Sydney: Bondi Beach and an Amazing Dinner

Being our second day in Sydney (and after a long first day) we decided to have a more relaxing day and venture to Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is famous as it is where surfing first started and also were the Speedo was invented!! Before venturing to Bondi Beach we tried to find a place that showed the Seahawks and after striking out, we went back to the AirBnB and purchased the NFL Ticket to watch a very disapointing game. I guess there are not a lot of Seahawks fans in Sydney as we tried over 10 bars and even ran into a couple from Bellingham who were trying to find the game as well. We thought we would be able to watch it at The Office but they only had the Eagles vs Rams game and The Red Ticket

LOVING all the gambling in the bars – it adds another level of fun to anyone who wants something else to do during the game. Bummer we didn’t stay long enough to try it out

It was around noon before we made the journey to Bondi Beach. It was a trek – we had a couple options….Uber for $50 each way (and it would take around 30 min) or public transit for $12 each way (would take around 60 min) We decided to figure out the pubic transit system. I was proud of myself that I learned we needed a Opal card and that the best route would be to walk to Circular Quay (by the Opera house) and then get on the 333 or 380 bus which takes you directly to the beach.

After figuring out where to purchase the Opal card (7/11) we were waiting for our bus which took no time at all and we were at the beach in faster time than thought – only 35 min.

We enjoyed a great day at Bondi in the sun, admiring the courage of the top less bathers and the surfers. It was not as crowded as we thought it would be (being a Monday helped).

Cool art along the beach

After getting our beach time in I voted to walk over to the Iceberg Club to see the famous swimming pool right on the Ocean. We looked it up and saw it was only $6.50 to swim and the bar was not as expensive as it looked. We soon realized why. The swimming pool was actually a public swimming pool and after paying to get in we felt like we were at the YMCA. People were swimming and there were swimming lessons going on. We looked at the membership information and people can join however they must do a swimming test and also be required to swim EVERY Sunday and if they miss a Sunday in the summer they have to submit a letter as to why they missed their Sunday swim. STRANGE!

Cutting our $14 loss we headed to the roof top bar for some great views and some expensive beers….actually it was not expensive for Australia, it is just that everything in Australia is SUPER expensive. On average bottled beer (or draft) is $10 AUD. CRAZY!!

After some Stubbies (Beers) we headed back to the bus stop…due to lack of planning (RUSH HOUR) we waited about an hour for the bus and then it took around 1.5 hours to get back. We changed quickly and went to my recommendation for dinner, The Glenmore. It had a AMAZING view (the Opear house) and the food was phenomenal. Definitely a place to go if you are in Sydney. It is a couple stories, bar on the ground floor (and a gambling room) fine dining on the next and then the top floor a more upbeat bar with great food and the best view in Sydney! The price was not as bad either. Derek had the Lamb with caramelized pumpkin (unbelievable!) and it also came with smashed peas – which we learned is a popular side here. I had a beef noddle bowl and it hit the spot.