Return to Clovelly and…
On my day off this week, I decided to return to the places I visited last week. Last week I needed to be back in time for the showing of Star Trek Beyond. I had rented out a cinema theatre and needed to be home to be ready for the 8:45 pm showing so the sightseeing was a bit rushed. This past Friday I was able to enjoy myself.
I decided it would be easier to just use the public transportation system. Highways are awful here—too congested and too small for teh amount of traffic flowing on them. On weekends, it's worse going in and out of the city. So though it took almost two hours to get to Clovelly, including two buses and a train, it was worth it. My first shots are of the wonderful train station in "Central" you can see the old train terminal in the center of the first shot and closer up int he second. The big new station grew up around it.
Upon arriving in the city, before boarding the last bus, I stopped for some sushi and to rehydrate (selfie, photo number three). I'd left the house a bit late with only a power bar in me for breakfast so by 1:30 or so, I was famished! The salmon box was a perfect treat!
The stop at the Central Station in Sydney has this wonderful old sand stone building around the corner from it (photo 4). I took some pictures of the lovely details on the side of the structure…NSW of course stands for the Aussie State of New South Wales (5). The clock tower is impressive too (6). And against the blue sky, it made for some lovely closeups (7). While waiting for my last bus, after the sushi and across from the old clocktower building, I came across a whole flokc of seagulls that weren't the least but scared of me or my camera. I could have easily grabbed this fellow (8) by the neck and taken him home for supper if I were so inclined!
I arrived at Clovelly beach around 2 in the afternoon (selfie, photo nine). Again I was taken by how deep the beach is and how narrow the bay. And then I started climbing again. Rocks go upwards on the northside of the beach. Photo 10 is taken from up high, looking over to the ocean water swimming pool, hugging the other side of the cliffs. The waves were very rough that day. You can see some people climbing on the very top of these huge rocks almost getting wet by the waves (11). I went even further up and found a little pool of water (12). It has not rained in days, so this must've been from the waves crashing into the cliffs and shooting upwards! And I was very high up!
There's a walk way that follows the curves of the bays and inlets from Clovelly to Bronte Beach and ending up at the world-famous Bondi Beach (all in Sydney). It's about a 2.5 mile trek. Really lovely views of rocks and water (13). Check out photos 14-16. It gives you an idea of the immense size of these boulders. The first (14) is the distance shot. Photo 15 is a little closer showing a close up of the shelter just a little left of center in photo 14. And finally 16 is the tightest shot I could take of the cormorants that are nesting there on the ledge. One was even kind enough to give me a nice silhouette.
Along the way I found other strange sights—like a "Bowlng Club" advertising "great views" (17-18) and a cemetary right there by the water (19-20)! Is that nuts? The tomb stones were from around early 1900's and many of them were broken. It didn't seem like anyone cared for them, which seemed sad for me and a bit ironic. Here they had the nicest views of all, by the water, yet they were falling into ruin and looked terrible. (There's a homily in here somewhere!)
Nearing Bondi, you can see a sculpture of a double knot (21) and Bronte Beach, where there were a few surfers (22-28). Around a bend I noticed a rock formation echoed by the passing clouds (29). Finally, I arrived at Bondi Beach. It really is breathtaking…wide and blue, a long, slow, shallow dish of perfect summer (30). There isn't a beach like it all around Sydney; all the others seem surrounded by rocks and boulders. Bondi is like someone planned the perfect beach. soft hilly grass surrounds the sand and there's a lovely walk way. Opposite the beach are all these souvenir stands and cafes, with all the windows open and tables and chairs outside. (And this is in the dead of winter!)
From Bondi, I still had some sunlight left, so I took a bus to Watson's Bay. I had wanted to explore the cliff walk there. Here is an artsy shot of the top of the pillars that frame the steps going up the cliff side (31). Along the way you find yourself surrounded by white bottle brush trees (in bloom) and so the rainbow lorikeets are sucking down the sweet juices. This fellow would not cooperate; this was the best I could get (32). I also was able to shoot a tiny little bird that I have seen on other occasions (33). Its so small! Just a bit bigger than a hummingbird—but not by much! And it has this long, straight tail. It flits about about as fast as a hummingbird, too!
From this "Gap" at Watson's Bay, you can look out across Sydney Harbor and see North Head near Manly Beach (34). Also lots of wonderful rock formations (35-36). Here at the end is a photo (36) from the bus ride home of a wealthy area called Rose Bay, where the yachts are docked for the night.
