FRIDAY, FEBUARY 10, 2017
It’s my last full day in Sydney! I spent most of the day at the beach so get ready for lots of beach pictures.
KANSAS CITY SHUFFLE
Determined to hit one more breakfast place on my list, I woke up early enough to grab breakfast at Kansas City Shuffle. As I was on my way out, I bumped into Sebastian who was sitting in the lobby. He had a flight to Cairns later, but needed to check out by a certain time. He ended up joining me for breakfast, which I’m very thankful for in the end. It was nice to have some company. Kansas City Shuffle is a 5 to 7 minute walk from our hostel. From the outside we couldn’t really tell it was a breakfast place. It looked more like a to-go cafe, but they actually have seating inside.
This was hands down the BEST meal I had in Sydney. I wasn’t expecting the food to taste so good, but it was really good. Sebastian LOVED his meal and the both of us were stunned at how good the food tasted. It was definitely hard deciding what to order, but I ended up getting the Smoked Beef Brisket & Waffle with Chili Butter and Poached Eggs. Sebastian got a mushroom and kale on bread that was also really good.
After breakfast, we walked back to the hostel and I met up with Meika while we said our goodbyes to Sebastian. We caught a bus at Circular Quay and I think it took about 30 to 40 minutes to Bondi Beach. Our plan for the day was to do the Bondi to Coogee Walk. The total walk is 6 km and knowing we wanted stop take pictures AND go for a swim, we had to haul ass.
BONDI BEACH
It was so beautiful! Bondi Beach has a lot of murals you can appreciate. I found one that I loved! It’s been a while since I’ve seen a pretty beach. I think the last beach I’ve been to was probably in Cancun, Mexico. I know there are beaches everywhere, so it’s nothing culturally significant, but it can still be hard to come by a good beach where the sand is white and the water is not gray or black. Bondi is probably the largest beach on the walk.
BONDI ICEBERGS CLUB
Right next to Bondi Beach is the Bondi Icebergs Club. They have pool that is right next to the ocean. When the waves are strong enough, they’ll overflow into the pool. If memory serves me right, the admission price was $7. We wanted to stay, but we decided we’d be better off at another pool. There were tons of people there that day despite the hot temps.
We continued walking and also stopped to take lots of pictures. The views were really gorgeous. The sun makes everything better in my opinion.
TAMARAMA BEACH
Meika and I were extremely happy to reach Tamarama Beach. It was super hot and we’ve already applied sunscreen three times since starting our walk. We were looking forward to a cooling down in the water. We found a rock pool next to Tamarama Beach and just sat in the small pool. I wouldn’t even call it a pool. It was more like a huge puddle. Sitting down, the water covered my thighs and probably reached halfway down my stomach. The water was super clear. We just relaxed and enjoyed the view.
BRONTE ROCK POOL
After we were satisfied with our time at Tamarama Beach, we continued walking and reached Bronte Beach. We were going to skip it, but had accidently walked towards the Bronte Rock Pool instead of the walk that continued in the back of the beach. A little worried about time, we asked how long it would take to walk from Bronte to Coogee. The girls next to us said 20 minutes. I didn’t believe it for a minute. From my research it seemed a lot further. Maybe I’m a slow walker.
Taking their word, we decided to rest next to the Bronte Rock Pool. We took out our towels and sunbathed. It was glorious. When we got too hot, we just took a dip in the Bronte Rock Pool. There were also lots of people at the Bronte Rock Pool, but there was still room to swim around a bit.
CLOVELLY BEACH
Clovelly Beach wasn’t my favorite beach. It was all right. The good thing about Clovelly Beach was the food stand. We didn’t eat lunch, so I was starving and I bought a strawberry smoothie to hold me over. It was not a fresh fruit smoothie unfortunately. The line was also super long and I think I waited 20 minutes before I had the drink in my hand. Leaving Clovelly Beach, we were really pressed on time. Meika had a plane to catch later that night and we had dinner plans so we really had to hustle.
GORDAN’S BAY
Still on the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk, we reached a part of the path that was lots and lots of stairs. It would have taken us all around. I would have climbed the stairs, but Meika didn’t want to. She would rather climb over the big rocks on the side. I can see why because she moved fast. Me, on the other hand, was taking my time, stepping carefully and wearing flip flops. It took so long for me to get over the rocks.
COOGEE BEACH
We finally made it to Coogee Beach. I didn’t take any pictures of this beach because 1) we literally saw it as we ran past it to catch the bus 2) I was super tired and sunburned, I didn’t even want to take out my camera to take a snap. That’s how tired I was. There was a bus coming soon and google maps said it would be a long time til the next one so we ran to catch this one.
THE GLENMORE
Luckily, we got seats and I think I fell asleep 5 minutes after the bus started moving. Can you blame me? Meika also slept on the bus. The bus ride felt longer going back to Circular Quay. We went back to the hostel, showered, met up with Sophy and together we had dinner at the Glenmore. It was kind of embarrassing. I ordered this steak meal that came with vegetables and a baked potato. I cleaned that plate off and ate everything. But hey, I didn’t eat lunch.
THE ARGYLE
After stuffing ourselves full, we went back to the hostel and just hung out until Meika had to leave for her flight. Meanwhile, Sophy and I got ready to go out for our last night in Sydney. The hostel gave free admission tickets to the Argyle and the STAR Casino. I was actually really looking forward to the Casino, but we ended up at the Argyle first for “pregaming.” They gave us one free drink with the ticket. It was packed. Definitely opposite of how it was on Sunday night. It was a lot of fun dancing. We found the R&B room and we were surprised at how much we loved the music in the R&B room better than the other dance floors. I had a lot of fun just singing along and dancing. At around 12 or 1, I got tired, dehydrated, and a little cranky. The bartender was so busy I couldn’t get water, some idiot dropped his drink on the floor and I was caught in the wet zone. That was my cue to leave. After saying bye to Sophy, I went back to the hostel to sleep.
REFLECTION
And that concludes my week in Sydney. My first solo adventure is in the books. I know Sydney is not really an impressive place for a solo adventure considering it’s pretty western and I speak their official language, but I’m still proud of myself for being able to do this by myself. I liked that I had company on the last day. Also, it would have been hard to get sun screen on my back myself. I think it was a good balance. This trip was more a test for me to see if I could be independent. Even though Sydney is not that different from say, New York, I was still outside my comfort zone. I can’t wait to come back to Australia see Perth, Cairns, Melbourne, and more! I’m so grateful for this trip. I learned so much about myself and another small piece of the world. Unitl then…
Much Love, Tina. x.
Related Posts:
Sydney Day 1
Sydney Day 2
Sydney Day 3
Sydney Day 4
Sydney Day 5
Sydney Day 6
