I need to remember that on these long trips, Day Two is always the toughest. The excitement and adrenaline of the first day have worn off and jetlag is hovering at the edges, waiting for the first glimpse of fatigue to come roaring in.
For our second (and last) full day in Sydney, we decided to take the public bus out to Bondi Beach. Ever ambitious, there is a beautiful 2-3 mile cliff walk that stretches from Bondi to Coogee beach that we intended to conquer (or maybe just me. Rob tends to be far more practical about these things). As a side note, I do think it's a brilliant idea to take some form of public transportation while you are in a foreign city at least once. Even if it's not a great experience, it will make for a good story later. Our bus ride was relatively uneventful, but we got to pass through a lot of neighorhoods, parks and by beauiful churches that don't hit any Lonely Planet Guide.
We arrive at Bondi Beach and it's gorgeous. Lots of colorful characters and lots of tourists, like us. We plop down on the warm sand and survey all the people who are frolicking happily in the waves. As the water in San Diego never truly gets warm, we are skeptical of people in swimsuits who don't look like they are freezing. Finally, curiousity takes hold and we are all four in the water, splashing and body surfing. It is already one of my favorite moments of the trip.
Eventually, we get hungry. We make our way to lunch and I am still filled the fantasy of a family walk together. With much resistance, I coax the family into meandering to the first lookout. Shortly into the walk, things are devolve quickly as jetlag has turned my kids into these strange, unfamiliar forces of negativity. Simultaneously, Rob and I experience a sudden and unexpected loss of patience. The 500 yard walk to the cliff is like a landmine of petty arguments. It is a strange mixture of incredible landscape and scenic beauty agains a foreground of a family of buttheads. We capture the beauty and the moment and trek back to the bus-stop, where gratefully the bus arrives without a wait.
Back at the hotel, everyone diappears into a comfortable silence for the rest of the evening.
The bus
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