Woke up with the sound of the wind pounding against the window and decided it was far too windy to spend another day walking out in the Blue Mountains, especially as my ears were already hurting from yesterday’s exposure! So, after breakfast, we headed back towards the train station and caught the train back into the city. There were planned engineering works on the line so we could only get half way before we were put in a rail replacement bus service to take us the rest of the way into the city. Was kind of nice navigating the streets from the coach window, recognising places we had been to! At the central train station, we walked the 20-metres to our hostel – the Railway Square YHA. Actually it’s not just central – it is actually in Central Station! The nouveau-industrial renovation turned a former parcel shed (complete with platform) into a hostel. You can even sleep in a dorm in one of the converted train carriages. Unfortunately, we weren’t in one of these dorms, but our dorm window looked out onto them. They looked incredible and when we are next in Sydney we will make sure we are in one of those rooms!
Had some lunch in the hostel before deciding to walk Sydney’s most famous, most popular and (so we are told) best walk – the Bondi to Coogee Beach coastal walk. We jumped on the bus and used the last of our Opal credit to get us to the beach. We started at Bondi Beach, watching the surfers (and wanna-be surfers) ride the waves in the crystal clear turquoise waters. We then headed up the steps at the south end of the beach, passing the Icebergs Swimming Pool (a lovely outdoor pool nestled in the rocks). As we continued south, we were treated to views of stunning sandstone cliffs next to never-ending views of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, due to storm damage from earlier this year, some of the coastal path was closed but there were clear deviation signs to show us where to go. 
We passed through Tamarama beach (which was small but perfectly formed) before descending into Bronte beach, full of young people drinking beers next to a sign that said ‘alcohol prohibited’. A little bit further along the coast, we walked through the Waverley Cemetery where some famous Australians are buried.
The views from the cemetery were stunning and we looked out to sea in an attempt to spot whales or dolphins but no such luck. We walked past the bowling club towards Burrows Park and Clovelly Beach before we came across Gordons Bay – a place that may have stolen a piece of Jayne’s heart! It has an underwater nature trail for scuba divers and clearly is an amazing place to do shore dives, especially given the amount of divers in the water and dive vans in the car park. 
Finished our walk by passing through Dolphin Point before arriving at the gorgeous Coogee Beach. Feeling slightly tired after our walk, we jumped on a bus and headed back into the city. Stopped by a supermarket to pick up some snacks for tomorrow’s bus journey before grabbing some take away food from China Town to eat back at the hostel. Ended up sitting outside on the terrace as the dining room was incredibly noisy! Went upstairs to pack up our stuff so we wouldn’t have to do it at 6am tomorrow morning (and be hated by our roommates!) when we got a video call from Ed. He was keen to show me Ben’s obsession with the Hoover, however as soon as Jayne came on the phone he stared waving and making noises (not happy that another Park child prefers Jayne to me!!! Lols). A quick shower before climbing into bed, falling asleep with the sounds of the railway station slowly closing down next door.
Saturday 23rd July 2016
Trans Travels 