chips on the beach (again)

Great to have friends here for a week. As always an opportunity to be a proper tourist again, interspersed with - as always with Z - plotting lots of future project together. Seemed to spend a lot of time in the Coogee Pavilion, but also took the ferry to Manley and did the fish-and-chips-on-the-beach-at-sunset-thing.

life in elizabeth bay

The café in the bay near K’s flat used to be a fabulous – and typically Sydney - breakfast joint. It then got taken over by the hipsterish Miss Chu’s and did Vietnamese things for a bit. But then she over-extended,  went into voluntary administration and so it has been shut for a while. Now it appears to have been taken over by an Irishman and a Scotsman (apologies to them is this is wrong). They have an enthusiasm for slightly peculiar items in this context such as penguin bars and (I think) tunnock’s teacakes. And last time I went to get a flat white, at about 8.30am, they were just advising a customer that mushroom soup with sherry would be available very soon. 

mobbed

Had given up my habit of watching the sun go down whilst eating fish, chips and salad on Coogee beach following gym sessions on Thursdays after being mobbed - and I mean seriously attacked - by seagulls on every occasion. (The photo here is of only one seagull because I was in the process of a forced leaving, with one hand on my food, one hand trying to frighten away the feathery hordes, and one around my camera...)

But it was such a beautiful evening tonight that I tried again. And although there was some keen interest from a couple of inquisitive gulls, the only other birdlife around was a bunch of small noisy miners - for yes that is their name - being given flying practice by their parents.


Note: As another blog notes, it is very easy to get noisy miners and indian mynas mixed up; so here is how to tell the difference.  

seagulls and doyles

In my determination not to give into jetlag, but noticeably disoriented and wobbly, I find that without thinking I have got on a ferry to Watsons Bay; focusing on a single goal of getting take-away fish and chips from the famous Doyles for my lunch.  Then sitting in the glorious sunshine on the sand (like any decent Brit I expect to get excited by sunshine/beach for at least the next 3 months) with that fab view back to the city. Interrupted only by seagulls squabbling.