Daily Archives: November 8, 2019

November 6 – Sculptures and Swimming at Bondi

33°53′23″ S 151°16′31″ E
Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

Today was our first full day in Australia. Last night we managed to stay up until about 9:00pm & then finally had to surrender to our jet lag exhaustion.

We both slept pretty well & were up at 7:00am. The view of Bondi Beach from our hotel balcony is fantastic.

We went back to the really nice cafe (Le Paris Go) that we were at yesterday & had a great breakfast there.

Next on the agenda was a walk along the seaside pathway that goes from Bondi Beach to nearby Bronte Beach. Our holiday timing was good as there is a sea sculpture exhibition along this pathway for the first last week of October & the first couple of weeks of November.

This annual event has been going on since 1996, has over 100 exhibits & attracts over 500,000 visitors each year. Check out their website at: https://sculpturebythesea.com/bondi/

Many of the exhibits were really innovative & fit into the surrounding landscape.

There were lots of people on the pathway so it was a bit of a challenge to get some photos without anyone else in them.

I especially liked the little village display.

There were also several larger than life sculptures.

The main event of the day was next on our agenda – Catherine was going to spend a few hours swimming in the Iceberg Pool at Bondi Beach. Check out their website here:

https://icebergs.com.au/swimming-pool/

This outdoor oceanside pool was built in 1929. It is 50 meters long & is filled with seawater.

The swimming club welcomes visitors for an $8.00 per swim fee. The setting is beautiful with the far end of the pool facing Bondi Beach & the outside facing the Pacific Ocean.

Catherine took advantage of the pool not being very busy & swam for about 2 hours straight. There she is below! The water was pretty chilly at 18C & the natural salt was certainly different from the pool at our local “Y” so it took a while to get acclimatized.

I took a few videos & some photos of her in action & then went to check out the restaurant/bar overlooking the pool.

It was a great spot to hang out & count her laps, while I lapped up a cold brew. We both had a great time in our own way.

Cheers!