Sydney's Southern Beaches Coastal Walk
An Invigorating Blast of Sea Spray Laden Air, Great Views, And Indulgent Cafes
Sydney's Southern Beaches Coastal Walk is an invigorating blast of sea spray laden air and great views interspersed with guilt ridden indulgent stops at the many cafés that line the bays, reports Andrew Marshall
The southern beachside suburbs of Bondi, Bronte and Coogee Bay are each symbolic of the brassiness, laid-back pleasure-loving nature of Sydneysiders. Offering an enduring angle on beach life in the ‘burbs', a magnificent coastal walk along the cliff tops connects the three. Starting in Bondi, you can amble the full length in a few hours, pausing for indulgent stops at the many cafés along the way or a dip in the seabaths built into the cliffs.
Bondi Beach, is synonymous with Australian beach culture and its mile-long curve of golden sand has all the classic imagery in abundance; quintessential life-savers with their red and yellow caps, bronzed Aussie surfers, bikini-clad babes and an ocean that peels into the bay in a never ending series of waves – all just 8km from the CBD.
The foundation stone for Bondi's famous beach pavilion was laid way back in 1928 with changing facilities for 12,000 bathers, shops, a gymnasium and Turkish baths. Today the beach is just as popular and the foreshore is an eclectic mix of ice-cream parlours, designer cafes, greasy fish-and-chip joints, kosher shops and surf fashion stores.
If you can drag yourself away, the coastal
walk starts at the southern end of the bay at the Bondi Icebergs Club, famous for its members who swim every day of the year. Full membership is hard earned by swimming three Sundays out of four from May to September (winter) for 5 years. Amazingly the club has approximately 600 members.
The views both south and north climbing up over Mackenzies Point will take your breath away. The full force of the Tasman
Sea here collides with the Australian continent sculpting the creamy gold sandstone cliffs into grotesque overhangs and blowholes. Looking north you can take in the headlands of the Sydney Harbour Heads and southward, bay-after-bay fringed by beachside bungalows.
An Aboriginal rock engraving of a fish on the headland reminds one that life in the ‘beach burbs' was once very different. Governor Philip, Sydney's founding
Governor noted the Cadigal Aboriginal people roamed this entire area, and in the 1880s the surrounding land was used for grazing dairy cattle.
From Mackenzies Point the path follows a series of stunning cliff top view points, snaking its way into picturesque little Tamarama Bay where the average water temperature is a pleasant 21°C. While Bondi Beach is seared on the minds of travellers to Sydney as one of the world's most beautiful urban beaches, the beaches of Tamarama, Bronte, Clovelly and Coogee are every bit as lovely.
The Tamarama Beach Café on this pretty beach is perfectly situated and the inviting open air tables and chairs on the board walk over the sand are impossible to pass by. Enjoy the view with a refreshment before taking to the trail again for the up and over roller coaster ride into Bronte in time for brunch.
Brunching in Bronte is a bit of a local institution and competition is fierce for clientele between the beachside cafés. Holding its own is the well established Bogey
The full force of the Tasman Sea here collides with the Australian continent sculpting the creamy gold sandstone cliffs into grotesque overhangs and blowholes.
Hole Café (473 Bronte Road), the place to ‘do brunch' and to be seen. Poached eggs on toast accompanied by a latté while reading the Sydney Morning Herald and taking in the view, is about as 'Sydney as it gets.'
Down at the sea baths, John ‘Meggsie' Maguire emerges from the azure-blue water wearing his ‘trade mark' Bronte speedos. He's been a member of the local surf club for over fifty years and like many, swims lengths of the pool every day of the year come rain or shine. “I learnt to swim in these sea pools, my kids and grand kids learnt to swim here and I reckon half of Sydney has too,” he'll tell you.
Some of the sea baths on the trail along with many others around Sydney have been listed by the National Trust. In the early days of white settlement, people swam in the natural rock pools and many of these original swimming holes are still in use. The ‘Bogey Hole' or ‘men's pool'; the natural rock pool alongside the concrete walled sea baths at Bronte, is one of these special places.
Back on the trail the cliff top path winds through the Waverly Cemetery. This surely has to be the most scenic place to be buried in Australia with ocean views literally to die for. Famous residents here include the Australian poets Henry Lawson, Dorothy Mckellar and aeronautical pioneer, inventor and explorer Lawrence Hargraves.
From the cemetery you round yet another headland offering glorious views south then drop down into the long narrow inlet of Clovelly Bay, and yes, ‘dare I say it', yet another waterside café. If you can't convince yourself that you deserve the caffeine overload after all the exercise, then you could always opt for a swim. This bay is perfectly sheltered from ocean swells and a favourite swimming and snorkelling spot. Underwater residents include huge lobsters and large blue gropers.
Next up, lovely Gordon's Bay is more like an indentation between two headlands cloaked with native vegetation than a bay. Varieties of wattle, banksias, lily, coast tea tree, lobelia, sassafras and bracken fern are just a few of the native species surrounding the bay creating a haven for wildlife.
A small boat club is situated down by the pocket-sized beach and locals have their colourful boats pulled up above the high water mark creating a scene that has all the charm of a European fishing village. The residents are passionate about this little bay and on a designated Sunday of every month, volunteers are out in force armed with clippers and gloves, garbage bags and shovels, to make sure it remains as pretty as a picture.
If you opt for a swim at Clovelly, then your arrival in Coogee should be just in time for a rewarding lunch at the infamous Coogee Bay Hotel followed by a dip in the ocean. Coogee Bay is the great all-round Saturday ‘arvo' (afternoon in Australian English) beach hangout. While not quite as grand in scale as Bondi, Coogee Bay does however have all the essential ingredients; golden sand lapped by blue seas, volleyball courts and headlands shaded with Norfolk Pines and is a fitting finale to a marvellous Sydney coastal day out.