Bondi Beach: Waves, Sand, and Sandstone

Bondi (prononce bond-eye) is Sydney's most famous beach. It's a huge crescent shaped marvel that has enough waves for surfers, but isn't too rough for people wanting to swim. We spent an entire (sunny) day there enjoying a relaxing day in the sun and surf. Swimming areas are marked by flags and swimmers are restricted to these areas. I learned that Surf Lifesaving Australia, the coalition of surfboard lifeguards, are constantly monitoring the beaches and moving the flags to the places that don't have (or have less of) a rip. This makes so much sense and probably prevents a lot of drownings. Apparently since this practice started no one has died swimming between the flags. I played in the waves a bit and then sat on the beach with some good music and a good book, and soaked up the strong sun. Unfortunately, even though all of the students on the trip put on sunscreen almost every one of us was sunburned at the end of the day. The hole in the ozone layer is in the southern hemisphere, which puts in over Australia. That is why the sun is so strong and that is why the country was the highest rate of skin cancer. The good news is that we all learned early on in our time here that if the sun is out the sunscreen has to go on and be reapplied frequently.

After the beach we did a little bit of the Bondi to Coogee walk. this is a ocean side pathway along the cliffs and heads of the coast. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the highlight of this walk was not the view of the ocean (above), but the Sandstone formations hidden from sight on the beach! Sydney, Bondi, and the Blue Mountains are all situated on a huge sandstone formation called the Hawkesbury Sandstone. The formation dates back the the Jurassic and it truly spectacular. The topography of the area was originally steep cliffs but they have been weathered by wave action and several sea level changes. This results in the fascinating rounded weather formations found along the trail (below). It was amazing to wander between these exquisite examples of the power of the ocean, and we all really enjoyed the walk. I was really happy to find that the things I learned about sandstone, weathering, and rock formations in my freshman geology course hadn't left me. However, I'm excited to learn more about the geology of Australia, both in and out of the classroom, during my time here.