Maroubra - Eastern Beaches

Eastern Beaches

One thing that I love when living in Bondi Junction is the Eastern Beaches and Bays. There are so many beaches, bays and little reserves along the coast which gives an almost  unending amount of options to visit and explore. Except for the more known beaches Bondi, Bronte and Coogee, there are plenty of smaller beaches.

This post is about our visit to the little less known of the beaches, Maroubra.

Maroubra

I had lived almost a year in Sydney before I heard people mention Maroubra. I suspect that it is just far enough away from Sydney to make most people not be bother to go there. Nicole and me decided to go there for a visit on a chilly but clear winter day. I was surprised by the long, almost empty beach and the unhurried streets and shops. Even in winter Bondi is pretty busy, at least the restaurants and cafes. Maroubra on the other side shows nothing of this, the streets were calm and the hand full of places to eat gave a little village feel to it. It felt like we had gone to a small coastal town a couple of hours out of Sydney and not just 10 km from the city center.

It was winter so we didn't go swimming of course. Instead we took a stroll down beach and then a lunch at a lovely cafe. We really enjoyed it and talked about going back in the summer.

Here are some photos from our winter visit. Click for larger version

Rough day, as is common in Sydney. :)

A strange Rubrics cube in the middle of the beach.

It's a long beach, about 1 km long. Which is long for a Sydney Beach.

Nicole enjoying the winter visit to the beach.

Turns out the rubrics cube was a ventilation shaft for the water drainage. 

Map

Eastern Beaches Series

This is my forth post about the Eastern Beaches. Read the rest of the series here

• Bronte Beach
• Rainy Day in Tamarama
• Tamarama back in the day

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.

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/

Bronte Beach

Sorry
Sorry for the lack up of updates the last few weeks/months. My life has been pretty stressed out lately. I have changed jobs and Nicole and I have been looking for an apartment. I will aim to blog more from now on. I'll try to have smaller posts more often. 

Bronte Beach
Bronte beach is one of several beaches on the Sydney East Coast. It's south of the famous surf beach at Bondi and the tiny Tamarama. It's north of Clovelly and Coogee.

It's a lovely beach. The last two days I have walked down there from our home in Bondi Junction to go for a swim and some sun. It's a surf beach with pretty high waves. It's safer to swin in the sheltered southern part of the beach or in one of the pools. There a huge park, a kiosk, sea water pool and several bbqs.

Map

View Larger Map

How to get there
Take the train to Bondi Junction and walk.
Or take the bus.
http://www.131500.com.au