What a difference some sunshine makes. After Thursday, Friday and Saturday were all overcast, grey, miserable days, the sun made an appearence in Port Jackson yesterday and cast a shadow over the dark days that had kept us glum and cooped inside.

At first sign that it was going to be half-decent weather yesterday, we made our way to Circular Quay and hitched a ride on a bus headed straight for the coast. Howie was quite determined that it was going to be a glorious day and a glorious day it was: in fact, you might say it was a scorcher. When we got to Bondi we had a (packed) nutritious lunch and feasted on a Boost fruit smoothie before donning our walking shoes and taking to the coastal trail. We'd been intending on undertaking the Bondi-Coogee walk since we got here as we'd heard marvellous things about how scenic it was and we fully intended to make the most of a sunny day in NSW. However (yes, the inevitable but clause that, dear reader, you just knew was coming), we hadn't quite taken into consideration a number of factors:
1. It was Sunday.
2. It was the first sign of Vitamin D in about a week.
3. There's an exhibition on from Bondi to Tamarama called 'Sculptures by the Sea'.
4. The coastal path is narrow.

Everyone in Sydney had invited his brother, his mother and his great-aunt twice removed to do the coastal walk betwene Bondi and Tamarama. I mean EVERYONE. It was like the bit in 'Deep Impact' when the crowds are swarming into the big underground vault to hide from the big meteor that's about to hit Earth. Just up past Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club, there was a lovely view back to the beach. Except you could hardly see it over the tops of people's heads. And you couldn't move to the edge to see it because you couldn't move full stop. One could only move at the speed the crowd was moving, and with a considerably high percentage of pensioners out for the day and small children under the age of 3, one can only imagine the pace. Howie tells me I was grumpy, but I don't believe him.

The fantastic thing was that once we got to Tamarama Beach (which is, incidentally, a glorious spot), the crowds thinned considerably and we were on the move once more. Once free of the masses, we had spectacular views right down the shoreline, out to the ocean. Between Bondi there are three beaches and a bay, all with beautifully clear, turquoise water and immaculte golden sand. Sydneysiders certainly know how to keep their beaches looking pristine. After Tamarama we came to Bronte Beach, which was the birthplace of Sydney Surf Patrol. It's a sizeable beach (nothing to the sheer breadth and depth of Bondi), but neverthless idyllic, despite being busy. Up again around the cliffs we were led down to Clovelly Beach. Clovelly is just a little inlet really, but it's supposed to be a good place to go snorkelling as there is a rock formation that keeps the surf out of the bay. Around we went again, up some seriously steep climbs and down again into Gordon Bay, where several people were fishing but the tiny beach was deserted. After that, it was just a walk over the clifftops to Coogee. Coogee is another large beach, akin with Bondi, but it seems to be more focussed on families and less focussed on American girls strutting round half-naked and awkward Spanish dude-wannabes putting their wetsuit on inside-out and posing with a hired surfboard (saying that, some of the surfing at Bondi is very impressive, even for a lay person).

At Coogee, we had an ice cream and a coffee on the beach (naturally - even though it was 30 degrees, Howie must have his coffee). After taking in the sights (namely sitting on the beach), we then had to head back to walk all the way back to Bondi to get the bus.
At Bondi, we waited patiently. We wanted the 333 or the 380 bus to get back to the centre. And so did everyone else, apparently. After several 'full' buses going past, we finally managed to hop on one back to the Quay, then got a train home. By the time we got back to the Petersham abode, it was about 9pm and we were both completely exhausted from the walk. A long sleep awaited us.

Waking up today we were thinking the weather would be more of the same. It was beautifully sunny this morning and we pottered about looking at jobs and getting various things done. But at about 4pm, the sky looked decidedly grey and the air began to feel very 'close'. An hour or so later, the heavens opened and the most spectacular thunderstorm has been raging across the Western Sydney skies for a good few hours. The storms have been so bad, the local news had warned people to turn off electrical appliances and stay indoors; we've seen huge forks of lightening and had deafening thunder right over our heads. The lightening seems to be constant, with flashes going off every 10 seconds or so. Apparently the storms are still going to be breaking tomorrow and Wednesday. After that, however, we are hoping that summer will finally arrive.

The move to Adelaide is definately going ahead - trains and flights have been booked, preparations are being made. Just under two weeks left to see everything Sydney has to offer - a trip to the Blue Mountains and a ferry to Manly are in the pipeline. Now if only the rain would stop...