OZ '06, DAY 3: Bummin' it on Bondi Beach

Time for casual strolls in sand,
through historic neighborhoods

SYDNEY, New South Wales, Monday, Dec. 11 — The disk jockey called the weather "stinking hot," but you wouldn't have thought that while standing on the cliffs above Bondi Beach.

Bondi — pronounced Bon-Dye — is the wide crescent of shimmering sand southeast of Sydney, and the ocean breezes there made it feel like a perfect day.

Joined by our Australian hosts, Sarah Kenyon and Duane Smith, Debbie and I spent our third day down under at the beach, and then strolling a 19th Century neighborhood.

While the mercury in central Sydney hit 36 degrees Celsius — nearly 92 Fahrenheit — we enjoyed ourselves walking in the sand, on the rocky cliffs above Bondi and along the beach road packed with tourist shops.

After Sarah and Duane headed for the airport to catch their flight back to Queensland, we drove into neighborhoods ringing downtown, and checked out some very well preserved row houses from the 1870s and '80s, most of which were no more than 15 feet wide.

The narrow streets and tiny lots harkened back to a time when life's scale was indeed human. Do we really need our excesses in housing and transportation?





• Shocker: Topless sunbathers abound on Bondi Beach. The dreaded overweight-guy-in-Speedo was there, too.

• Aussie oddities: Coins here generally get smaller the more they are worth, save for the 50-cent piece, which is the largest. The $2 coin is the smallest. There are no pennies. Paper currency is all the same height, but colors and widths vary.