Sydney Holiday 2014, April 20 (Sandbox)

After a whole one an a half days I was already exhausted and worn out, so I had a bit of a late start and walked down to Paddy's Market which is actually not in Paddington or anywhere near it. Paddy's was bigger than The Rocks market, so that's something, but other than the fruit and vegetable section it was just one cheap knock-off store after the next - just like Queen Victoria Market actually.

No more monorail, but at least they have trams...

I took the train out to Bondi Junction, then a quick bus ride out to the actual Bondi Beach. I wasn't too familiar with Bondi Beach so I was surprised it was a little larger and more picturesque than I imagined. The sun was out, the waves were decent and the sand looked clean, so basically everything you need from a beach. I walked down to the north end of the beach before taking a break, it was a warm day but didn't feel like my skin was on fire, so that was a pleasant surprise. I got an early lunch since I missed breakfast, just some standard smoothie at a place called Wow Cow that didn't wow me, and an awesome cheesecake slice from some local bakery.

Bondi Beach.

From the south end of Bondi Beach I got on to the Eastern Coastal Walk path which seemed to be incredibly popular - probably just as many people on the walking track than on the beach itself, which doesn't make a lot of sense. The first place I passed was the ocean swimming pool at Icebergs which looked like it would have been great fun, you get to swim within the safe confines of a swimming pool, but you also have the waves crashing in over the top. Every beach should have one of these.

Fresh water swimming.

Continuing on the track I passed Tamarama Beach which was a lot smaller than Bondi but also looked like a good quality beach, the same could not be said for Bronte Beach afterwards, there was a lot of stones washed up on the sand and it generally didn't look as good as the previous two. Further south was the Waverley Cemetery which someone decided would be a good idea to place on the cliffs overlooking the ocean - surely they could have made better use of a prime location than that. I passed Burrows Park on the edge of cliff, which was pretty cool, they had a lawn bowls and a rugby field, although it looked like there was a high probability of balls disappearing over the edge.

Tamarama Beach.

I had planned to walk the whole five kilometres down to Coogee Beach and back again, but I gave up after about three and a half kilometres when I got to Clovelly Beach as my legs were just too fatigued from all the uphills, downhills and staircases along the way. I didn't get to see all of Clovelly Beach but it looked like it was alright too, it seems they have a large inlet which would have been good for swimming without having to fight against the waves.

So I turned around and headed back to Bondi Beach, which felt like it took forever, as there is a never ending amount of cliff bends along the way before you even catch a glimpse of Bondi again. From there it was back on the bus to Bondi Junction, and since the Westfield (with is on the east side of town) and Eastgate Plaza (which is on the south side of town) were both closed it was back to Sydney as well.

The long road back.

Back to Town Hall in Sydney I finally got to try some froyo! The apple-strawberry was just ok but the soy banana was better - not even any soy after taste. I walked up Kent Street this time instead, which was totally deserted, but it got to where I wanted to go - the Observatory Park Hill. The park is over on the west side of the city, which has a good view of the Harbour Bridge and Luna Park to the side. They wouldn't called it Observatory Park Hill if there wasn't an observatory there, so I went in for a look - since it was free. It was a bit better than The Rocks Discovery Museum but still the same kind of thing, just a few exhibit rooms with some devices on display and an explanation of each - they don't even let you play with the big telescopes!

Observatory.

I got the train over to St. James, sadly it's underneath Hyde Park instead, and there is no St. James Park. I walked past the Hyde Park Barracks, The Mint Museum and through the Sydney Hospital Grounds on the way to Art Gallery Of NSW, which was also free! I thought the sign at the entrance said no photos, but everyone was taking photos, so it must have just been no flash photography. I started in the 18th and 19th century European art wing, which was a bit boring but still much better than the 19th century Australian art that followed. In the opposite wing they had more modern artwork including lots of abstract pieces, which was a significant improvement and actually worth looking at. There was a few of those weird pieces that anyone could have come up with, but also lots more clever and inspiring pieces than I expected, so it was definitely worth the quick visit.

Art can be interesting after all.

But not always.

The greatest city in the world.

Tram kaleidoscope was probably my favourite.

I was totally wrecked by the time I got back to the hotel at 5pm, so I ordered a pizza to coincide with the start of the Premier League Saturday Review Show on Fox Sports. Sadly it wasn't scheduled to start until 7pm, which was possibly the longest two hours of my life not spent inside an airport. As a side note, BBC Match Of The Day is much better than this show.

Japanese polo buns, simple is best.

I was so tired I fell asleep waiting for the Norwich vs. Liverpool game to start afterwards at 9pm. I was woken up by a commentator getting excited about a Suarez goal putting Liverpool ahead 2-0, but I was so dazed and confused at the time I wasn't sure if it was actually happening or I was just living through a nightmare.