Tamarama Back in the day - Bondi Aquarium, an Elephant and Wonderland City

Sydney's Playground - Tamarama

Last week I wrote about our visit to Tamarama on a rainy day

While looking through some photos from another visit, I found a couple that I want to share. As my close friends know I have a interest in history, I tend to take pictures of all the any old stuff I can find basically. So when I found three plaques describing Tamaramas history I couldn't help myself and I'd like to share them with you guys. I transcribed the text so it's easier for you to read them. Hope you enjoy this bit of Eastern Suburbs history :)

Here are the photos, click for a larger version.

Vaudeville acts and an elephant called Alice.

The Bondi Aquarium, Sydney's first coastal amusement park opened on this headland in 1887. It's great attraction was a plunging rollercoaster that dived and twisted over the beach. People flocked to laugh at the vaudeville acts and marvel at the aquarium creatures, which included seals and a tiger shark.

Powered by it's own steam plant, Wonderland City which replaced the Bondi Aquarium, was an extravaganza of noise, entertainment and light. It thrilled crowds and with an airship suspended above the bay, and rides on the beach on an elephant named Alice.

However, battles with local residents over beach access, charges of cruelty to animals, and an accident involving the airship led to a decline in visitors. After a few years of poor crowds and low revenue, the Wonderland City closed in 1911.

Local Beach Tamarama on a Rainy Day

Local Beach on a Rainy Day

Tamarama is the beach closest to us, it is still a 20 minute walk but it feels really nice to go there for a walk. I don't think I have ever been for a swim there as it is pretty rough and there are several closer beaches that are much better for swimming. But I have dipped my feet there plenty of times and it is really nice in winter when there are almost no one around. 

Last weekend we took a stroll down to the beach, it was a gray and partially rainy day but it was still beautiful to visit. They recently added a cafe, bathrooms and some new barbecues so I am looking forward to heading back there this spring and summer for some serious beach hang.

Here are some pictures from our gray but lovely day at Tamarama.

Dangerous Surf

I have heard before that Tamarama is one of the more dangerous surf beaches in the Sydney area. The sea is usually pretty rough and there are lots of rocks around, and probably even more hidden under the water. And a fatal accident earlier this year showed that it might well be the case. 

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/surfer-matthew-richell-dies-at-tamarama-beach-20140702-zstl2.html

There are a life guard tower at Tamarama but it is only manned in the summer. If an accident happen they have to have life guards from nearby Bondi Beach to come which of course, even if they are fast will take a while to show up. 

 

 Tamarama on a Sunny Day

Visiting Tamarama and writing this post brings back a lot of memories. Tamarama was the first place I visiting after moving to Sydney. After 9 long months apart I moved from Sweden to Sydney to be with Nicole. I arrived pretty late in the evening and didn't get to see much. The next day, my first in Australia we walked down to Tamarama and from there we took the coastal walk to Bondi. The joy, confusion and jet lag of being in Sydney with Nicole after months of planning was both overwhelming and wonderful.

Here are some photos from that day.

Rough day, as almost always at Tamarama.

Nicole laughing at me as I dropped my shoes for a splash in the ocean.

Happy Together after 9 months of being a world apart, quite literally.

View from top of Tamarama Park

I love this sign.

Tamarama Park

Map

 

 Eastern Beaches

This is my second post about the Eastern Beaches. Read the first post of the series here

• Bronte Beach

Spit Bridge to Manly Hike

Atlassian QA Team goes for a walkabout

As many of you know I work for Atlassian, a Sydney based software company that develops software for software teams. If you haven't heard of Atlassian you might have heard of JIRA or Confluence which is our two most well known products. 

Atlassian is a good company and they take care of their employees with lots of social activities. A few weeks ago the QA Team took the afternoon of for some team activities. We had two choices, either doing the Spit Bridge to Manly walk or a chocolate making course. For me it was an easy choice since I am not really a big fan of chocolate and but hiking on the other hand is something I really enjoy doing.

The Hike

I was really impressed by the hike, I had heard it was suppose to be great but still it blew me away. The hike takes you through bush land, beaches, cliff walks, great views and there is even great aboriginal rock carvings to stop and look at. Since we were doing it on a week day it was pretty much empty too, I can image that on a nice weekend it would be much more crowded.

I'd like to go back when I have more time, bring some picnic and stop at some beach or view point along the hike and chill out. Bring my binoculars and maybe my bird book. 

You can read more about the hike at

• http://short-walks.com.au/new-south-wales/sydney/spit-bridge-to-manly-walk/
• Trip Advisor

Here are some photos from the hike, they do not really do the walk justice but should give you an idea of how beautiful it is. Click for larger version.

Sandy Bay

The plane wrote "Fix Trains" in the sky 

Brush Turkey getting ready to jump it.

My colleagues Glenn and Mikael chasing a brush turkey.

The water is crystal clear, wouldn't mind going for a swim here.

We did a halfway stop at Grotto Point which has plenty of Aboriginal Stone Carvings.

South Head in the distance.

Here you can see parts of Manly and North Head.

View towards Manly

Some statistics

4 Pines Brewery

After the hike both groups, hikers and chocolate makes meet up at the 4 Pines Brewery, a brewery in Manly, for dinner and drinks. The food was alright and I really enjoyed the drinks. We got tasting platters which I am not a big fan of, but the rest of the menu looked great. I'd definitely go back back for a veggie burger or veggie schnitzel. 

http://www.4pinesbeer.com.au/

Kookaburra on the balcony

A few weeks ago we got a visitor on the balcony. 

We woke up hearing a crazy laughing sound come from the balcony, dazed I said to Nicole. "Nicole, Nicole. There is a monkey on the balcony!" knowing well that there i no monkeys in Australia.

Of course, it was no monkey but a Laughing Kookaburra.  

Kookaburras have a strange call that sounds like laughter, it goes through cycles where it sometimes sounds like it is having a conversation with someone.

Check out a video, not mine, of a laughing kookaburra.

We have had a couple of visit of Kookaburras on the balcony since then. On one occasion we had three of them on the balcony at the same time having a little orchestra. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of that.

There are two species of of Kookaburras in Australia.

• Laughing Kookaburra, are really common here in Sydney and I have seen several dozen of them. That's the kind that visit our balcony.
•  Blue-winged Kookaburra. I have only seen theses at a wildlife park but would love to see them in the wild one day.

I really love the bird life of Australia, there are so many strange and exotic birds here that we don't get in Sweden.
Check out my post on Centennial Park for more bird photos.

Thanks for reading!

Visiting Black Markets on Bare Island

This weekend we headed over to visit the Black Market on Bear Island with my partner Nicole and our friends Vinny and Luan.

Black Markets

Black markets feature authentic Aboriginal products and is run by an organisation called First Hand Solutions which focuses on . They had ceramics from a group called Black Sun, not sure if the similar name was a coincidence or just how they branded themselves at the market. Nicole picked up a bowl. They sold bush food in the form of bbq crocodile and kangaroo. You could pick up CD's from indigenous artist and touristy stuff like boomerangs.

There were workshops on basked making and catching fish Aboriginal style and talk of indigenous history. We didn't go to any of those but we did catch the traditional dancing, pictures below.

There was also a selection of stalls which I am not really sure had an indigenous connection like scented candles and taro readings. I had expected a bigger market but it was still fun to explore it.

Read more about First Hand Solutions and Black Markets at 
http://www.firsthandsolutions.org/#!markets/c176a

Traditional Aboriginal Dancing

Bare Island and The Fortress

While I enjoyed the market I was really more interested in the Island and the Fortress on it.

Bare Island is located in Botany Bay which was the spot that the First Fleet lead by Captain Philips first arrived to when they settled in Australia, they later gave up the location for the better suited Port Jackson, today's Circular Quay and the location of Sydney Harbor.  

There are guided tours of the fortress and a museum in La Perouse. So it is definitely on the bucket list to check it out and take one of the tours.

Read more about Bare Island at http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/aroundtown/venues/2912/bare-island

Beach just outside the fortress, water was amazingly clear.

Wooden Trestle Bridge out to the Island

Bare Island and fortress.

View from the fortress inland.

Australian flag flying over the fortress.

Aboriginal flag flying over the fortress entrance.

Fortress courtyard.

Getting there.

Getting there by public transport was easy. From Bondi Junction were we live it was about an hour on the bus and only one stop. Nice buss ride too. :)

Map