One of the names that most people know in reference to Sydney, and even Australia, is Bondi Beach. Surfers everywhere speak about it, and tourists who have been speak in hyperbole about it – so we thought we would go for a visit. Jelena and I met through a mutual friend, young Keith. Now when young Keith was even younger (when the world was still in black and white), he spent some time living in Sydney. He put us in touch with a good mate over here, so we met up with Mal and Carol for a coffee. They live near Bondi Junction, so we got the train over, and they picked us up on the way to Westfield,a large and thoroughly modern shopping mall.
We had coffee and some goodies, and chatted for a long time, finding out all about Keiths darkest secrets. Then Mal and Carol gave us a lift to Ben Buckler point, which overlooks the northernmost poing of the mile-ling Bondi beach. The view was spectacular, and set the scen for the rest of the day. Our plan was to walk down the coast, along a trail that has been laid out to cater for just such a meander, and which mostly hugs the costline for a long way.
After taking in the view for a while, we climbed down to the rocks and pools below the pint, and Lena went off to investigate the ocean spray, which was also spectacular. We then ambled down to the beach, and all the way along to the south end. At the far end of the beach is a club called Icebergs, so named because the members swim daily at 6 am, all year round, and put large chunks of ice into the water before doing so. Don’t ask why, cos I don’t know, but I think somebody spent a bit too much time drinking beer in the sun. Anyway, not to feel left out, we went into the club and decided to join in the mood, by drinking beer in the sun. The view, once more, defies description, but basically the floor to ceiling windows, and balcony, overlook the whole of Bondi. We were sat about parallel with the surfers below, and had lunch (fabtastic burgers) while enjoying the sun and the view.
Once we were done, we headed out again, and walked down the coast along paths, cliffs, boardwalks and roadways. We walked a total of about 8kms down the coast, via beautiful coves and bays such as Bronte Bay, Tamarama Bay, Clovelly Bay, as far as Coogee bay. We got their around dusk, and had a beer in a very loud, very large hotel, filled with backpackers and tourists and 80% of the population of Ireland. It was too noisy for us, so we hopped onto a bus back to town. We went back to the hotel, then wandered off to find some food. We found a queue outside a Malaysian place, so decided (both of us becoming bery British) to join the queue. If so many people were prepared to wait for this food, it must be good. And it was.
The make Roti’s in a traditional Malaysian way. The dough is spun very thin, then fried on a large flat metal stove, tih or without goodies inside the roti. Delicious, cheap, and well worth the 40 minute wait in the queue.
