A day in Sydney today. Nothing much to do, and all day to do it.
It was cool again this morning. All things being equal it will be cold every morning … so how about you assume it is cold and I’ll let you know if it isn’t.
Had a nice sleep in this morning. MBW got up at about 5.45 and turned on the heater on her way from the bed to the bathroom (and back), and then we fell asleep again. It was warm and cosy in the van and we had nothing important to get up for.
We wanted to go and look at Bondi Beach today. Last time we were in Sydney we did a trip to Bondi and it was very cold and very wet. Very disappointing, in fact. Not a soul on the beach, and certainly no celebrity lifeguards to be seen.
So that was the plan for today.
It’s a funny thing how the van warms up so quickly with the fan heater on. You get lulled into this false sense of security.
Get up out of bed, get ready for a shower and open the shower door to find that the air in the shower cubicle is still freezing. Somehow the warm air hasn’t permeated that space, which is a shame because by the time you step (naked) into the shower, the last thing you really want is to be standing in a refrigerator.
Actually, that’s the second last thing you want. The absolute last thing that you expect happens when you get a handful of body wash that has been sitting on the floor of the shower all night and you apply it to your most … um, sensitive parts, and you realise how cold it is! Not an entirely pleasant start to the day.
Showers done, breakfast done, coffee consumed, and dishes washed. We were ready to head out into the day.
The road that we are staying on at the Discovery Park Lane Cove Caravan Park shares space with the Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium. That means that nearly every time we travel along the short road, we pass either a long, black limousine with black windows (AKA a hearse), or a bunch of mourners. Or both, with the mourners following the hearse.
Anyhow we headed out past the dead centre of Sydney, and Dolly directed us onto a toll road that turns into a tunnel. And Sydney tunnels seem to go under the harbour, which is a concept that I really don’t like.
You feel like you are on a very long downward decline under water … which just makes me feel like I am going for a ride on the Titan but hoping for a better outcome. At least Elsie has a safety rating.
Then there is this loud ”beep”! I’m not sure if that is the eTag going off, or my smart watch telling me that I’m having a heart attack, but I’m pretty sure that either of those options will be unpleasant.
I’ve commented on Sydney roads previously, and I’m going to do it again. They seem to go in all directions, and with no real purpose. The constant turns and dips and changes of direction, combined with the perpetual roadwork that is in progress and the lunatics on the road make it interesting and confusing at the same time.
I don’t know how many people that Wikipedia says live in Sydney, but there was very nearly one less – some impatient tosser figured that he needed to be in my lane far more that I did, particularly because his lane had disappeared and he was in a big hurry. Anyhow, he got a very close look at my bullbar and decided to wait for me to go first.
I mean, we did win the State of Origin, so there has to be some benefits, I guess.
So we had a stressful an exhilarating drive through Sydney streets to finally arrive at Bondi Beach feeling exhausted ready to go exploring. Can you tell that I’m trying to work on being positive?
There is some serious money around that part of Sydney. There were a couple of giveaways:
- All of the expensive cars on the road, and
- The number of nail/beauty/fitness/coffee shops around which suggests that most Bondi residents don’t have a great deal to do other than visit these establishments.
On the way into Bondi there was some dude driving around in his brand new black Ferrari, which looked like his daily ride. Why you would drive a Ferrari around Bondi when you will be unlikely to ever get it out of first gear is beyond me … but then if I had a black Ferrari I’d probably drive it around too, just because I could.
On the way to Bondi we saw a bakery called ”The Grumpy Baker” and MBW (very unkindly) suggested that I would fit right in there. Nice.
We caught up with some friends for a coffee at this cute little coffee shop at Bondi, and then we headed off to Watson’s Bay for a look at the sights there. We saw some even more serious money at Watson’s Bay, and found some spectacular views of the city and Harbour Bridge.
I have mentioned previously how narrow some streets are, and when you get cars parked on both sides it becomes downright scary. And there are cars everywhere. Every street seems to be lined with cars. Everywhere you look. Some are also lined with trees.
I have also mentioned previously that the red Anderson plug on the van had a catastrophic implosion after being dragged along the road for 100km or so. Bunnings sell them so we went to the Bunnings at Rose Bay to get one.
Two things:
- They were out of stock of red Anderson plugs, which was a shame, but
- The Rose Bay Bunnings is not a super store like we are used to. It was a quaint little shopfront that doesn’t seem to stock anything that a self-respecting handyman would ever want to buy
The other thing that struck me as strange is that if you live in a $10M house and drive a $250k luxury car, why would you ever go to Bunnings anyway? But that’s a question for another day.
We found a Woolies and bought some staples for lunch, and got back to the van around 2.30pm for a ham, cheese and tomato sandwich and a rest before we go out to the Opera House tonight for a show.
Should be fun.
I’ll have to tell you all about that tomorrow because it will be late when we get back home to the van, and I’ll probably be grumpy again after having to navigate more Sydney streets with both Dolly and MBW shouting directions at me.
Ciao
#RoadTripNSW2023