Blog 10; Bondi Beach and (lack of) Bioluminescence

It was the final day of bagpipes with breakfast – and today we were treated to vocals too. Despite its quirks the Mariner Court Hotel was good value and in a super location.

Before we left the Sydney area, we took a trip to Bondi Beach baby! (What3words:hooked.hope.cropped)

The sand was powder soft and the beach was lovely but much smaller than I expected. We parked in the middle section, and I suspect if we were at either end, the perspective would have made it seem longer, but having seen pics of it packed with sunbathers, I was surprised at the size.

It is winter here and the locals are wrapped up like Eskimos, while we are in shirt sleeves. You might see in the pic a couple of chaps in shorts – clearly tourists and the locals are to the left of them!

There were several surfing lessons going on as well as some ‘proper surfers’ and my impression from watching them is that the experienced surfers spend a lot of time waiting…..

It was only right that we got shoes off, feet wet, and in Em's case, trousers wet.

The water was cool, but not cold.

We drove south to Huskisson in Jervis Bay (What3words:miswinter.defections.concentrated) and as soon as we got here, we went to explore. Our hotel is about 100m from the ocean and the beautiful beaches. We are close to the harbour and the shoreline there is mainly rocks and rockpools.

There is a spit of land opposite (What3words:underpass.chase.situated) us and the beach stretches for miles. We saw a pod of pelicans (yes, I had to look up what a group of pelicans is called) on the beach tonight, but it was too dark to photograph them effectively.

We wandered along the front and inspected the rockpools – for the second time today it was shoes off and feet wet, and we sat on a rock and just relished in being here. There is something very calming about the sound of waves.

There are signs of the importance the Ozzies place on conservation everywhere…

Once we felt completely present, we drove into the Jervis Bay National Park – heading towards Governor Head Lookout (What3words:rocketing.glimpsing.paged), but made a last minute change to head for Cave Beach (What3words: beliefs.affirm.squeaks) which had been recommended by the chap in Tourist Information in Manly.

As we were parking the car we got spooked by a kangaroo in the bush (I know we are such wusses!) - it was just a surprise to suddenly see it - we were taken aback. Then we saw a family of them just munching down for dinner and we were much more chilled about it. I took a little video as I walked past – not sure why my camera switched to slow mo mode, but it makes me seem like I was creeping past – I wasn’t.

We went on to Murrays beach (What3words:technical.dipper.manifested) – I think this may be my favourite so far.

The sand is white powder, pristine and is quite shallow – perfect for paddling (yep, third time today!).

The sun was just starting to go down and Emily got some lovely pics.

As we were leaving, we met a very pregnant lady with a man and a photographer… assuming the man is her partner, I think they were off for a babymoon photo shoot and could not have picked a better location.

The Hotel (What3words: earphones.tripod.rugs)is having half priced cocktails tonight, so of course we had a couple. Em had her typical margarita, and I had a bramble tingle. Em was well impressed with her Marg – she said it was one of the best she has had, so imagine her dismay when she went for the second round only to see that it was pre mixed and was on tap! The second one did not go down as well… I think she may be a marg snob…

We ended up staying for dinner, partly because we were comfy, and partly because there were not many other places open. The place is huge and is rammed. It is quite raucous but seems good natured.

I don’t know how I attract them, but I was just sipping on my cocktail when a lady came up to me and said ‘Is that a bramble tingle?’ and when I said yes, she said ‘thought so’ and walked away!?

We both had seafood

and were really tempted by the meat raffle that they kept announcing on the tannoy, but knowing our luck we would have won!

Torches out we walked along the rocks to check for bioluminescence, which is the reason we came here, but sadly, there was none, so Emily still has that to tick off her bucket list ☹.

There is a chance we may see some when we head back north, and we did actually see some when we went to the glow worm cave, but she really wants to see some of the aquatic kind. Fingers crossed.

Even with half priced cocktails we are not having a late night - we have a 6 hour drive tomorrow as we head back up north, and our stopping off point will be Newcastle - just for the name :)