Sydney, Australia: Bondi Beach (October 2013)

Second day in Sydney started off with a trip to the Consulate of Vietnam to clear up a possible visa issue. Luckily that errand was quick and easy and we’re all set for the Vietnam portion of the adventure!

The Consulate was on the way to Bondi Beach, a bar and cafe filled beach suburb that is not only the starting point of a spectacular coastal walk, but also the place we were able to find a bar with ESPN to watch the Redskins game! We won’t talk about the game because it’s sad, but it was pretty cool watching the game live on a Monday afternoon at a beach bar with a few cold ones on the other side of the world.

Instead of drowning our sorrows in beer, we went on the highly recommended Bondi walk. The cliffs and views of brave surfers in the gnarly waves (very windy day) helped to clear our minds and forget about the tragic loss that was Sunday night football. I think my favorite part of the walk was seeing the ocean wash over a public pool. If it wasn’t so chilly and windy that day I would have been in that pool in a second. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m also a big fan of all the free public pools around this country and their unique qualities.

Free public ocean lap pool

As for describing the views on the walk, I just can’t… here are a few pictures that will hopefully give you an idea of the picturesque landscape:

After Bondi we took a bus back to a more centralized part of town and stumbled across the Night Noodle Markets taking place in Hyde Park. I wish I would have taken some pictures because the amount of vendors was very impressive. We had some food from the Himalayan region and “dessert drink” from a Thai stand. We didn’t want to overload on noodles since we’ll be having plenty in November, but it was a great festival and I’m really happy we bumped into it.