NSW: Bondi Beach

Day 3 of our Sydney adventure continues, by now we were falling into a nice routine. Ill spare you the long and boring details, lets just say that we woke up early got ready and headed out, past the creepy cemetery and to the creepy train station. Yep still deserted but no zombies in sight, this only further cements the fact that i have seen wayyyyyy to many movies. This day was pretty uneventful, our plan was to hit up Bondi Beach i mean we had been in Australia over a week and still had not gone to the beach.....well thats just not at all acceptable!! 1st though. Remember Cha Time? That little asian tea place that we found the day before? Remember how much we loved it and i vowed we would return? Yeah it happened! Priorities first right, i mean why walk around on a hot day if you don't have a delicious iced green tea thing infused with other fruit flavor goodness to make life bearable. So yeah, Cha Time in hand and we were off to Bondi! Our journey came to a screeching halt though when we had to get oe a bus and realized that all of Sydney wanted to go to Bondi as well. Gotta pay your dues in order to get to the prize i suppose, so there we were in this bus depot surrounded by a bunch of sweaty people waiting for the next bus. I should have mooed like a cow cus it really wasn't far from the truth. While we waited we were treated to watching an Asian guy trying to force his way onto the bus by cutting in line or as the Aussies call it "jumping the queue" I will admit that it took me a while to catch on to what this term meant. When i first heard it i was so confused, i thought that there was a big letter Q on the ground that i wasn't seeing and people where jumping over it or something. Needless to say that i felt like a total idiot when i finally caught on. I learned something standing in that station surrounded by sweaty teenagers and 20 somethings......Australians are really laid back. You always hear of how laid back they are but never think that its actually true. Well its true, take this situation for example they all saw the guy trying to cut in front of the line but nobody really cared. They saw him, laughed and then went on about their business. If this were happening here in the states oh man that guy better watch out cus someones going to go ballistic on him. I must admit that i do get ticked off at stuff like that and get into this mode of "Look at this guy cutting in line! PREPOSTEROUS!! How dare you sir?! What gives you the right?! IM ZO!!!! and the 30 seconds that you are are stealing from me by cutting in front......yeah i want them back or else I'm gonna bring the pain!!" Ok not that dramatic but you know what i mean, in the end it all worked out. He tried to get on the bus, the driver laughed at him and kicked him off which in turn made all of us laugh at him.....it was a wonderful moment. So on the bus we were and finally on our way to the beach, we finally got there and the water was absolutely beautiful. Holy cow though! IT WAS CROWDED!!!! It felt like there was barely any place to move, we walked around for a little while. jen was somewhat reluctant to to go into the water not because she was afraid of it but because i had about 50 grand worth of gear in my back pack and it a little unnerving to leave it on the beach with so many people around. We almost left with out going in the water but that would have been silly, so i convinced jen that we should go for a swim. We found a spot close to the water and went for a dip, the water was awesome. Clear blue green ocean, beautiful sunny day with a few puffy clouds here and there, water was a little chillier than expected but very refreshing. Despite the crowds it was a fantastic 1st swim in Australia :) The area was very beautiful, long stretch of sand, a nice albeit crowded area to walk above the sand and off in the distance houses on the side of the cliffs that invoke great jealousy. Along the boardwalk there were a bunch of vendors that had everything from surfboards to umbrellas for hire (for rent). Definitely a very energetic scene, or an introverts worst nightmare. We spent pretty much the entire afternoon here people watching and sun baking ( laying out ) it was very relaxing. Eventually hunger reared it ugly head and we headed out. We looked for a coffee shop that was recommended by a friend who had been there before but it turned out to be closed. So we made the journey back to the city and went to Darling Harbour where we perused the menus of the many restaurant along the water front. Eventually we picked a place that sounded good and had a tasty meal, Jen had lobster and i ordered a burger. I was excited for my burger and a little scared at the same time, it wasn't anything crazy or anything but Australians make their burgers with a slice of red beet. When you're used to something as time honored as a burger it a little difficult to deviate and try something new. Still i tried it and found it surprisingly delicious! Full and happy and the sun having set we decided that we were pooped and headed back. We headed back exhausted but happy and ready for another day......