Today we were on a mission to explore the Bondi Beach & Bondi Junction areas with a few specific goals/stops in mind.

Catherine was up an hour before me & went for a walk on the beach at sunrise.

She was astonished by how many people were out at 6:00 am running, swimming, surfing, biking, yoga & pretty much all other forms of exercise. Of course the surroundings were pretty inspiring.

We started our adventure with another great breakfast at “Le Paris Go” cafe & then began our climb to Bondi Junction. While our walk was not nearly as challenging as our hike in Nepal we were very surprised to find how steep & hilly this part of Sydney really is.

It took us about an hour to reach the main commercial area – with a jumbo shopping mall, outdoor markets & apartment towers adjacent to quiet residential streets. These areas reminded us a lot of Vancouver.

Despite the 30 C weather the stores were all decked out in full Christmas marketing mode.

After resting & people watching for a while we continued on our mission to find the Bondi Junction Vet Hospital which was just a couple of blocks away from the main commercial area.

Catherine was really hoping to meet Dr. Chris Brown, the Bondi Vet from the tv show so she was constantly on the lookout for a stray kitten or an injured bird that she could take into the clinic. Alas, no luck there.

We found the clinic & contemplated going in but finally thought better of it & continued on our trek.

Next on our list was to explore Sydney’s Centennial Park. In typical Aussie fashion, this park is huge. Lots of open space for people to wander & picnic in & beautiful ornamental gardens.

We found a really nice cafe in the park & took a refreshment break before continuing on to our next destination – the Waverly Cemetery.

On our way out of the park we walked through a natural wooded area that hosted hundreds of fruit bats hanging upside down & sleeping high in the trees. Just like the park they were in, these bats are huge – each one easily the size of a cat. Even though these bats are no threat to people (they are vegetarians) we didn’t linger too long in this area.

Check out this website to find out more about the bats. They are fascinating: http://sydneybats.org.au/flying-foxes/

Waverly Cemetery is an historic site overlooking the ocean. We walked through the cemetery for a short while & saw many gravestones dated into the early 1800’s. There’s even a smartphone app that you can use to find out if you have any ancestors buried there.

We made our way down from the cemetery over to Bronte Beach.

From there it was a short walk to Tamarama Beach where we were close to the day before while checking out the Sculptures by the Sea Exhibition.

By the time we got back to Bondi Beach, the place was hopping with at least 10 times more people than we saw on our first day. We had walked almost 20 kilometers & were so tired that we bought some snacks and ate them on the balcony while watching the crowds on the street below & on the beach. The bowls of Honey Macadamia Nut ice cream completed the day.

Cheers!