Cronulla to Bundeena

I've decide that no matter where I am the best way to get info about my surroundings is to talk to total strangers, usually moms (or mums, depending on the country), at local parks. When we were back in Cali this is how I found out about the Preschool I sent my children to. This is also where I have met some of my dearest friends. (Yeah, I like to pick up women at public parks, so what's it too ya?) Anyhow, it turns out the same is true on the other side of the globe. A few weeks ago the kids and I were park hunting (we scour the city in search of cool parks) and I got to talking with a couple of moms, excuse me, mums about things to do around Sydney with kids. Actually, here is how it happened... I was reading an Australian tour guide book, like the totally awesome foreigner that I am, and these two women started teasing me. I picked myself up and plopped myself down between them and said. "OK, you tell me some cool places to travel with kids." Well, here is the news flash. Australians don't travel around Australia. "It's home" they say. "What is so exciting about home?" They would much rather spend their hard earned money and vacation time traveling to exotic places like Las Vegas. (I kid, but in reality if you ask anyone here they have either been there or are dying to go.) Back to my story... They had nothin' for me, and now the joke was on them. We all joked for awhile about the contrasting silliness of Australians and Americans, but by then the challenge was set and they were racking their brains for something cool to do. In the end they mentioned Cronulla and Bundeena... a short distance away but spot on to what I was looking for.

It's been one of our favorite adventures yet.

The first time just the kids and I went while BabyDaddy was out of town. Getting to Cronulla turned out to be an adventure in it of it's self... but of course I don't have any photos of that. I do have video... but uploading that is a bit beyond my awesomeness level. Anyhow, we took the train. You are thinking "a train on water?"... No, no obviously the shot above is a bit ahead of the story but... I'll get to it. We had to go to two different stations because there was no parking near the first. Of coarse not. Why would you take the train if you had a car? We eventually found a spot, on the other side of the tracks (literally and figuratively) and I figured we were fine as long as we got back before dark. We didn't, but as always (besides the spiders) I feel really safe in this city.

The second time we went we took BabyDaddy, Uncle Crazy and SweetThang. On the train to Cronulla again... and again with no pictures of the train.

So where the heck are we in the pictures?! We are on the cutest ferry on earth. The Curranulla. This little 56ft timber ferry was constructed using the nail and rove system and was originally powered by a 66hp 3-cylinder K3 hand start Kelvin diesel, giving it a top speed of seven knots. It was first commissioned on May 12, 1939 for private cruises , at that time she was the largest, fastest and the most modern vessel every seen on Port Hacking and could complete the crossing from Cronulla to Bundeena in half the time of the older ferries. In 1985 she got an upgrade when the Kelvin was replace with a 78hp, 5LW Gardner diesel. The Curranulla has been running the Cronulla to Bundeena line for 72 years. She still has a full work load of 13 (there and back!) trips a day M-F and 40 trips on Sat & Sun.

The old girl rocks 8,500 trips a year.

This is Cronulla. It is a cozy little town with a couple of strips of shops and restaurants and lots and lots of barefoot surfers. A few stops from Cronulla all the boarders start trickling onto the train with their gear and massive smiles. Lots of folks head down to the beach here from the city, weekdays and weekends. Hey man, when the swells call, you gotta answer.

And Bundeena. What's the draw? The beaches here are protected by the surrounding jetties of land so the fishing is great... so I hear. I'll get to why we go in just a second.

However, the journey is worth a thousand words. It is so fun to see all the boats in the harbor. The fancy houses and private beaches. With just a little bit of distance it all starts to change and then...

well there really isn't a whole lot out there.

Bundeena is surrounded by Royal National Park. You can drive there but it would take about 2 hours longer. Plus the ferry, and train, were totally part of the fun of the day. The first time the kids and I went by ourselves we went on a little adventure walk around the peninsula (You can see what I mean if you google map Bundeena. My apologies again for my lack of techno coolness. I'll get there.) I'm pretty sure we were completely trespassing but the 2 whole people we ran into never said anything to try to stop us. We really liked this little beach and look out. You can see Cronulla way off in the distance. :)

The city of Bundeena is a massive metropolis... I mean it probably has like 1 restaurant, 1 general store, and a coffee shop.

Love it!

It also has one of the coolest parks we have been to yet. This 4 peaked net climber has a tramp in the middle. Pretty darn cool if you ask DudeMan.

And then you have the beach. Such a super fun day!

The water is warm(ish), the sand is fine, and the kids are crazy. This is Roses digging herself a little sandy mud bath. XO

The trickiest part about hanging on this beach is fighting the crowds...

Actually, this little slice of heaven did have a down side. See all the little blue bubble thingies. Those are Blue Bottle Jellyfish, known in the Northern Hem as Portuguese Man o War. This freaky little creature is not a single organism, but actually made up of a number of zooids. Each zooid has a specific role and together they function as if it were an animal. Wild, eh? We somehow managed to hide these guys, that were all up and down the coast, from Dudeman. He was traumatized a few weeks ago by his Australian initiation with these little stingers. The lifeguard that "helped" us said that a sting feels like someone squirted napalm on you and lit it on fire. The poison is carried through your lymph nodes to clear it out of your body. So in DudeMan's case, with an ankle sting, it traveled up his leg and into his groin, progressively getting worse for an hour before it got better.

This is a picture of his poor little ankle about a week after the sting. The ones I took on the day of just look like his skin is red and swollen. After the swelling went down you could see where the tenticles made their mark. But, my little guy is a trooper.

And on a day like this who could resist a dunk in the ocean? He eventually got in.

I have a photo proof at the bottom of the page.

Dreamboat is actually the one who is the most timid about the ocean. But the waves at Bundeena are so calm that even he got in after a bit.

I love this pic of Roses.

You can see the butterfly kite shadow overlapping hers on the ground. :)

And here is the proof. All three kids in the water with BabyDaddy and Uncle Crazy. With the Bundeena wharf and the Curranulla in the background.

Both days were a blast. It's good to step away from the hustle and bustle of the city every now and again. Making time to enjoy life in the sun, surf, and sand.

Most definitely time well spent.