A meeting in Sydney

Lee made it into Sydney last night (An epic, or if you are Australian, normal 3 hour drive in from Canberra). Having just returned from a second trip to China it was great to catch up with him regarding travels and life in general. It also meant an evening trip to the energetic coastal area of Manly for a night on the boards - the coastline here is packed with bars, restaurants and night clubs but as it is 10.30pm by the time we arrive most places with kitchens are closed and it is only by asking a waiter and later a passing reveller that we find a bar still selling a limited meal list… Called the ‘Bavarian Café’ it is located next door to Manly Wharf and offers evening snack food from fries to German style sausage/pizza along with a wide range of drinks including Bavarian beers, which I must admit to sampling… recommended for its location (right on the beach), comfort, friendly staff, good atmosphere and excellent snack food :)

We Return very late to the hostel with a plan to hike ‘Bondi beach’ in the morning… Lee offers me the spare bed in his room instead of disturbing the other guests in my 6 bed dorm, which I gladly except. So for one night I sleep like a log in a wonderfully quiet room with working AC J However, in the morning I discover that the Mozzies are back and have taken vengeance on me… again!! 0_0 (persistent devils) - 5 bites in total with my arm once again taking the brunt of the action and now being covered in three swollen welts the largest like a golf ball!! So once again - I retrieve the antihistamine cream from deep inside my pack and apply liberally to aid reduction of the itch and swelling…

By 9am we are ready to head off for Bondi beach and enter the melee of the Sydney streets, where I am still getting to grips with the concept of one way blocks and traffic signals (glad I am not driving here!). Lee negotiates these trials with ease and familiarises himself with the layout of the city streets before guiding us over the Harbour Bridge towards Bondi. Turning a corner 20mins later the unmistakable shape of Bondi beach appears with its colourful frosting of stalwart beach goers, lifeguards and surfers heading for the waves - considering the overcast and windy weather today the beach is not as empty as I would have expected and the surf is dotted with enthusiastically manoeuvring boards aiming to catch the perfect wave ;) Lee soon finds a café for breakfast and expertly acquires a beach view table for a hearty bowl of porridge… Then as the wind picks up and the drizzle starts to fall we head for the Bondi coastal walk… A few pictures later of the legendary beach and the rain starts to fall and pretty soon, after just 10 minutes of walking we are caught in a deluge of biblical proportions leading to the cancellation of further walking and a diversion back towards the car… This does not help as we are wet through in minutes and we both end up wringing our shirts out before getting into the car looking liked drowned rats 0_0
The rest of the coastal tour is undertaken via the car with stunning coastal views ending at a spot with an Opera House and Harbour Bridge view where there is a small park with a huge colony of yellow and black legged spiders (of some substantial size one might add!!) in a web-work strong enough to strum like a guitar!! A nearby café provides another coffee & Earl Grey Tea as the clouds roll in and another rain shower seeks to complete the job the first deluge began in getting us soaked through for a second time 0_0
Finally the rain eases enough to ‘make a run for it’ back to the car and on the road into Sydney for a drop off back at the YHA. Lee has been an excellent guide and friend and I would like to say a huge THANK YOU for showing me some places that I would not have got to see on my own J Awesome days.