A great way to end the weekend...

Yesterday, Sunday, I woke up early and headed to Coogee Beach. It’s just a little south east of where I live and it took about 45 min by bus. It was a beautiful day - clear skies, warm and there were heaps of people out and about. I brought an umbrella since it had been raining so much, but didn’t even have to use it (more about this later). So I walked to the south of Coogee Beach…and took some great pictures. The landscape was rocky with many cliffs that flanked the beaches. I had some fish and chips ($9!) by the seaside and then wet my feet for the first time in the Pacific Ocean. The water didn’t see that cold. People were swimming it and there were a number of surfers.

At Coogee Beach

Starting my walk to Bondi Beach. Overlooking Coogee.

Gordon's Bay

I then headed the long walk up to Bondi Beach. Along the way I passed 2 other beaches and a few bays. There was also a large cemetery. The tombstones were the biggest I’ve ever seen and at each one there was a cement or marble bed. The cemetery was on a sloping landscape and there the dead could live eternally by the ocean.

Many times I walked along the cliff and it was very scary to peer over the edge at the thrashing waves below. Yet I was awe inspired by the force of them and refreshed by their ocean spray.

It was just beautiful to spend the day walking along the little coves, bays and beaches. The walk itself is about 2.5km (or so the guide says) and I took about 3.5 hours to complete it. I just took my time and traveling leisurely. I also stopped many time to take photos.

What I found to be the most interesting was the ocean side pools. They are carved out of the natural rock and the waves keep the pool full of ocean water. So people can swim lengths or just swim leisurely in the ocean without having to worry about undertows, currents or sharks!

Beachside pool, or baths, at Coogee.

The walk ended at Bondi Beach which is the famous Sydney beach. It was must larger than Coogee and much busier. There were a lot more surfers and I spent a good 20 min just watching in awe. I’ll be learning to surf, but I can already tell that it looks very hard!

Walking toward Bondi Beach.

Bondi at dusk

Of all the times I’ve gone out and have done things on my own, this was probably the only time I really wish someone was with me… especially David. It would have been so romantic to share that walk with him. Stopping on the rocks to absorb the beauty. Having a picnic on the beach. Going into the ocean for quick dip. He was constantly on my mind.

For David... you're always in my thoughts

I would have also liked to been there with my parents and sister… I know they would have loved it. My parents love being by the ocean and I don’t think they’ve ever been to the Pacific either. The landscape was similar to that of the south of Portugal where my family and I vacationed last time we were in Portugal 5 years ago. They would have fallen in love with Australia right then and there… I think I did. My goal in life: to live only 30 1 hour (max.) from a beautiful beach, if not right on the beach!

Being pensive at Bronte Beach

Night time at Bondi Beach... the main strip: Campbell Parade

I waited till dark time to take some night time shots. I text messaged Kristen but she wasn’t at the beach where her hostel is, so I just headed back home. I was tired but satisfied with my little day trip.

My trip:

Check out the rest of the pictures: http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lilliandemelo@rogers.com/album?.dir=/a421scd&.src=ph&.tok=phVjhOFBVxAcU3kB

Today was the “first” day of school, yet I had no classes (only 1 tutorial on Mondays which are cancelled for this week). Pretty sweet! I went to uni though to pick up my student card (yes!! 50% of bus fare!) then I did some laundry. Things are quite expensive in Sydney. A load cost me $3.20 and that’s with the student discount but my socks came out still dirty! Next time I’ll have to bleach wash them I guess. Being cheap (and since it cost $1 for 7 min of drying) and walked back here with 2 bags of wet clothing and hung it to dry in my room and our in the living room were there are racks to hang clothes. No one uses the dryers cause they are so expensive. So I just put my roommate’s heater on full black and directly it to my wardrobe where the clothes were hanging... they dried pretty quickly. I just hate hanging clothes to dry… they get stiff and stay wrinkled. I’ll see how it turns out this time.

Finally it rained today!! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see rain. This is why: It has been raining ever since I landed except for one day last weekend when I walked around downtown. So this past Friday, it was raining again and I wanted to run some errands and avoid taking the bus. So I decided to suck it up and buy an umbrella. I went to Kmart and the cheapest (and ugliest) one I could find was $8!! But since I had been caught in the rain a few times and I hate having my hair frizzy I bought it. Well… it remained un-open for 3 days!! I walked around with the umbrella in my purse on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and NOTHING! No rain! No need for an $8 umbrella! So today when I left the house I wasn’t going to take it, thinking it hasn’t rained in 3 days, but I did anyway to be on the safe side. And guess what… it rained. Finally! How ironic.