Top Five Things I’ll Miss About Sydney

June 17, 2013 By roopgill in Australia, Days of my Life, Personal, Travel Tags: Australia, beach, coogee, farewell, goodbye, journalism, journalist, reflection, student, student life, study abroad, sydney, travel 1 Comment

Yesterday, I bid adieu to Sydney, hopped on a plane and scooted over to Singapore. I was struggling to finish all my uni assignments until the last minute (that’s something I won’t miss), so unsurprisingly I didn’t get a chance to fully reflect upon my amazing Aussie experience until now.

I was so busy over the last four months exploring the East Coast, meeting the most amazing people, sun bathing, kangaroo-spotting (but in vain) and attempting to become a better journalist, that I may have skipped on actively counting my blessings, so here we go: the Top Five Things I’ll Miss About Sydney list (in no particular order).

Access to the beach

Not that I strongly believe in the Zodiac, but being a water sign must explain my affinity for wanting to wade in open waters despite being an average (read: comical) swimmer. [PS: Remember this?] While Canadian lakes will always be my first love, it was joyous having the beach at your doorstep. I lived at Coogee Beach, which in my very biased opinion is the best beach among the Eastern suburbs, but IF one ever gets bored of Coogee, then there are so many other beaches and bays to bathe in. Read about my favourite ones here. Continue reading →

Sydney’s best beaches

March 28, 2013 By roopgill in Australia, Photography, Travel Tags: Australia, beach, beaches, bondi, bronte, camp cove, coogee, manly, palm beach, photography, surfing, swimming, sydney, travel, watsons bay 2 Comments

While my friends in the Northern Hemisphere are probably rolling their eyes at the title of this post, I am going to go ahead and gloat that today marks one month anniversary in with Sydney. I thought it would be a short, summer fling, but this relationship is getting quite serious. And how could I not fall in love? Sunshine, beaches and buzzing cities are three of my favourite things, and Sydney offers it all.

Since winter is coming (PS: who is stoked for Game Of Thrones season 3?!), I made it a point to explore as many beaches as possible in my first month here. While there are many popular spots and hidden gems in the greater Sydney area that I am yet to discover, here are my favourite beaches so far:

1) Coogee Beach

Surprise! My neighbourhood beach is number one on my list. While I may be biased because the beach is a 5-minute walk from my apartment, it is the coolest kid on the Eastern suburbs. It’s bigger than Bronte, but not as busy as Bondi. You can snorkel on the North end, surf on a good day, play volleyball at one of the four available spots, picnic on the park, and swim in the playful waves.

Continue reading →

Exploring Coogee Beach

March 11, 2013 By roopgill in Australia, Days of my Life, Travel Tags: Australia, beach, bondi, coogee, coogee bondi walk, student, sunshine, sydney, travel 1 Comment

“Home” has become a very arbitrary concept for me. Last month my home was in Aarhus, now it’s in Sydney, and very soon I’ll be going home to India. Meanwhile, a case can be made that my real home is in Toronto. Exploring this dilemma is just a little bit less interesting than exploring my new neighbourhood of Coogee Beach a.k.a. my current home.

My friends (and now flatmates) scored us this awesome top-floor apartment overlooking the Coogee Beach and walking distance from the aforementioned beach, several trendy cafes and restaurants, cool bars and entertainment venues. Naturally, a cityscape explorer like myself was thrilled to have so many exciting options at my doorstep.

Over the last week, I have split my time between attending classes in the middle of the city, and enjoying the laid back lifestyle of the beach suburbs. Check out some photos of this cool blue, trendy neighbourhood that I am so happy to call my home.