I was prepared with my breakfast this time. Knowing the kitchen would be shut when I checked out I had bought some fruit the day before and had filled the water bladders up before going to bed. So the day started well.
Hoisting my slightly lighter pack on my back I headed across the road to find the bus to Anzac Parade and then another bus to La Perouse arriving in time to watch a soft purple and orange sunrise promising an overcast but dry morning.
By the time I reached Maroubra Beach I had a huge craving for a cup of coffee so I took a break at the surf club cafe. Usually when I'm out hiking I crave curry or pizza or fizzy drinks but one of the advantages of walking in the city is any craving can be satisfied. The only cravings I had the whole week were for coffee and eggs which was odd because I don't usually have either when at home.
A couple of men out walking and stopping to get coffee struck up a conversation about my walk. They obviously knew something about hiking gear because they noticed that my pack (Black Wolf) was giving me some grief and commented on the good quality of my Black Diamond walking poles. I must say, these walking poles are just wonderful. They are strong and sturdy and take a huge amount of impact off my feet, ankles, knees and hips. I always use 2 poles so both sides of my body benefit equally. And they are a godsend when climbing up hills with a full pack. We ended up having a good yarn about treks we've been on in the Himalaya.
There is a giant Rubik's Cube on Maroubra Beach! The last thing I expected to see on a beach is a huge block of concrete painted as a huge colourful Rubik's Cube. Cool!
It was a perfect walk to Coogee where I stopped for lunch. It was not too hot or too cold, a breeze gently pushing me along and a nice balance between sun and cloud cover.
It's pretty cool when you go into new places and recognise them from Aussie films and TV. At least 98% of Sydney is new for me so just about everywhere I go is also a new experience but then I see something that suddenly feels familiar and reminds me of a great Aussie movie of documentary. Lilian is a good example, it was filmed in a few places I walked past on this trip, including the cove where she attempted suicide. If you haven't watched Lilian, I recommend it. It is a serious film about mental health, I'd give it a M+15 rating because it is brutally raw and honest about some very real and disturbing issues that are happening around us but most of us ignore. Good cast and great acting too.
So if you live in Sydney or visit and have not yet been on the coast walk between Coogee and Bondi you are missing out on a real treat. It is the perfect city walk, close to public transport, toilets, shops and cafes, easy walking along well maintained paths with beautiful views across the ocean, beaches, rock platforms and sea cliffs. Pick a good day for it and I bet you'll want to keep going back to walk it over and over again. It would be a good place to take visiting friends and relatives to show off one of the many beautiful parts of Sydney's coast.
Inside my boots was turning into blister central. After settling into the Bondi YHA (very cheap and nasty) I checked my feet and counted 5 blisters, all of them were broken and weeping and stung like blazers when I washed them out in the shower. I sprayed them with Zen herbal muscle liniment and they dried out overnight and didn't give me too much grief.
Zen herbal muscle liniment has been really good. I started using it while walking from Melbourne to Newcastle a couple of years ago and it helped each night, especially with the restless legs. Each evening, after making camp, I would rub it into my feet and calves and each morning I sprayed some into my boots to delay the foot ache from walking on the hard surface beside the road. It is also a good boot deodoriser. Sometimes I add a bit of peppermint oil for faster relief when the weather is hot.