Bondi Beach & Beyond
“One of the most beautiful things about traveling is you learn to trust strangers.” I read that somewhere once, and it stuck with me.
Friday morning and I have no plans for the day. That quickly changed when I checked my messages and had an invite to breakfast from a new friend who lives in Sydney. We went to breaky at a place called, Brown Sugar in Bondi. The tofu scramble was excellent, their cappuccino even better. After my friend Danny left for a work meeting, I stayed down at Bondi Beach. I had heard so much about Bondi beach, now I was finally there to experience it. For a Friday afternoon the beach was pretty empty because the sun wasn’t out full speed. I laid out my towel and closed my eyes. It started to sprinkle, I felt like this was a test. I did not move my ground. The number of people on the beach dropped even more and I could count about 30 bodies scattered along the sand. Within ten minutes the cloud broke and the sun was back, beaming. I jumped into the ocean to avoid instantly over-heating. When I got back to sunbathing a couple of lifeguards approached, checking on how I was doing. “Great!” Fifteen minutes later one returned with a note, asking me to marry him. (The guys in Australia are very friendly.)
It got so hot I eventually had to move. I decided to check out the beautiful sandstone rocks to the far left. I found my own little nitch to enjoy more solitude.
Eventually, being motivated by hunger, two local fishermen suggested I get a drink and some grub at Icebergs. Three other people had previously told me to try a cocktail from Icebergs. I took it as a sign and headed towards the south end of the beach. No tables were available so I scoped out the seating in the bar area. Was lucky enough to score one of the two seats on the outside balcony overlooking the beach. Ordered my $19 cocktail and then was told they had no wifi. A bit bitter I pulled out my notebook and started to write. Shortly after, two gentlemen came out for a smoke, Mitch and Jay. A conversation was started. Three margaritas later I was meeting one of their bosses and planning on going to the Rosehill horse races next day. I then realized I still hadn’t had lunch. I thanked the boys for the drinks and great afternoon and stumbled my way to the bus stop.
