Walking 20km in Sydney: From Coogee and Bondi Beaches to Watson’s Bay

After walking nonstop along Sydney’s coastal paths and through suburban side streets, I begged my husband if we could catch the next bus.

He declined. I grumbled on even though I had agreed to and even proposed this long walk in the first place. At the end of our second day in Sydney, we had walked approximately 28,671 steps, according to my Fitbit, which is 20km or 12.1 miles. I was quite satisfied we had walked that much, but my legs were dead tired.

6km Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach

According to TripAdvisor, the second most popular activity in Sydney is the Bondi to Coogee Beach Coastal Walk. This 6km walk offers spectacular coastal views and time to frolic along the sandy beaches and in the clear seas if the temperatures are right. Heck, even if it’s only 18C (64F) outside, people will either be swimming or surfing in those chilly waters in the middle of winter.

After having breakfast in Darlinghurst, we took the bus to our starting point at Coogee Beach. We decided to do the traditional walk slightly backwards so we would follow the coastal path in a northerly direction, ending at Watson’s Bay, so we could take the ferry back to Circular Quay. (Here’s a good walking map by National Geographic.)

Since we did this walk in mid-July, the long, sandy stretch of Coogee Beach was fairly empty. However, I’m sure if the temperatures were to warm up, you’d see hundreds of people here. The path is easy to follow and you’ll be rewarded with brilliant blue views of the South Pacific Ocean and the white-crested waves crashing along the coast.

Along the way, you’ll pass Gordon’s Bay, a secluded, quiet bay that is popular for divers. Or an outdoor seawater swimming pool near Clovelly Cove.

Next, you’ll turn the corner and realize you’re staring at a Victorian-era cemetery, Waverly Cemetery, established in 1877 and perched along the coastal cliffs. This sprawling cemetery might have some of the best views in the world!

At the final stretch of this walk, we encountered the famous, 100-year-old Bondi Baths, a 50-meter swimming pool located near Bondi Beach. Definitely not a bad place for a swim! Too bad the water was too cold!

At Bondi Beach, we stopped for a couple minutes to rest and watch the surfers tackle the winter waves. If you need any refreshments or lunch, this would be the place to stop.

Note: the path is generally paved, but there are quite a few steps to climb up and down here and there. 

8km Bondi Beach to Watson’s Bay

At the northern end of Bondi Beach, we ended up walking down the wrong street and on some sidewalks in suburbia-land for 1 kilometer or so. Here, a bunch of expensive homes hug the coastal cliffs so the homeowners have the fabulous views, not you. The walkway finally wanders back through the parklands of Rodney Reserve and then the Dudley Page Reserve, which offers wonderful views of the Sydney Harbour. We stopped in this park for a few minutes and watched as young children and their families enjoyed the warm winter weather.

After this reserve, we meandered through suburbia some more and finally additional parkland hugging the coast for our last 6-km decent toward Watson’s Bay. 

We got lucky on our walk and saw this pretty rainbow lorikeet parrot which calls Australia home.

Follow the Federation Cliff Walk here past the Macquarie Lighthouse, the first and longest serving lighthouse in Australia. This lighthouse was built in 1883, but there were previous ones in the vicinity since 1818.

From the lighthouse, we were rewarded with more spectacular views along the coast. Now, I no longer felt defeated, just slightly disappointed we didn’t start our walk sooner because the early afternoon glare effected some of my photos.

At the home stretch, we walked out to Gap Bluff and enjoyed some lovely views before heading downhill to Watson’s Bay to eat a late lunch. I was famished!

We snapped up one of the last beach-side tables at Doyle’s Restaurant, a local institution since 1885. We ordered an arugula salad, Asian-style scallops, garlic bread, salt and pepper-fried calamari and a bottle of Australian Sauvignon Blanc. Our lunch was a little on the pricey side at 109 aud ($80), but this was our reward after walking nearly non-stop for 5 hours. (There's also an inexpensive fish and chips place on the pier and a gelato shop nearby.)

In my world, wine is always a good idea!

Obviously, as a tourist in Sydney, you wouldn’t need to do both walks like we did. Nor in one day! However, I highly recommend taking in at least one of these coastal walks when you’re visiting this beautiful harbor-side city.

After lunch, we took the 20-minute ferry from Watson’s Bay to Circular Quay and then walked back to our Airbnb apartment. All in all, a 20-km walk for the day.

View of the Sydney Opera House from our ferry boat heading back into Circular Quay.

If you need more walking inspiration, check out these suggested walks by Destination NSW (New South Wales), the state’s main government agency for tourism.

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Wonderful Winter Wine Tour in Yarra Valley

Day Trip from Melbourne

Since it’s the middle of winter in Australia, the lush, green landscapes of Yarra Valley, about an hour outside of Melbourne, completely surprised me.

We had come to sample the valley’s award-winning wines, but didn’t expect to fall in love with the surrounding countryside as well. Can you imagine this verdant place in the spring and summer months?

Earlier this month, my husband and I  booked a full day tour with Yarra Valley Wine Tasting Tours, which included stops at four wineries, a dairy farm and cheese shop and a chocolate shop. We want to take full advantage of the city and country as much as possible since we don’t know how long we’ll be living here. The tour was a fantastic introduction to Yarra Valley, and we didn’t have to worry about who was going to drive since we were on a small tour bus.

We first stopped at Yering Station, a winery established in 1838 by the Scottish-born Ryrie brothers who adopted the Aboriginal name “Yering.” The brothers planted two grape varieties but mainly used the land for cattle. Over the years, the property changed hands, but continued to produce wines, winning the Grand Prix at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. Today, the property is locally owned by the Rathbone family, purchased in 1996, who also established a restaurant overlooking the vineyard’s beautiful countryside.

Our favorite wines from Yering Station were the shiraz viognier and the cab-sav (as Aussies like to abbreviate everything).

Our second stop was at Yarra Valley Dairy, a local farm featuring both homemade cows’ and goats’ milk cheeses. We’re both suckers for cheese especially soft and stinky cheeses. The dairy’s goat cheese pyramid with ash reminded us of French cheeses we’ve liked so we bought this and two other cheeses. Unfortunately, the shop was crowded so I didn’t get any cheese pictures, but the surrounding farm lands were pretty.

Next, we headed to Domaine Chandon, which produces some of the best bubbly we’ve had outside of France. It’s probably no surprise to learn that the company is now part of the French-based champagne producers Moët & Chandon. However, the property has been operating as a vineyard since the 1800s as well. I loved the sparkling wines here, so we bought two bottles!

After enjoying our bubbly, we headed to Rochford Wines for lunch and our fourth (technically) wine tasting of the day. Our tour included a one-course lunch, so we both opted for the melt-in-your-mouth beef cheeks cooked in red wine, of course. Delicious!

I’ll admit that the Rochford wines were not my favorite, but the food was tasty and the place offered scenic panoramic views from a tower we climbed up.

By the time we stopped at St. Huberts Winery, originally established in 1862, I’ll admit that I was feeling tipsy. Silly me as I had tried everything put in front of us as well as some extra samples. I simply couldn’t resist the wine! St. Huberts is a lovely boutique winery and I’ll have to try the wine again with dinner.

Finally, we ended our day at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie, which featured abundant chocolate samplings. If you love chocolate, this is the place to be! However, we didn’t buy anything as the chocolates were rather expensive. The chocolate bars were sold as 60 grams each (most brands normally as 100 grams) and cost $8 to $10aud. However, we did treat ourselves to two ice cream cones and then went out to see the cute farm animals outside.

All in all, our full day tour to Yarra Valley was a spectacular way to sample the country’s wines and food. Plus, our tour bus included singing Irish girls on the way back home. Sadly, we didn’t share any American songs in return. 

Some Yarra Valley wines to enjoy later at home!

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Warsaw’s Palace of Culture Turns 60

This week, one of Warsaw’s most iconic buildings, the Palace of Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki), turns 60 years old on Wednesday, July 22nd.

It’s a building, the tallest one in Poland at 231 meters, that people either love or hate.

As we called Warsaw home for 27 months, I saw the Palace of Culture every day from our balcony, except on really foggy days. I happen to rather like this skyscraper that lit up the city’s business center in different colors every night, which reminded me of the Empire State Building in my beloved NYC. It’s a building I photographed many, many times while we lived in Warsaw as you can see from the photographs in this blog post.

Balcony margaritas to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Warsaw.

Where is the Palace of Culture?

 

However, the building, originally named in honor of Joseph Stalin, was considered a “gift” from the Soviet Union to Poland after the Communists took over following World War II. For obvious reasons, many Poles dislike what the building represents and the fact it was built in the middle of the city where people lived in burnt-out tenement buildings following WWII.

Stalin's name was erased from the statue on the right after the Communist regime fell in 1989 in Warsaw.

Construction on the palace lasted three years, and the doors were open to the public on July 22, 1955, with a special ribbon cutting ceremony. (Click here to see PKiN photos from 1955.)

Little do most Poles know that the building’s design was partially based on some Polish architecture.

Designed by Soviet architect Lev Rudnev, the palace is similar in style to his main campus building for Moscow University, based on Socialist Classicism, and others built during the same era in Riga, Latvia, and Russia.  However, Rudnev also travelled to Polish historical sites in Kraków, Zamość, Kazimierz, Torun and Sandomierz to study Polish renaissance architecture, resulting in the spiky “Polish parapets” that decorate the roof of the building. (I learned this fact from a private tour with Orange Umbrella in Warsaw. I can highly recommend arranging your own private tour!)

A misty view of the "Palace of Culture" in Riga during our November 2014 Baltic Road Trip.

This picture depicts the spiky “Polish parapets.” 

To celebrate the Place of Culture’s 60^th birthday this week, there will be special events on Wednesday from 12-17:00, concluding with a birthday cake cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. If you want to participate in the fun on the eve of the 22^nd, people are encouraged to buy entry tickets to the observation deck of the Palace of Culture from the lobby entrance along ul. Marszalkowska. More details can be found here.

In addition to the special events on Wednesday, there is an anniversary exhibit which includes architectural models, furniture, audio devices, uniforms, key rings and vintage paraphernalia once used in the building. This exhibit runs through July 31^st.

Thirdly, there is a special photo exhibit by local Polish photographer Jacek Fota  running from July 22 until August 26, which features the interior and people that work in the Palace of Culture.

Here are some interesting tidbits about the palace:

• has 44 floors. On the 30th floor, at a height of 114 meters, there is an observation deck that is open to the public. (This is my favorite place to take guests and give them a bird’s eye view of Warsaw. Don't miss out on this observation deck when you visit Warsaw!)
• has 3,288 rooms inside.
• is the home of several public institutions, a movie theater, sports club and local museums.
• takes 40 million zl to maintain every year.
• the Polish government paid about 160 million zl for its construction during the 1950s.
• tontains an indoor swimming pool, “secret rooms” and a sanctuary for cats on level-2
• Did you also know that the Rolling Stones and Elton John have played at the Sala Kongresowa here?

Though the Palace of Culture may be either loved or despised, the building represents a part of Warsaw’s past. This week is the time to remember the city’s history and pay tribute to its future.

Happy Birthday to the Palace of Culture in Warsaw!

By the way, the interior of the palace is just as impressive as the exterior!

Spring and Winter views of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.

Northern view during winter from the observation deck at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.

Southern view from the observation deck at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.

View of Old Town from the observation deck at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.

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