February 7 and 8, Day 5 and 6: Hyams Beach to Maroubra, Maroubra to Budgewoi Peninsula
The countryside and uninhabited beaches were behind us as we made it to the Sydney area. The madness of traffic and crowded waves were upon us. Neither Chicho nor I do well in the city so the last couple days were a bit hectic for us. Nonetheless we enjoyed our days and the experience of where we were. And we saw the sunrise again, this time from the car as we drove north.
On day 5 we woke up and went searching for a beach to surf at, none of the waves impressed us enough to paddle out so we continued up the coast sight seeing. We found a lovely cliffy inlet with a blowhole. As the rolling waves doubled up on themselves to create hills of water they would crash into the cliffside and the water would escape through a small hole in the form of foaming salty spray.
Roughly an hour outside the city we found a quiet beach with a picnic area where we ate and swam. Chicho called his friend Leroy to tell him we were close to the city. Leroy and Chicho met while surfing Mundaka in the Bass Country of Spain two years ago. Leroy was getting off work at 10 and planned on surfing a wave about 30 minutes north of where we were. The timing was perfect, we finished munching, jumped in the car, and followed the directions Leroy gave us go get to the wave.
When we made if to the turn off Leroy was waiting for us as the wave was flat, he informed us he was "heading to the locals for surf", meaning his home beach Maroubra. We followed him out of the outskirts and into the heart of the city. Houses smooshed together as the roads turned to city blocks and traffic began to form around us. We were in the concrete jungle now.
Maroubra beach is long and curving with bright yellow sands littered with thousands of blue bottles (what the aussies call man o'war jelly fish). Chicho paddled out with Leroy as I watched from the warm sands.
Since Leroy had to work his afternoon shift as a life guard Chicho and I did some classic Sydney tourist sightseeing. We went to see Bondi Beach with its famous seaside saltwater pool.
While the pool was incredible and Bondi itself is a gorgeous beach, if I'm being honest the crowds were a little heavy there. You can see just how many people were on the beach, quite the juxtaposition from the immense and empty beaches we had been at only just the day before.
We had an afternoon surf at Maroubra in the funky windy waves. I didn't even catch a wave because shortly after paddling out I got lit up by a blue bottle. Silly me, Chicho pointed the jelly out to me and said lookout and I paddled right into it's stinging tentacles. Luckily it only got my legs and I was able to escape relatively quickly.
Leroy was off work at 7 and offered us a bed at his place for the night (or a few nights), which we gladly accepted. Leroy was born and raised in Maroubra which is a beach suburb to the south of Sydney. He lives with his parents in a open and airy house made cozy with walls of art and a feeling of happy people living within the walls. Leroy's dad, Peter, was up when we got there so we stayed up talking with him. He is an absolutely wonderful 62 year old Aussie with a lifetime of stories and captivating conversation. I learned more about Australia talking with Peter for the evening than I had learned in my 20 years in school.
We went to sleep in a bed Leroy had made up for us with our hearts full of gratitude for the good people in this world. Leroy and Peter opened their home up to us with grace and kindness sharing laughter and knowledge and telling us to stay as long as we liked. We were very happy.
Day 6
Early morning surf at Maroubra to start the day! I couldn't believe how crowded the beach was at 6:30 am, people are up and at 'em here in the city.
Then if course the most classic Australian tourist trap of them all... The Sydney Opera House. We only stayed long enough to snap a few photos before we were ready to go. We had had enough of the crowds. Time to get back to our secluded beaches and empty picnic areas.
North of Sydney we stopped at Manly beach were we found an organic acaí bowl and smoothie to cool us down in the midday heat.
There is a small peninsula north of Sydney (whose name I cannot remember or find) that is riddled with gorgeous and windy beaches that we spent the afternoon exploring.
Following our lazy afternoon of sunbathing on the peninsula's many beaches we drove a few hours north. As the light began to fade we bid the sun farewell and smiled as another day came to a close. The Budgewoi Peninsula housed us for the night as we parked the Kia in another dirt parking lot by another stretch of empty beach. We are two lucky kids.
Creeflow on with gratitude.
