of the cool wind and intermittent sun. We learned that Coogee is an Aboriginal word meaning ‘rotting seaweed’ – luckily we didn’t smell any of that!

Steven at Coogee.

 The entire path to Bondi is very narrow in almost all spots and, on a weekend, pretty packed with fellow walkers and also joggers often trying in vain to pass the slow folks.

Not sure how comfortable it was to climb up to this
bench and then sit on it but it made for a fun photo!

Clovelly Beach above and below: It may seem odd but this concrete - edged 

ocean channel is a great place to swim, sunbathe and snorkel.

 Apparently, despite the swell in the inlet, underwater visibility is excellent.

Waverley Cemetery: As the tour book says, many Sydneysiders would die for these views …and that’s the only way they’re going to get them, Blanketing the cliff tops between Coogee and Bronte Beach, the white marble headstones dazzled in the brief sunlight. More than 80,000 people have been interred here since 1877. It’s supposed to be a perfect place to whale watch in the winter.

If you look closely, you can just see the coastal path and the walkers/joggers mid picture

Surfers at Bronte Beach.

 Bronte Beach: The beach is named after Lord Nelson who doubled as the Duke of Bronte, a place in Sicily, and not for the famous literary sorority. Bronte lays claim to the oldest surf lifesaving club in the world, in 1903.

Lina: Guess your men have seen plenty of these signs before, right?

Our next stop was at Tamarama Beach where there are only 80 m of shoreline h but the ever-present rip tides make Tamarama the most dangerous patrolled beach in all of New South Wales and it’s often closed to swimmers. It’s hard to picture now but between 1887 and 1911, a roller coaster looped out over the water as part of an amusement park.

The SLSC stands for the Surfers and Life Saving Club.

Sure looks like a game of volleyball, right? Nope, instead of using their hands to get the
volleyball over the net, the men used their feet only. A bystander watching the game with us
for a bit thought it might be a game popular in South America. Anybody know of this game?

Thousands of people are rescued from the surf each year,
enough even to make a TV show out of it! 

Imagine swimming in this saltwater pool and having ocean waves splash over you!

At last we arrived at our final destination of the coastal walk: Bondi Beach. It’s one of the world’s great beaches where the ocean and land collide and is only 8km away from the city center. It has consistently good waves and was quite crowded on this spring day.

The distracting scenery and constant procession of beautiful bods never fails to take your mind off whatever it was you were thinking! As one of our guidebook says, Bondi is where Sydney comes to see and be seen, preferring to wear as little as possible. It’s not an affirming place for those with body-image issues.

Loved seeing the art/graffiti on the beach walls; when does graffiti become art by the way? Is it all in the eye of the beholder or when art is approved to be painted in certain places, I wonder? Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Nina & Kyle: I couldn't help but think of you two
 right away when seeing this one! How cute are they!

I wholeheartedly second that!

The 'Hello, My name is Steven' nametag  was painted on - how perfect was that!

Nina: This one's for you!
P.S. For you too, Janina!

After wandering around the mad and frantic Bondi Beach enclave for a while, we took a bus to Watsons Bay located north of Bondi. It was once a small fishing village as evidenced by the small heritage cottages that pepper the suburb’s very narrow streets. Our bus only had one small strip down the middle of the road to drive on, it was so narrow. Luckily there were no oncoming cars as they couldn’t have driven past what with cars parked on both sides of the road.

After getting off the bus we immediately walked over to the park and down 

to the beach area. Saw a number of pelicans - what massive beaks they have.

Not too shabby a view from the park at Watsons Bay
overlooking the harbor and city center, don't you agree?

 The sun was shining and it was quite warm out so we sat a spell and 

read our kindles – thanks again N,N, A & Z for getting us those 

for our birthdays back in ’13 as we’d be lost without them on these long trips.

We finally bestirred ourselves and decided to walk the coastal path that we’d come to Watsons Bay to do. We enjoyed it but the bar must have been set too high for our earlier Coogee-Bondi walk as this path didn’t have the spellbinding ocean views as it was more of an inland path. On we walked to a couple of pretty lighthouses though, so all was not lost.

I had read the high cliffs at the beginning of the walk were often used for men in love to propose marriage to their lady loves. What an incredible romantic spot! 

Sad to see a place of such beauty also be a place of possible great distress for some but at least assistance was only a phone call away.

Return ferry from Watsons Bay

 Retracing our steps along the path to Watsons Bay, we managed to catch a ferry returning right away to Circular Quay which was great but it meant our not being able to grab some of the legendary fish and chips at Doyle’s right on the wharf.

Think my hubby is dressed warmly enough for a ferry ride!
The wind whipping off the water was darn chilly so I wished
I had brought my warm jacket too at that point!

The ferry made, for us, an unexpected stop at Rose Bay en route back to the city.

It was really neat seeing the seaplane we’d observed aloft
a few minutes earlier land just before we reached the wharf.

Government ferry (i.e. just like the one we were in) in front of Fort Denison. 

Known as Pinchgut, this fortified speck was once a place of fearsome punishment. 

The bodies of executed convicts were left to hang here as a grisly warning to all.

Lovely shot of Luna, an amusement park on the North Shore, as we neared Sydney.

Getting off the ferry at Circular Quay again, we decided we were so close to the Opera House, we walked over to see it up close for the first time. The original budget was AUD$ 7 million but it ended up costing a staggering AUD $107 million by the time it was completed, with the additional funds raised via lottery sales. You can see how creamy/ivory/beige it is, and not white at all, in these photos. It’s a beautiful building and no doubt one of the world’s architectural gems but it was somewhat of a letdown, I must admit, not seeing it in person be what I had long thought it would.

What a scream seeing illuminated toilet paper roll dispenser
in the Opera House restroom! I just couldn't resist taking a picture.
I also thought how handy it would be to have one of them at home in the dark of night.

Long live the Queen!

We sure packed a huge amount in that day via lots of walking plus train, bus and ferry trips but there was a lot of variation too which made the day especially fun for us.