Heaven from a Push-Cart

I decided to see Sydney on foot. I was slated to be here for two days before the train left for Tamworth so my first day in Sydney I wandered out to Coogee Beach for a walk north along the cliffs. About the laziest image I have ever seen was a guy holding a kite on Coogee Beach, reclined in the sand, holding his kite just enough not to let it escape because he couldn't be bothered to fly it. Beach culture. Yep, Sydney had it.

I walked about 5 miles along the coast, viewing Sydney's truly remarkably cliffs with views to the ocean complete with massive 747 aeroplanes suspended as in still life above the water just before landing out of view. My beach walk saw dogs running headlong into the surf and emerging just to spray their owners with wet doggy saltwater, men strolling up and down the beach with heads high showing off practiced washboard abs, surfers doing their best not to flip over... had I any doubts about whether the beaches of Sydney would suffer lack of popularity in mid-winter, my fears certainly ceased.

I reached Bondi Beach at the end of my walk, a massive spread of sand with a pavilion designed for open-air bands to entertain surf-lifesavers, sun-addicts and casual tourists like me. I stuck my toes in the water. I sat in the 20 degree C sun. I had a gelato. I unabashedly soaked in the beach fater the 4 degree C Wellington shrouded in fog I had left earlier that morning.

I spent the rest of that afternoon maintaing the profile of a Sydney tourist. I had a go at climbing the harbour bridge. I shopped the open market at The Rocks. I went up the Sky Tower and promptly went back down laughing at the idea of buying a $14 beer.

I finished the evening with a (cheaper) beer and pizza-by-the-slice at a push-cart, a delicacy for one coming from Wellington where the single pizza shop rivalling the tastiness of a corner joint in downtown Manhattan is a place that's only open the hours of 11-2, 4-5, and 7-9 or when the owner is motivated (the answering machine, when I left in July, talked about how he would be away for the Christmas holiday). I had pizza and I had beer. Come what may, I was definitely having a vacation.