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Do you have a favourite Sydney beach? I've decided to swim every day for the next six months.

MARYROSE02

By MARYROSE02
in New South Wales

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MARYROSE02

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A friend has just rented a flat at Bondi Beach, somewhere she loves above all other Sydney beaches, but I don't like because it's so hard to park. It will be even worse today with the "Sculptures by the Sea" exhibition still on between Bondi and Tamarama. Bondi is a magnificent beach, no doubt about it. I love parking at North Bondi for a moment to look down the beach, but the parking charges s**t me, 7am to 10pm I think.

 

I favour a combination of harbour and ocean beaches, with the latter being beaches with either little surf or pools where I can avoid the surf. I am a wimp where the surf is concerned. I usually think of Bronte as being my favourite although I love every beach for their unique qualities and scenery. I went to Bronte at 8pm last night so was able to park for free. Usually I park up McPherson Street where the free parking spots are.

 

My closest beach is Red Leaf on the harbour below Woollahra Council Chambers on New South Head Road, 5.5 kilometres. Bondi, Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly, and Coogee are all about 7 kilometres from my home in Surry Hills. Nielsen Park and Parsley Bay on the harbour are about 11 kilometres, and Watsons Bay is 12 or 13 kilometres. I never really know which one I'm going to until I get into my car and settle on a route. Even then I might change my mind. Heading for Bronte for instance, ignoring the right turn to Clovelly, I get a "second chance" to turn right again, and maybe go to the northern side of Clovelly which I don't do so much, although it gets the sun later in the day. Nielsen Park and Watsons Bay get the late sun too.

 

Sometimes I find a beach by accident, Clifton Gardens for instance, which I came upon when I got lost on the way to Balmoral. I can't figure out why Mosman is signed on every junction coming from Kirribilli then the signs suddenly just stop?! I don't remember ever swimming at Clifton Gardens before and the same at Clontarf last year when I walked there from The Spit.

 

I have a "soft spot" for Narrabeen because I lived there with my parents in the 1980's and I usually make a nostalgic trip once or twice a year. I'm too scared to swim in the surf there now and swim in the pools at either Collaroy or North Narrabeen.

 

I love going to the beach but I'm always making excuses not to get in my car and go for a swim. That stops today, with six months of summer, summer and more summer to look forward to. Okay, strictly speaking, it's one month of spring, three months of summer, and two months of autumn, but you'd hardly notice the changing of the seasons!

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MARYROSE02 PIO Chatter Box

MARYROSE02

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My favourite Sydney beach is Balmoral. You don't get the big surf type of waves and I like the village atmosphere of Balmoral itself. I don't like Bondi at all. All those posers and it's far too crowded for my liking.

 

I was thinking about a swim at Balmoral, followed by fish and chips from "Bottom of the Harbour" though I think I will postpone it till during the week. Last time I was there I "found" the path along the old tram cutting which starts in one of the parks.

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jumpingjellybean PIO Chatter Box

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What a good post. It will introduce me to some new beaches.

 

I have never even heard of "Seven Shillings Beach".

 

I love the beach. Depending on which I go to will depend on the activity. Sometimes that activity is swimming, sometimes paddling, sometimes just walking up an down whilst thinking how bloody lucky I am to live here, sometimes to take sunrise or sunset photos, sometimes inspecting the rock pools......today was mainly sitting in the sun drink chardonnay!

 

I hate Bondi. Bad parking or otherwise I just dislike it.

 

Favorite beaches are:

 

Tamarama

Bronte

Balmoral

Chinamans

Shelly

Gordon

Milk

Whale

Bungan

Bilgola

Palm (been there all day today)

Obelisk

Wattamolla

Congwong

 

Not sure I can pick an absolute favourite though. Each has its own charm.

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jumpingjellybean PIO Chatter Box

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What a good post. It will introduce me to some new beaches.

 

I have never even heard of "Seven Shillings Beach".

 

I love the beach. Depending on which I go to will depend on the activity. Sometimes that activity is swimming, sometimes paddling, sometimes just walking up an down whilst thinking how bloody lucky I am to live here, sometimes to take sunrise or sunset photos, sometimes inspecting the rock pools......today was mainly sitting in the sun drink chardonnay!

 

I hate Bondi. Bad parking or otherwise I just dislike it.

 

Favorite beaches are:

 

Tamarama

Bronte

Balmoral

Chinamans

Shelly

Gordon

Milk

Whale

Bungan

Bilgola

Palm (been there all day today)

Obelisk

Wattamolla

Congwong

 

Not sure I can pick an absolute favourite though. Each has its own charm.

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I like Palm Beach in the hope of seeing Alf. Bronte and Coogee are great. To be fair I'm not sure there's a bad one. I enjoy a drink at icebergs in bondi

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vickyplum PIO Chatter Box

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Made the mistake of going down to Bondi today, for the Sculptures by the Sea. Got a parking space but had left it too late and subsequently was too hot and the path down to Bronte with the sculptures, was packed. Had a quick look but will go back another time for a better look - either earlier on a weekend day or maybe mid-week after work if it looks like a nice evening.

 

Only my second trip to Bondi and not a fan. The setting is lovely but the area is jsut too busy and tacky - with an "interesting" range of people as well... Need to do some other beach investigations and will keep an eye on this thread, for sure!

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jumpingjellybean PIO Chatter Box

jumpingjellybean

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Made the mistake of going down to Bondi today, for the Sculptures by the Sea.

 

You were lucky to find a park; rarer than hens teeth!

 

The best way to Bondi is by bus.

 

Yes you need to view sculptures early morning sunrise or just before dusk.

Any other time is a crowded nightmare - hot and sweaty - with an "interesting" range of people indeed :laugh:

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vickyplum PIO Chatter Box

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You were lucky to find a park; rarer than hens teeth!

 

The best way to Bondi is by bus.

 

Yes you need to view sculptures early morning sunrise or just before dusk.

Any other time is a crowded nightmare - hot and sweaty - with an "interesting" range of people indeed :laugh:

 

As I am not planning to take part in any Melbourne Cup activities on Tuesday, I was thinking I could nip out of work a little earlier than usual, and go and have a proper look then. Seems most of my colleagues are going to be joining the festivities from lunch time onwards, so it can be my reward for being the one who works the full day! :cool: (Or nearly a full day as the case may be...)

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MARYROSE02 PIO Chatter Box

MARYROSE02

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What a good post. It will introduce me to some new beaches.

 

I have never even heard of "Seven Shillings Beach".

 

I love the beach. Depending on which I go to will depend on the activity. Sometimes that activity is swimming, sometimes paddling, sometimes just walking up an down whilst thinking how bloody lucky I am to live here, sometimes to take sunrise or sunset photos, sometimes inspecting the rock pools......today was mainly sitting in the sun drink chardonnay!

 

I hate Bondi. Bad parking or otherwise I just dislike it.

 

Favorite beaches are:

 

Tamarama

Bronte

Balmoral

Chinamans

Shelly

Gordon

Milk

Whale

Bungan

Bilgola

Palm (been there all day today)

Obelisk

Wattamolla

Congwong

 

Not sure I can pick an absolute favourite though. Each has its own charm.

 

I've never been to Chinaman's Beach in Mosman, despite having lived in Neutral Bay area for a few years in 1979/81. (I'm Googling the ones on your list that I don't know.) Shelly is at Manly but I've never been there before. Milk I thought I recognized - near Nielsen Park - I say I'm swimming at Neilsen Park, but it's actually Shark Bay, or Beach (I've never been to Shark, Clark or Pinchgut Islands.) I was thinking "Gordon? I don't know Gordon Beach?" Then I realized as I was Googling that it's Gordon's Bay between Coogee and Clovelly. I used to get the bus to Coogee from outside my door, then walk to Clovelly to swim, then get a bus from Clovelly back to Foveaux and Crown Sts, Surry Hills.

 

Obelisk is a nude beach! I did once go to Lady Jane or Lady Bay around from Watsons Bay towards South Head with a lady friend. I told her I would just walk to the top of the stairs but then I went down with her. She did not strip but I did, It is rather "liberating" to swim like that!

 

I may have been to Wattamolla in the Royal National Park - I've been neglecting getting out in the bush of late - and I have been to Congwong at La Perouse. I don't like the sheer scale of Bondi, with everything seemingly outsized, and with the parking I find it just too much of a hassle, though occasionally if I've been there early in the morning or late at night I like it. Actually, I know what I don't like about it. It's not really pedestrian friendly either, same as Cronulla perhaps, another parking nightmare. But, for all that, if I had a flat on the seafront at Bondi, well that would not be so bad. I should have bought one when Bondi was still relatively uncool back in the early 80's? It is an iconic place too, drive down Bondi Road and see the sweep of the beach as you go around the left hand bend, it's magnificent.

 

The harbour beaches are all free to park, though they can get busy on weekends and holidays. Clovelly is free to park. Bronte is free up the hill which means a steep walk back to the car but I like the exercise. I think Maroubra has free four hour parking? I occasionally go to the Macon pool there going north from the beach itself, also to Malabar on the way to La Perouse. I don't like swimming at beaches without shark nets, unless the water is really shallow. There's a nice little beach at Double Bay just to the east of the 18 Footer Club (I'm a member.) Rose Bay is a bit like England with the tide going out a long way. Neutral Bay has a little beach down near the wharf on Hayes St.

 

I did not have a swim in the end today. I decided to get stuck into my uni studies from about 5pm to 930pm - Murdoch Uni in Perth, no less. There is something to do there after all! (I'm at my desk in Sydney of course.) It rained hard too this evening. I'm going to push myself out for a walk perhaps as I've been indoors all day.

 

I must go and see the "Statues by the Sea" one day during the week.

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MARYROSE02

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I like Palm Beach in the hope of seeing Alf. Bronte and Coogee are great. To be fair I'm not sure there's a bad one. I enjoy a drink at icebergs in bondi

 

I like to make the effort to get up to Palm Beach too. Once I'm at Narrabeen, I think "I may as well go up there." I go in Palm Beach RSL sometimes, have a walk around Avalon too. I prefer North Bondi RSL (the "Rat House" -after the "Rats of Tobruk") to the Icebergs.

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Made the mistake of going down to Bondi today, for the Sculptures by the Sea. Got a parking space but had left it too late and subsequently was too hot and the path down to Bronte with the sculptures, was packed. Had a quick look but will go back another time for a better look - either earlier on a weekend day or maybe mid-week after work if it looks like a nice evening.

 

Only my second trip to Bondi and not a fan. The setting is lovely but the area is jsut too busy and tacky - with an "interesting" range of people as well... Need to do some other beach investigations and will keep an eye on this thread, for sure!

 

Definitely go for the Sculptures by the Sea on a week day, maybe in the evening now it's light till almost 7.30. Weekends are awful, ditto for other events like the "coloured lights" one around Circular Quay which does nothing for me, and at weekends, as crowded as on NYE. I hate the word "grockle" but it seems apt when it comes to events like this at weekends. A friend of mine could not remember where he parked his car when he went to see the sculpures a couple of years back. I can remember those already nasty roads above Tamarama packed and marshalls out to guide you away from the multitude of cul-de-sacs.

 

I'd suggest parking at Bronte and walking from that end. I think they start at Tamarama which is an easy walk from Bronte. If you are too mean to pay the parking, as I am, then park up the hill on McPhersons Street at Bronte. You could get the bus back up the hill to your car. There is a solitary sculpture at Bronte too which does not get taken down, looking down at the cemetery.

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LKC PIO Chatter Box

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My favourites are Wattamolla (there is a lagoon there too, which is great with the kids), and Jibbon beach in Bundeena. It is lovely and calm for a swim and usually quiet, except on sunny weekends or holidays like Boxing Day.

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Ainell29 Member

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My favourites are Wattamolla (there is a lagoon there too, which is great with the kids), and Jibbon beach in Bundeena. It is lovely and calm for a swim and usually quiet, except on sunny weekends or holidays like Boxing Day.

 

I don't have private transport going to these beaches- are they accessible by bus from randwick?

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I don't have private transport going to these beaches- are they accessible by bus from randwick?

 

I shouldn't think that Wattamolla would be, it is quite a way out in the Royal National Park. You might be able to get to Jibbon or one of the other beaches in Bundeena. You'd have to get the train from either Bondi Junction (I don't think that is far from Randwick) or Central to Cronulla on the Illawarra line, and then there is a little ferry from Cronulla to Bundeena. The beach that is near the ferry terminal is called Hordens beach. That one gets a bit busier, but it is still lovely. Jibbon beach would be a 10 or 15 minute walk I guess from the ferry terminal.

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I shouldn't think that Wattamolla would be, it is quite a way out in the Royal National Park. You might be able to get to Jibbon or one of the other beaches in Bundeena. You'd have to get the train from either Bondi Junction (I don't think that is far from Randwick) or Central to Cronulla on the Illawarra line, and then there is a little ferry from Cronulla to Bundeena. The beach that is near the ferry terminal is called Hordens beach. That one gets a bit busier, but it is still lovely. Jibbon beach would be a 10 or 15 minute walk I guess from the ferry terminal.

 

thank you very much for the info

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MARYROSE02 PIO Chatter Box

MARYROSE02

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I shouldn't think that Wattamolla would be, it is quite a way out in the Royal National Park. You might be able to get to Jibbon or one of the other beaches in Bundeena. You'd have to get the train from either Bondi Junction (I don't think that is far from Randwick) or Central to Cronulla on the Illawarra line, and then there is a little ferry from Cronulla to Bundeena. The beach that is near the ferry terminal is called Hordens beach. That one gets a bit busier, but it is still lovely. Jibbon beach would be a 10 or 15 minute walk I guess from the ferry terminal.

 

I've been to Bundeena, but never on the ferry. It's not a bad idea to join a bushwalking club, as they will guide you to all sorts of places.

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