Concluding our day

We ended the walk at Bronte Beach, where there's also a park. It was full of families BBQ-ing, playing Cricket and Rugby, and kids playing at the park! So fun! We took the bus back to the train station and were home by 7:00. What a great day!I've never seen anything like this, but it spins around and kids can climb it- not sure how safe it is....., but looked fun!

playing at the park

Fun Beach pictures

I love this one because it is SO Lance! He just LOVES playing in the sand.

And this is SO Grace! Every time we go to the beach, that's all she wants to do is stand at the water's edge and stare at the ocean.

Cool surf boards!

Bronte walk

Just some of the beautiful sights we saw on our walk

At the very top of the picture you can see the beach behind us
Bronte Beach is up on the right - you can see where we're walking on the right

Bondi to Bronte

We started our walk from Bondi to Bronte Beach and it was GORGEOUS!! The walk is along the coastline with amazing views and beautiful natural landscape.A piece of rock that has been weathered and now looks like this!
waves crashing against a rock

This is a swimming club called Bondi Iceberg. If you're in the club, you religiously swim every Sunday throughout the entire year, no matter what the weather!! Crazy!! It looked really cool, though!
starting our walk, leaving Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach

A couple Sundays ago, we decided to head for the famous Bondi Beach and check it out for ourselves! If you ask anyone from Australia, they mostly all say to stay away from it!! There are hundreds of beaches around Sydney and this one if very touristy, super crowded, and hard to get to. We took the train into Sydney, switched trains to head to Bondi, and then had to take a bus to the beach. It was beautiful and we had a great day, but we will definitely be on the lookout for our "own" favorite beach to play on! However, everyone DOES say to take the Bondi to Bronte Beach walk - it's very scenic and beautiful! So we decided that would be a great way to see it before it gets into the heat of the summer. Standing in front of the ocean looking back at the town of Bondi
Lance enjoying the sand

They are DYING to just get into their swimsuits and play at the beach - next time, I promise!!!
Stnading at the boardwalk with Bondi behind them

First swim in our pool!

About 3 weeks ago, it was one of the first hot days we had had yet, so the kids really wanted to try out our pool! We hadn't turned on the heater yet, so it was too cold for us, but the kids didn't care at all!! They were so excited and they loved it! I can't believe how long they stayed in - hours - it's going to be wonderful when the temps are over 100 degrees here!
Josh is putting my lounge chairs together for the pool - they will get LOTS of use!!
Hanging out on their rafts
the pool (on the other side of the green shrubs on the left is a grassy lawn with a playhouse.)
playing in the whirl pool
getting ready to jump in for the first time - better take the vacuum out!

Great day for the beach!

After our big walk around the two beaches, we came back to Manly and had some amazing fish and chips from a local fish market! What a great way to end a Sunday!!
Hanging on to my children for dear life! It actually looks like we are a lot closer than we were - it still stressed me out a little!!
awesome view

exploring Shelly beach. We actually didn't like this beach as much as Manly. It seemed dirtier and the sand was made of shells mostly, so not very soft. I think people like it because there aren't really any waves because it's inside a little inlet - good for kids.

Beautiful walk

paddle surfing
on our walk, we saw this really cool "pool" that jets out into the ocean! It's open to the public, so anyone can swim in it - too funny!
You can see Shelly beach in the background
There was this rock that looked like a shell, so of course the kids had to crawl through the hole!
One of the many lizards on the walk, but watch out - they spit at you as a warning to stay away!! Not very friendly! :0

Walk from Manly to Shelly Beach

This is a view of Manly as we started our walk to Shelly Beach

lifeguards
some shells Grace collected
I took a picture of the lifeguards because it's so different how they dress compared to lifeguards in America! They all wear yellow and red, sun hats, rash guards, etc. They definitely stick out, which is good!
running back to the "boardwalk"

checking out the beach

Grace wanted to take a picture
looking for shells
here comes the waves!
Another view from the beach