BONDI (pronounced like Bonzai but with a D)

Beach Day! I woke up at about 9:30 to get an early start to the day so I could spend as much time at Bondi as possible. Now, Bondi Beach is probably the most famous Sydney beach and it's supposed to be simultaneously awesome and jam-packed with people. I got everything ready for a long day at the beach and I even applied sunscreen before I left the apartment (amazing, I know). In order to get to Bondi I needed to take the underground train and then walk about 4km to the beach. Technically, I could have taken a bus instead of walking, but firstly where's the fun in that - and secondly that's more expensive! When I got the the Town Hall train station I was able to navigate it no problem. I bought my ticket for the way there and for the return and boarded the train. The ride only took about 10 minutes total and I found myself at Bondi Junction. I walked out the station to find a huge mall to my right and a bunch of small tents manned by individual vendors. I figured I could stop by and look at things on my way back so I began the trek to the beach. Luckily, my sense of direction didn't fail me. I had only really looked at the google map once before leaving the apartment and there was about 4km of walking to do in order to get to the beach. However, I was able to find my way just fine and after about 45 minutes of walking I arrived at Bondi! There were a bunch of shops lining the beach so I walked up and down those first. I ended up buying a 5 dollar pair of sandals because my current ones are about dead, and then grabbed some lunch at 'Bondi Fresh.' I got a schnitzel sandwich which is basically a chicken parm sandwich and followed it up with a coffee boba from Tea Works. Both were delicious and after they were finished I walked down to the beach.

The sand was great! Its the really small sand that's all powdery and awesome. I walked down to the water and although it was maybe a little chilly it felt great as a contrast to the super hot weather. I walked the length of the beach with my legs submerged, but since I had all my stuff with me and no one to really leave it with I decided I would leave full out swimming for another day. On one end of the beach there was actually a huge professional surfing event going on. I walked over in time to see the open segment, semi-finals, and the final round. It was really cool seeing what all the surfers could do and how talented they are. There were apparently a bunch of world famous surfers that I was watching, but seeing as I don't follow the surfing world none of the names rung a bell. So I just sat and watched and thoroughly enjoyed. By the time the competition ended it was about 4:30 so I decided to get my legs into the ocean once again and then settle onto the beach to read for a little while longer. After another hour or so I decided the sun had really taken it out of me so I should probably walk back. Unfortunately the walk there was all downhill so I knew the walk back would be a little rougher on me. Surprisingly the walk back seemed much faster than the walk there. Have you ever noticed that when you go places? The return trip is always a snap compared to the way there. I think it's something about the uncertainty on the way there - you don't know how far it is or when you'll get there so it seems longer cause you're thinking about it.

When I got back I decided to walk the mall a bit. Before I got inside the mall I passed this gorgeous flower shop, and guess what? I found my new favorite flower! Now, generally I'm not a huge flower girl and little known fact that I doubt anyone but like two of my friends could tell you is that my favorite flower is honeysuckle followed loosely by lilies. However, honeysuckle, which has been my favorite flower since I was about 9 has finally been overtaken by something called Narines. They're beautiful, and I don't know why but I just really really like them. When I finally entered the mall I found a Borders and even though I have a kindle I just had to go inside! And, yet, here was another place that is WAY more expensive in AU. Thank goodness I bought a kindle because there is NO WAY I could afford to buy those books! After, I wandered around the mall a little more and found a target and then a pet store. Now, I literally almost bought a cat today. Like, I seriously lost my mind for probably 10 minutes after seeing the cute kittens because I got all the way to talking to the owner about the the price and started bartering with them before I snapped out of it and realized there is no way in hell I could have a cat here. If I showed up with a kitten my flatmates would flip and what would I do in 5 months? So, luckily when I realized what I was doing I promptly left the store before I could start bartering for deals if I got both a puppy and a kitten. After I left I walked down to the food court where I found Max Brenner's Chocolate restaurant. For some reason it was calling to me, so I decided I had found my dinner joint. I ordered a waffle and a Mexican hot chocolate. My dear goodness the waffle was DELICIOUS. It was served with strawberries, bananas, ice cream, and a chocolate drizzle and I can say with 100% confidence that that is the best waffle I have ever eaten in my entire life. The hot cocoa wasn't as great unfortunately.... It was okay, but not exactly the good 'ol spiced cinnamon Mexican hot chocolate that I'm used too. I think there was like too much spice or something? Either way, overall I give the restaurant a thumbs up and would definitely go back.

Finally at about 7 I figured I should be heading home. It had been a long day and I could feel a burn start to appear on my legs. By the time I got to my apartment I saw the definite signs of red on the front of my legs and realized I might have spent a bit too much time reading on the beach. Luckily for me the only part of me that got burned was my legs and I can deal with that. I finally put on that laundry that I'd been planning to do all week and drank a ton of water. I also watched the second half of 27 dresses, the second half of Alice in Wonderland, and planned a bit of my Sunday. When my roomie got home she mentioned that she went to visit Jonathan (the missing flatmate) and that he was in a place with immigration about 2 hours from here. He's currently figuring paperwork out and trying to apply for the proper papers to stay here. At this point no one knows if it'll get approved, so he's kind of in Limbo. Hopefully he gets to stay. He was such a nice guy the few days I was here with him.