The weather was so perfect that we planned to go to the beach first thing. Being the responsible adult that I am, I elected to remove the most necessary cards from my wallet before leaving the house, and discovered that I had lost my credit card somewhere along my travels (typical). Maybe in Shanghai? Maybe in a number of places... Luckily my mother knows that my responsible adulthood is fraudulent, and had pressured me into photocopying all my important cards front and back the night before I left (as I whined, "but mooooom I have plaaaans tonight!"). Kids - listen to your mothers. Life lesson #5. A quick skype call to my credit card company and everything was safe and settled, and a new card is being fedexed to me in Australia ASAP.
We strolled down to Bondi beach, which blew me away. That such a metropolitan city can exist and function in the midst of such picturesque beachscapes is borderline unfathomable. I'm starting to think the Australian accent is a tick from trying to repress spending every day at the beach. Beautiful sand, turquoise waters, nice sea breeze, beautiful carved rock coves, waves big enough to be exciting and provide that crashing ocean soundtrack. Unfortunately though, there were jellyfish all along the shoreline today. Australians call them bluebottles, because these little guys are fluorescent blue. I was too much of a candy ass to swim at first, though eventually Isla's gentle coaxing helped me work up the courage (combined with watching scores of tiny children playing in the surf like it ain't no thing). As we inched our way into the water, one wave brought in a gaggle of bluebottles around our ankles, so I obviously screamed bloody murder and ran back to the dry sand (about two and a half steps away). Immediately a lifeguard came on a loudspeaker and announced that the jellyfish were particularly bad and that "a sting could really ruin your day". We lay on the sand for awhile longer, but eventually got hot enough to risk swimming again, and the bluebottles seemed mostly gone. The water was refreshing, and I dare say worth the risk (please, lord, don't make me eat those words this week!).
With the midday sun getting hotter, we grabbed some smoothies from a place called "Sejuiced" and walked alone the rocky coastline to the next beach over (yeah, they just keep coming) where we sat a swam some more before grabbing beers and fries at a small cafe nearby. Though the cafe was off the ocean and on a city street, we basically forgot we were in bathing suits and walked around with no pants on for awhile, which is totally acceptable. Oh, Australia, how I love your sun-bleached nonchalance.
We walked home up a long set of winding rocky stairs cut into the hillside. After more smoked salmon snacks, Matthew came home from a long day at work and brought japanese takeout, and we all decided to chill out at home for the evening and watch movies with the balcony doors open and enjoy a perfectly cool evening breeze to nurse our hot skin (don't worry mom, I wore sunscreen pretty religiously today!). Had a glass of wine under the stars, which are SO BRIGHT HERE. It's truly just so beautiful. Made all the more special by the -20 something horrible it is in Montreal right now... I fully appreciate this oceanside paradise. 50 degrees warmer than Montreal winter sounds about right to me...
Tomorrow Matthew has the day off, so the plan is to go on a morning driving tour of the city in the convertible, and then head up the coast to Palm beach where apparently he intends to teach me to surf... Hahahaha. We'll see about that. I don't know what will be more embarrassing, admitting that my high school nickname was "queenie" (short for queen of uncoordination), or getting re-branded with the same nickname ten years later... I'll keep you posted on that one. Or maybe, you know, I'll just keep it to myself. If any of you know a good excuse to turn down an Australian who wants to teach you to surf, please msg me ASAP... Ok ok fine, I should just try it. I know, I know. I'll do my best. I'm sure surfing is amazing. Unfortunately I am equally convinced that learning to surf is miserable and drown-y.
Here's some promised beach photos. Live vicariously, you poor Canadian fools. Man did we colonize the total wrong side of the earth.
Until next time,
Jessica
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Location:Bondi Beach, Sydney
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