Energy renewed, we set off for a day at the beach – destination, Watson’s Bay, to the North East of Double Bay. To get there, we took a ferry back to Circular Quay in the centre of Sydney, and then took a ferry back out past Double Bay to Watson’s Bay. Apparently, there used to be a direct connection from Double Bay to Watson’s Bay but it’s now been scrapped, boo! However, the trip to Circular Quay was not wasted as we took the opportunity to do some shopping in the city centre. I needed pants! I lost a pair in the wash in Sanur and another pair seemed to have vanished, so new pants were definitely called for.

After our shopping, we were keen to get back on the ferry and take in the air and the views of Sydney which never get old. We saw a seaplane take off and a catamaran zipped by.

Arriving at Watson’s Bay, we found a pretty, old fashioned looking beach front with a large park called Robertson Park at one end and a promenade at the other. There were a multitude of outlets selling fish and chips, all bearing the famous name ‘Doyles’ There were people enjoying lunch in Doyles’s takeaway and Doyles’s traditional restaurant on the front, but with the temperature standing at 30 c, I wasn’t tempted by hot, fried food. Instead, we wove our way through the backstreets, past pretty wrought iron balconied cottages, until we came to Camp Cove.

Camp Cove is a beautiful north east facing cove with a yellow sand and great views of Sydney harbour.  It is believed to be the first landing place for the first Governor of New South Wales Captain Arthur Phillip and a small party of marines in 1788. They were the first to call it Camp Cove. Today, we found numerous beach babes and surfer dudes enjoying a day at the beach. We ordered a salad and a homemade lemonade from a stall on the beach. This set us up for a walk known as the South Head Heritage Trail, a half a kilometre loop track around South Head.

The trail took us round the stunning coastline where we soaked up the views and spotted various signs of naval defences dotted along the coast. The trail took us past the Hornby Lighthouse and the Lighthouse Keeper’s cottage. The lighthouse was built after the wrecking of the Dunbar in 1858. Apparently, the first lighthouse keeper was the only survivor from the Dunbar. Today, the lighthouse is still in operation, but the lighthouse cottage looks in need of some TLC.

On the way back to the Cove, we headed down some steep steps to a secluded cove known as Lady Bay Beach. Today, it is one of three beaches in Sydney where cossies (Ozzie slang for swimming costumes) are optional. We threw caution to the wind and threw off our clothes! All part of living adventurously. And, as I discovered as we climbed back up the steps feeling suitably refreshed, it has the advantage that you don’t have to cart a wet costume around with you.   We got back to the ferry to find we had a half hour wait. Fortunately, there was an ice cream seller close at hand and a large spreading tree in Robertson Park to eat ice cream under.