Bob Goes to Australia: Bondi Beach Road Trip

Saturday September 3rd I convinced two of my friends amy and jess to drive to Bondi Beach with me for the day. At first we were going to take the train which wouldve taken about an hour and 45 min approx but while we were driving to the train station we decided that driving would be much more fun. So on the way there Jess (Australian) drove Amy (American) and I the scenic way which took us over the famous Sea Cliff Bridge and through the Royal National Park. Sea Cliff Bridge is a bridge that goes around the edge of a huge cliff and is sticking out over the ocean. It was really cool to drive over. Some pictures taken while driving over are below.

Sea Cliff Bridge

Royal National Park

Just before Sydney is a huge national park called Royal National Park which we decided to drive though instead of taking the highway around it. This added about another half hour to 45 min of driving but it was well worth it. It was lots of windy roads through lots of forests and hills. Unfortunately we didnt didnt see any wildlife like kangaroos, koalas, emus, wombats or anything but it was still really cool.

Sydney skyline

Sydney Marathon 15 Days!!

All around the city were signs about the Sydney Marathon. Looks like its going to be a really popular race. Im really excited even though im not in my best running shape. The race course goes over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and then finishes at the Opera House.

Finally we made it to Bondi Beach! It is by far the best beach I have ever been to. It was just so nice and had lots of really cool buildings and shops around. Had lots of rocks to walk around on on the sides and had the city of Sydney right in the background. When we first go there and found a parking spot we walked straight to the beach and felt the water which was cold at first but you could get used to it once your in. Probably the same temperature as New England beaches. Being winter there wasnt a ton of people on the beach but still a fair amount seeing as it was still a 70 degree day which is actually cold to some australians. After laying down in the sand for a bit we decided to walk down to the flat rocks on the other end and on the way back a few of the Bondi lifeguards were just sitting in one of there blue quads so we asked to take a picture with them. Little did i know these two lifeguards were both some of the famous ones from the show Bondi Rescue which i was really into before coming to Australia so I knew who both of them were right away. It was Deano and Kerrbox, both some of the main lifeguards on the tv show and Kerrbox is also a professional surfer. Eventually we got hungry and went up to check out all the restaurants and shops along the boardwalk. Ended up getting Bondi Burgers which were really good and then some gelato for dessert. I got Nutella gelato which was really good. America needs to have more Nutella, its so good. After having lunch we checked out some of the stores which were all full of bondi souvenirs, bathing suits, and dresses. All I could think about was "Dont bring kathryn here unless you want to spend atleast 24 hours watching her try on bathing suits" Kath would love these shops. Bathing suits were really expensive like over $100 but there were a bunch of cheap dresses for like $20. Anyways i didnt buy anything because I will definitely be back a few more times, especially in the summer when the beach is packed with over 40,000 people and its over 90 F or ~30C.