Sundays always seem to arrive too early for the hungover among us. A late night of drinking and dancing is a sure fire cure for even the most faithful early bird. You can then likely imagine my shock when my roommates all woke up early after a late night of imbibing with the news they were headed to Bondi Beach for a day of sun worshipping and relaxation. Since I was without any good reasons to do otherwise, I took my flatmates up on their offer and joined them a day at the beach.
After years of living in conservative countries, I don’t actually own any shorts so I was the only one of our group wearing jeans in spite of the warm weather. At the door, I donned sandals for the first time in almost a year and found it odd not to have socks on. Our group walked a short distance to Hyde Park and then hopped on an already full bus for the 30-minute ride to Bondi Junction.
We arrived in the midst of the Festival of the Winds and the sky above us was dotted with every colour of the rainbow. Kites of all shapes and sizes danced along the
length of beach. The fliers ranged in age from young children to senior citizens and the one thing they all had in common was the look of joy on their faces as they watched their kites cut across the blue sky above them.
I’m not sure what I was expecting but the kilometer-long stretch of beach in front of me wasn’t it. I always thought the famous beach would be miles long, with huge breaking waves, and hordes of gorgeous surfers. Although there were easily two-dozen hopefuls out in the water, the waves were not terribly impressive that day and most of the wetsuit-clad surfers seemed to be chatting amongst themselves whilst straddling their boards out in the water.
Surf-happy tourists who fail to come prepared can rent a board from one of the local surf shops. Many newbies avail themselves of the group lessons that are available for approximately $65 to $100 for two hours, during which they learn everything from how to paddle out to meet the waves to standing on the boards to greet them properly. During our brief afternoon, we saw at least three groups of eager wannabes carry their boards into the water for presumably the first time.
Considering I arrived still mildly drunk from the night before, I had a great time sinking my toes into the soft sand at Bondi. We watched cute boys literally take flying leaps off a ledge and giggled at the little girl with her homemade kite complete with neon pink string and nylon stocking tail. I may not have taken a dip in the chilly waters, but I can sincerely say that my first trip to Bondi Beach won’t be my last.
After years of living in conservative countries, I don’t actually own any shorts so I was the only one of our group wearing jeans in spite of the warm weather. At the door, I donned sandals for the first time in almost a year and found it odd not to have socks on. Our group walked a short distance to Hyde Park and then hopped on an already full bus for the 30-minute ride to Bondi Junction.
We arrived in the midst of the Festival of the Winds and the sky above us was dotted with every colour of the rainbow. Kites of all shapes and sizes danced along the
length of beach. The fliers ranged in age from young children to senior citizens and the one thing they all had in common was the look of joy on their faces as they watched their kites cut across the blue sky above them.I’m not sure what I was expecting but the kilometer-long stretch of beach in front of me wasn’t it. I always thought the famous beach would be miles long, with huge breaking waves, and hordes of gorgeous surfers. Although there were easily two-dozen hopefuls out in the water, the waves were not terribly impressive that day and most of the wetsuit-clad surfers seemed to be chatting amongst themselves whilst straddling their boards out in the water.
Surf-happy tourists who fail to come prepared can rent a board from one of the local surf shops. Many newbies avail themselves of the group lessons that are available for approximately $65 to $100 for two hours, during which they learn everything from how to paddle out to meet the waves to standing on the boards to greet them properly. During our brief afternoon, we saw at least three groups of eager wannabes carry their boards into the water for presumably the first time.
Considering I arrived still mildly drunk from the night before, I had a great time sinking my toes into the soft sand at Bondi. We watched cute boys literally take flying leaps off a ledge and giggled at the little girl with her homemade kite complete with neon pink string and nylon stocking tail. I may not have taken a dip in the chilly waters, but I can sincerely say that my first trip to Bondi Beach won’t be my last.
5 comments:
I tell everyone who will listen that Bondi isn't our best beach. It's popular mostly because it's close to the city and heavily populated. Luckily Sydney has a plethora of really good beaches that are better than Bondi. Glad you had a good day there anyway.
LJ
Ohhhhh, kite day! Colorful to be sure and exciting to see everything keeping them up.
You didn't go surfboarding? :) And yup: I always thought that Bondi Beach was one of the BIG ones.
They used to fly kites in the park behind the house but I haven't seen even one person try for years.
Reminds me of the mental images I have of the races in "Kite Runner".
Cheers for Saturday nights and Sunday mornings,
merthyrmum
I don't own any shorts either. I wear a lot of summer dresses when the weather is warm.
A whole year with no sandals? So tragic!
Darlin you need to take some scissors to those jeans! I say you hit up Fiji next. Just pick the right island with no rain...we didn't...and paid the price!
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