The crowds last weekend were crazy, so I went this evening instead.

Here are some photos I took of the Sculptures By The Sea 2009.

You can learn to surf literally across the road from your hostel. Or you could have a surf tour pick you up from your hostel and take you over sand dunes to an uncrowded beach just out of Sydney.

Finally, you can even take a 5 day tour from Sydney to Byron Bay that stops at many beaches along the way.

All schools cater for first time surfers and will provide you with surfboards and wetsuits.

Learn To Surf Near Your Hostel

If you want a couple of 2 hour lessons, there are plenty of surf schools near the main hostel areas:

Learn to surf in Sydney at Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, Maroubra Beach or other beaches.

• Bondi Beach: Let’s Go Surfing ($75 per two hour lesson; less with international concession card)
• Manly Beach: Manly Surf School ($50 per two hour lesson)
• Maroubra Beach: Sydney Safe Surf Schools ($55 per two hour lesson; less with international concession card)

Full Day “Learn To Surf” Tours

You can take a full day out of your vacation to learn to surf at uncrowded beaches just outside of Sydney.

There are a number of companies that organise day trips, such as SydneySurf and Waves Surf School. Here’s how they work. Waves Surf School, for example, will pick you up in a 4WD from one of three backpacker / hostel precincts: Coogee (8:30 am), Bondi (8:45 am) and Central Station in the city (9 am).

Waves staff will drive you for 45 minutes out of the city. The last part of the drive will be over sand dunes, hence the need for a 4WD (although surfers do have an image to keep up with)! The fact that you are driving to beaches which are only accessible by 4WD pretty much guarantees you will be surfing at uncrowded beaches.

On a Waves surf tour, you are guaranteed over four and a half hours of surfing time. This will give you the chance to consolidate new skills, as well as have a great time and meet other travellers.

The cost of a Waves one day tour (including lessons, transfers, surfboard, wetsuit and lunch) is $69 AUD, which is not a bad deal.

5 Day “Sydney To Byron Bay” “Learn To Surf” Tours

If you’re looking for an extended surfing holiday in Australia, you can also join learn-to-surf tours that will take you from Sydney up to Byron Bay (about 800 km or 500 miles to the north). These tours stop at a number of beaches along the way as they wind their way up the coast.

For example, Surfaris Remote Coastal Adventures run a five-day learn-to-surf tour from Sydney to Byron Bay. The thing I like about Surfari’s is that the tour operators will stop the bus wherever they see good waves, rather than at predetermined locations.

All surf schools will generally provide you with a surfboard, a rash vest and a wetsuit. You’ll need to bring a swimming costume (to wear under the wetsuit) a towel and sunscreen.

Opera Bar

The Opera Bar is Sydney’s best open-air bar. It has excellent views of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You can smell the salt of the harbour and watch ferries sail past. It’s an absolute pleasure drinking at the Opera Bar!

The drinks are not that cheap here, but the stupendous view and the excellent live bands more than make up for this. If I could only see one or two Sydney bars, I would put the Opera Bar on my list. Address: Sydney Opera House (Lower Concourse) Circular Quay.

The Opera Bar at the Sydney Opera House. Photo: Aschaf

Bondi Icebergs

Life is beautiful when you’re watching a Bondi sunset from the balcony at the Icebergs.

There are two bars within the Bondi Icebergs – a more expensive bar upstairs and a cheaper RSL (veterans club) downstairs. The two bars have very similar views. I wouldn’t say it’s worth paying the higher drink prices for the view from the upstairs bar. In its favour, the upstairs bar does have a few hanging chairs suspended from the ceiling by cables. These are a lot of fun to sit in and watch the sun go down, pina colada in hand. Whichever of the two Bondi Icebergs bars you choose, you will have a superb evening. The view really is that good. Address: 1 Notts Ave Bondi Beach.

Slip Inn

This is the bar where an Aussie real estate agent met the Prince of Denmark (no, not Hamlet) during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She later married him and is now the Princess of Denmark. So I guess you could say this is the bar where fairytales come true.

The Slip Inn (love the name) itself is actually a fantastic summer bar. It has a large open-air courtyard which is perfect for enjoying balmy Sydney summer nights. Address: 111 Sussex St Sydney.

Beach Road Hotel

The Beach Road Hotel in Bondi Beach is one of the most fun and energetic of all the Sydney bars. There is a different style of music for each night of the week, much of it with live DJs.

If you’re a sports fan, the Beach Road is an exciting place to watch the bigger sporting events on a massive projector screen. For the bigger sporting events, such as the Cricket World Cup or the Rugby World Cup, there are free beers on offer until the first wicket is taken or the first try is scored. Try it out – you’ll like it. Address: Corner of Beach Road and Glen Ayr Ave Bondi Beach

Rated as one of the world’s most picturesque walks, the Bondi To Bronte Coastal Walk has many fans the world over. This article will cover the following points:

• Why I Love the Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk
• How Long is the Walk?
• Where Do You Start The Walk?

Why I Love the Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk

The first thing I love about the Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk is how close it takes you to the ocean.

As you walk from Bronte to Bondi (or Bondi to Bronte), there are times you can almost touch the surface of the water with an outstretched hand. At other times, you are quite high above the waves and can watch the surfers from up high.

The second thing I love about this walk is the fact that sometimes dolphins and whales come to play in the waters off Bondi and Bronte. In late 2005, I saw a whole pod of dolphins (there must have been about 15 or 16 of them) catching waves off Bronte Beach, just like surfers. It was quite an amazing experience, and to think that people often pay big money to go on whale-watching tours – and here it was all on a platter for me while I was just walking around.

The third thing I love about this walk is the sheer number of beautiful people on the path with you. The path can become quite busy on weekends, but this is a good thing as there are many beautiful and fit people to check out (all while wearing sunnies of course).

How Long is the Walk?

The actual walk between Bondi Beach and Bronte Beach is is 3.5 kilometres long (2.2 miles).

However, if you were to start at Bondi Beach and walk to Bronte Beach, you could keep walking well past Bronte to Clovelly Beach, Gordon’s Bay, Coogee Beach, Lurline Bay and then finally Maroubra Beach.

You can do the walk in both directions, or if you’re feeling like 3.5 kilometres is enough, you can do the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk in one direction and then catch a bus back (changing buses at Bondi Junction).

There are great cafes at both Bronte and Bondi Beaches so you can treat yourself to a well-deserved drink.

Where Do You Start The Walk?

It’s quite easy to access the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk.

If you’re at Bondi Beach, walk past the Bondi Icebergs (on Notts Avenue, off Campbell Parade). Once you’re at the end of Notts Avenue you will see a staircase on your left. That is the beginning of the Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk (if you don’t count the section spanning the beachfront at Bondi, which is part of the 3.5 kilometres / 2.2 miles).

If you’re in Bronte Beach, walk past the lifesaving club (which is incidentally the world’s oldest lifesaving club) and head up the staircase (the water should be on your right).