July 25, 2025 – Sydney (Author: J)
Our final day in Sydney started with a leisurely morning. For breakfast, we grabbed pastries and coffee from one of the stands at Circular Quay. The food was just about to the standard of our grocery store muffin meal two days prior. But it was quick. After eating at some of the tables in the hotel lobby, we went back to the room to change into our swim gear.
The indoor pool at the Intercontinental is an excellent place to spend a lazy morning. It is located on one of the higher floors in the hotel, in a room with large windows overlooking the harbor. From above, it is clear why Sydney Harbour is considered one of the world’s best. And we had another clear day to admire the bridge, the opera house, and the various islands visible from the hotel windows.
The pool itself is heated to a comfortable temperature, allowing for long swims. Once we were in the pool, P revealed that he had packed a tiny squishy American football in his backpack. I don’t understand P’s enduring fascination with playing catch, but we indulged him until another family joined us in the pool area. Before they jumped in the pool, they pushed a button that started some jets in one corner of the pool, converting it into a lukewarm jacuzzi tub. We abandoned the football game in favor of the novelty of a jetted pool. After the swim, I topped off my relaxing morning with another visit to the sauna in the women’s locker room and some more time lounging in the pool area day beds admiring the views.
It was hard to pull ourselves away from the pool, but eventually our tummies told us that lunchtime was approaching. We went back to the room to change. Unfortunately, we had not remembered to hit the “make up room” button before going for our swim, so we returned to unmade beds and towels on the floor. (The default in the US is that rooms will be serviced unless the “do not disturb” sign is out. The default in both Singapore and Australia seems to be the reverse; you must put out the “make up room” sign to receive housekeeping). I made a call to the front desk to explain our mistake. Then, we called an Uber to take us to Bondi Beach.
Before our trip, I read lots of advice about the best coastal trails in Sydney. The majority suggested that the Bondi to Coogee walk is not number 1 despite its ubiquity on social media. But Bondi Beach has something that the starting points for other trails does not: a vegan pie shop.
After a twenty-minute Uber ride, we arrived at Funky Pies. The shop has a variety of vegan “meat” pies and even vegan “sausage” rolls. We ordered a butter chicken pie, a beef style pie made with mushrooms and topped with mushy peas and gravy, a sausage roll, and a pizza roll. We really enjoyed this meal. My only complaint was that they used puff pastry on the pies instead of pie crust. But the beefless gravy made up for it.
After lunch, we walked down to the beach to locate the trailhead. I knew from watching a million YouTube videos that the trail started somewhere near the Icebergs pool, a saltwater pool set right on the ocean. Although it was a pleasant day for walking, 18.4 C/65 F is – in my opinion — a bit chilly for swimming. That didn’t stop a handful of folks from doing laps as the ocean waves washed over the edges of the pool.
Close to the pool is a public washroom, which we took advantage of before setting out on our walk. From there, we followed the crowds to the start of the trail. The Bondi to Coogee walk is a 6km coastal path that passes through several beachy suburbs of Sydney. D and I agreed that the views reminded us of the ten years that we spent living in Los Angeles. (This seems to be an unpopular opinion among Australians, but I suspect that’s because most tourists in LA stick to LA proper, i.e., Venice Beach. Bondi reminded us of the beach towns to the south of LA.) There are, of course, plenty of differences in flora, fauna, and even rock type in the cliffs. But something about the vibe on the Bondi to Coogee walk hit us the same way that SoCal does.
The first half of the walk from Bondi to Bronte beach passed quickly with everyone in good spirits and keeping an eye out for whales and seabirds. But the second half of the walk seemed to drag as P became less patient with the excursion. By the time we reached Waverly Cemetery, a Victorian era cemetery set on some prime oceanfront real estate, P had flipped from enjoying the walk to enduring it. I was faced with a choice between keeping the peace and finishing an activity that I had been looking forward to. I opted for the latter.
It was a slow and grumble-filled walk from Waverly Cemetery to the end of the trail in Coogee Beach. But our perseverance was rewarded when a pod of acrobatic dolphins greeted us as we arrived on the outskirts of Coogee.
Having forced my child to walk 2.5 km against his will, the plan was to reward him with gelato. Fortunately, Gelatissimo Coogee is just a half-block or so from the beach. The shop had a nice variety of flavors, including some non-dairy options. We enjoyed our scoops and then called another Uber to return to the Intercontinental.
Finding a ride from Coogee proved a bit of a challenge. After waiting for our driver for 20 minutes, he cancelled the ride when he was just a few feet from us. We’re not sure what happened, particularly because we were waiving at him when he cancelled the ride. Uber assigned another driver, who was also 20 minutes away. So, after 40 minutes of waiting, we were on our way back to the Intercontinental. On the plus side, our 2nd driver was very excited to pick up a group of Americans. He spent the ride back to the hotel regaling us with stories of his travels across the US.
Back at the hotel, it was time for a long rest. Our dinner plans for the evening were to visit the Chinatown Night market. The market is held on Friday nights and features several blocks worth of food stalls and trinkets. It is a short trolley ride from the Intercontintal to Chinatown. The trolley was busy with folks heading out for their Friday evening plans, but we squeezed our way on. Once we reached our stop, we procured some cash from a nearby ATM, and then walked through the Chinatown Ceremonial Gates to experience the market.
There were plenty of people out enjoying the market, which created a lively and enjoyable atmosphere. After milling around a bit, we made our first food selection: an assortment of vegetarian skewers from a barbeque stall. They had tofu, mushroom, and gluten. Then, realizing that our produce intake for the day had been limited, we shared some fruit. Finally, we wrapped up our dinner with Jian Bing, a Chinese savory crepe. Ours was stuffed with egg, crispy noodles, cabbage, and a savory sauce. This was our first time trying Jian Bing, and we all enjoyed it.
On to dessert. At the far end of the market was a pastry shop with glorious pictures of egg tarts in the window. Sadly, there were no egg tarts in the shop. We settled for two fruit pastries, one with a durian cream. My first experience with durian in Malaysia involved a spit take. My second experience with durian at the night market also involved a spit take. To me, it tastes like dirty socks. D was determined to get our money’s worth, though. He reported that the pastry was fine to eat — as long as you held your nose while doing so.
After our pastries, we grabbed a 10 pack of Emperor’s Cream Puffs, custard filled mini pastry available from at takeout window near the Ceremonial Gates. We took our puffs back to the hotel with us. Once the tedious chore of repacking our suitcase was complete, we enjoyed the puffs with tea.
With that, our time in Sydney was at an end. Next stop: Uluru.
Travel Monkeys 