Bondi Beach, Coogee and Palm Beach (Home and Away) and Goodbyes

 

We ended our 4 week trip to Australia with saying Goodbye to child 3, Jamie. He's been out in Australia since 2017 and has no plans to return to the UK. 

Our last 3 days were spent in Bondi Beach as a base and we still had several places to explore.

One final trip to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Arriving in Coogee after a walk from Bondi Beach

A Facebook memory showed us we were walking this route, exactly one year ago to the day, but in the opposite direction.

The coast line is amazing and we saw whales and dolphins off the coast.

Despite it being winter it didn't stop people swimming in the pool and the sea, but not for us, too cold.

A kookaburra came to say hello

Sunset over Bondi Beach from the roof top

Coastal walk in Manly

A water dragon

A diamond python in the tree above the footpath.

Ferry back from Manly

Cruise ship in Sydney Harbour

Bondi Beach

On the set of Home and Away at Palm Beach.

The lighthouse at Palm Beach

The best Thai meal I've ever had. Chicken and Prawn with pineapple rice from Bangkok Bites in Bondi

That's the end of our road trip in Australia, 3 states, 11 hotels/air b&Bs/apartments 5 flights, car hire, trains and lots of walking. 

It'll be a few years before we plan to visit again. If I had could I'd spend every summer out there, visiting our son and there is so much more to see, explore and experience.

A week in Sydney 2023

We spent several weeks in Sydney last year, so on this trip we just revisited a few favourite places and sights.

We arrived in Australia the 24th July and spent a week in Melbourne, then flew to Proserpine to spend a week in the Whitsundays for a week where we visited the Great Barrier Reef, then onto Sydney for a week, 2 days in the Hunter Valley, 3 nights in Nelson Bay followed by our last 3 nights on Bondi Beach. We fly home via 4 nights in Kuala Lumpur.

Our son, Jamie, often referred to as child 3, collected us from the airport and took us to the accommodation near his home.

There was good access into the city

and despite being under the flight path, it was relatively quiet.

Our first port of call with Sydney Harbour, followed by coffee, lunch then back home

The local supermarket was a short walk away, with this wonderful graffiti commissioned on the front of shops/businessess

We spent a whole day in Sydney. Peter went to watch Oppenheimer and I wandered around the shops

The Queen Victoria building is stunning inside. I didn't buy anything, just browsed the high end stores

There are also several shopping arcades in the city that are well worth a visit.

 

I love how they light all the buildings up as night falls

We took a walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. operation Malabar was in full swing, with representative ships from Japan, The USA and India joining forces with Australia for a training exercise.

We found some lovely parks, coffee shops and explored harbours as we walked around Kirribilli.

Lovely to see the Magnolia in blossom, strange having seen it already in the UK in Spring.

There were fabulous views of Sydney.

Lovely little picnic areas

Strange looking trees

and random birds.

I'm not sure I'd find the entrance to Luna Park inviting as a small child, quite frightening

The streets of Sydney are full of these Ibis which the locals refer to a 'Bin Chickens' and are considered a nuisance 

We went to the Alianz stadium on Saturday to watch The Roosters play The Dolphins

And caught the train back.

I love these trains they're double deckers and you can adjust the seats for either front or rear facing.

We're back in Sydney next week in Bondi Beach and will be exploring the coast line around there.

We walked from Bondi to Watson Bay and caught the ferry back into Sydney, the views were gorgeous and we saw whales and dolphins from our walk.

The area was full of these rainbow lorikeets.

There's so much more to see and do in Sydney than we've done on this trip but I'm not here as a travel guide, just merely to share my travels with you.