2026-04-25 Sydney: Coogee, Bondi, Lion King

It was a later start to the day than we originally thought, but got away early with a decent breakfast, ready to catch the bus from Museum Station to Coogee for our big Coogee to Bondi walk.

Unfortunately for us, the Anzac day parade route stretched right along the Oxford Street bus route. We saw an official NSW taxi rank and got an estimate of $50 to get to Coogee. Then went around the corner and arranged a $25 Uber instead. The drive was pleasant, the driver had only been in Sydney a couple months after moving out of Adelaide.

We got to Coogee and bought sunscreen (doh). And I couldn't help buy a souvenir tank top. The beach was incredibly beautiful. Set in a cove, with big rock cliffs either side, a sandy crescent beach, and a number of rocky outcrops (which Lou and I enjoyed trying to capture the perfect splash photo). 

We took our shoes and socks off and generally enjoyed ourselves in our own says - Lou enjoyed going deeper into the water, I took photos, and benji Collected an impressive amount of sea glass.

After about an hour we started off on our coastal walk (the singlet was immediately a successful purchase, as we used it as a substitute towel). Stunning scenery. For some reason we expected the 6k route to take about 90 minutes, but at the one hour mark we weren't even a third of the way through (possibly from my old bones and the many steps and photo breaks, possibly from our stop to get the world's most expensive ice cream).

Lou had her heart set on swimming at Bondi, so rather than continue the walk (by now the 1.30pm sun was beating us up a bit) Dave found a bus heading to bondi. We tapped on and I pretty much tapped out, relishing the soothing ride, sprawled on my seat. Thankfully Dave was paying more attention and realised we were heading away from the coast towards Bondi proper, and not Bondi Beach! 

Another short walk, tap on, tap off and here we were - the famous Bondi Rescue set. We priced up the supplies needed for Lou to swim (shorts, towel). We had a stunning meal at a near by restaurant, Lou suited up, and we went out to enjoy the iconic (and much larger than I expected) beach.

While Lou frolicked in the water (between the flags, of course) , with Dave supervising, benji and I went to the far end of the beach looking for sea glass. Only two hits, but it was a beautiful location for a walk.

We left Dave and Lou to enjoy the quintessential Sydney beach experience, benji and I found a place on the esplanade that had hot chocolate.

Homeward (after a light dinner of hot chips) via the bus. I forgot where I put my opal card, causing a minor panic, but apparently it'll cost me only an extra couple dollars for failing to tap off. (edit: because there's a daily maximum charge (which is halved on public holidays), so it turned out we'd already met it and there was no penalty). 

Quick showers, and a 3 minute walk to the Capitol Theatre for the Lion King. We had two seats in the stalls and two in the dress circle. Lou and Dave took the stalls first, while benji and I had the dress circle. We switched at intermission. It was pretty neat to see it from both perspectives.

I won't spoil any of the show, but it was magical. Benji loved it, everything from the costumes, stage production and even the songs. Lou apparently also really enjoyed it. Lots of clapping and cheering from both at the end of the show. I, of course, bawled throughout much of the show. And, of course, spent a tiny fortune in (honestly not a lot) of merch.

Final Subway snacks then home to zonk out pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow.