Bondi. That iconic beach on the south east coast of Australia. In the summer, it swarms with surfers, sunseekers and swimmers. Today the sand is clear of bathers, but tents are being erected for the City to Surf fun run next weekend. It is mid-winter in Sydney. It is 25’C.
Bondi Beach. A couple of surf boards wait in the calm water, before their riders paddle furiously through the surf to snatch at white-tipped waves. Red-faced joggers crash past pedestrians, breath rasping, oblivious in earphones. Cyclists stand up on spiked pedals, pushing furiously, neck muscles straining, up the steep hill away from the beach. Truculent skaters whip and switch, slash and grind around the skate park. As always, at Bondi, everyone seems fit and almost embarrassingly energetic.
As always, when I drop in to visit my cousin in Bondi, we head out for a walk along the cliffs. From Bondi to Coogee, this rollercoaster walking path winds for 6kms along the coast, up and down some fairly step and rocky stairways, always overlooking the sea, and passing several beautiful little coves, parks and beaches, such as Clovelly and Tamarama. Sometimes we stop at Bronte for coffee or lunch, but this time we trek all the way to Coogee, overtaken by reams of more athletic pilgrims, jogging enthusiastically, plugged into their favourite music.
We prefer the music of our own voices, and chat non-stop all the way there and back, deterred only by the odd extra-steep slope or staircase that reduces me to a geriatric gasping wheeze. It is the most beautiful winter’s day, unexpectedly warm, and my jeans are glued to the backs of my knees. Who would have thought I would need shorts in July? The sea is a luxuriously deep navy blue, stretching lazily to the horizon, to touch a sky dabbed with wispy, cotton wool clouds. Rolling waves are tumbling gently onto the beach, lapping at the sand like hungry kittens. The whales have been and gone, but we keep a close eye out for dolphins. On such a glorious day, the path is crowded with walkers, runners, models doing photo shoots, dogs, tourists.
Starting at the Bondi pavilion, the guide books allow two hours for the walk to Coogee, but we accomplish it in under an hour and a half, although I have to skip a bit to keep up with my cousin, who, despite her lesser height, has much fitter legs than mine.
In October, there is an opportunity to meander a little more gently from Bondi to Tamarama to admire the 
Sculpture by the Sea. This is an annual outdoor exhibition of more than one hundred, mostly tactile sculptures by Australian and International artists, set up on grass, sand and rocks
along the coastal pathway.
Today we can only reminisce, as I take a breather on the edge of the cemetery at Waverley, beyond which the concrete pathway becomes a wooden boardwalk. It might not be so bad to be dead, if blessed with a view like this one!
We finally make it round to Coogee, and decide to stop for coffee at the very cool new Coogee Pavilion, before marching back to Bondi for lunch.
Feeling a little nostalgic for Asian cusine, we end up in a cute little pavement restaurant called misschu, where you can make a ‘tuckshop order’ by ticking your choices on a printed menu form. At the top of which you are warned: “no queue jumping, no real estate talk, no chopstick fights.”
Owner, Nga Chu, or Miss Chu is the self-designated Queen of Rice Paper Rolls. Born in Luang Prahbang, Laos,
Nga Chu and her family fled to Thailand in 1975 to escape the Pathet Laos communist Regime. They lived in Thai refugee camps for four years before the Australian government invited them to settle in Australia.
The original misschu tuckshop was founded in Darlinghurst in 2009, and there are now four Sydney, two in Melbourne, and this year one opened in London. The misschu website describes them as ‘modern day hawker takeaway with high end food at a low price tag.’ Compared with Manila, the Aus$90 bill for three was not so cheap, but it’s certainly not bad for Sydney. And we definitely ate our fill of the famous rice paper rolls (tiger prawn and green mango, and roast duck and banana flower, yum). The serve of salt and pepper squid was perfectly cooked and huge, so much so that I was forced to share. My cousin’s seared salmon was a delight, and my teenage son inhaled the large bowl of beef and oxtail pho in seconds. A satisfying end to a strenuous walk.
*With thanks to Google Images for the pretty pictures!