Beach Day
29 December 2018 | Middle Harbour Sydney
Helen/Mark
We were very tired out from our busy day. After dinner, Mark said we hadn't watched any Justified in ages, so that's what we did. I didn't make it till the end of the show. It was after 10 pm and we headed to bed. We both slept well. Woke up around 7 am. Took our time getting up. Mark toasted bagels for breakfast. Then he spent a good deal of time trying to get his enzymes for his lactose intolerance shipped to Australia. One company wanted $56 to ship. I said forget it. He tried Amazon.com, but they wouldn't ship to Australia. We got into our swim suits and packed a bag and headed to a beach. Mark picked South Curl Curl Beach. It was not that far from here but must have taken us almost an hour to get there. A one-hour parking spot at the beach cost $10. We paid for one hour. The beach was actually closed for bad current conditions. It was a beautiful beach but the seas were crashing into the beach. The surf was high with a few surfers taking advantage. We went into the water and it was ice cold. Mark only went in to his waist. I thought it was way too rough for me, so I didn't go in very far. Not that many people on the beach compared to some beaches were have seen this past week. We walked the beach to the south end which was called South Curl Curl Beach. There was a building with restrooms/showers and a cafe. At the very end of the beach, there was a rock pool. The big swells were hitting the rock rock and depositing salt water into the deep end of the pool. I took lots of pictures. Mark got into the water up to his neck. He said the deep section was also very cold and didn't last too long. There was a shallow wading pool which had much warmer water. Made a few phone calls with the Telstra phone booth close by. However, our hour parking had long expired and we had to get back. Just as we were leaving, they opened a section to swimmers. I am not sure anyone will stay in that cold water for very long. It was after 1 pm when we left the beach. Stopped for lunch at the Warrangah Mall. It was a big mall and we parked at on the roof floor, which was 5 stories high, as we came into the parking lot at the top of the hill. Lots of shops. We both had Thai for lunch. Sat at a big table under an umbrella and shared it with several other shoppers. Then we walked around and checked out a pharmacy and a health food store as Mark was looking for some digestive/probiotic pills. Glad we found our car in the parking lot. My feet were sore from all the walking as I was wearing my flip flops today. Drove back to Tunks Park and headed back to the boat. Changed into our shorts and headed back to the car. Made a stop at Chris & Debbie's place to drop off a gift basket, thank you, for hosting us on Christmas Day. Stopped at a Woolworths grocery store. Picked up things for our trip out to Sydney Harbour. We plan to leave sometime tomorrow. The store was spread over two floors. A few other shops in-between. Headed back to Tunks Park and collected our dinghy. Stopped by the marina, where I checked to see if our mail was there. The office was closed and there was no mail. Mark said our mail has cleared customs and won't be delivered until Monday. That means we will have to come back to pick it up. So, we dinghied back to the boat. Put the groceries away. Mark is having an sg&t. Added some corn chips from yesterday. I stuck with my water. It was quite the hot day. At the beach the breeze was pretty cold, to me. A stiff breeze all day at the marina. Thanks for your emails and messages. Will post some pictures from the beach on Facebook and select one for today's blog. We will return our rental car tomorrow and search out a good spot to anchor for the New Year's Eve fireworks!! We are excited to be able to see them in person this year!!