Bondi Beach and Orientation

On Sunday, a few of us from my program took the bus out to Bondi Beach, one of the most iconic beaches in Sydney. We got lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach and then headed down to enjoy the sun and waves.

In Australia, they put flags up to denote the very narrow area of beach in which it is safe to swim. Surfers are allowed other places, but normal beachgoers such as myself are urged to swim "between the flags". This beach was beautiful and water felt great!

This is not between the flags, but I'm not swimming so it's okay

Don't mind me, quick model hair flip

Now here is a more accurate representation of the swimming experience...

Honestly, the scariest thing about being in the water was not the thought of underwater creatures, rip currents, or giant waves - it was the danger of being body slammed by another person who wasn't paying attention when a wave was coming in. People were very close together and there were a lot of unattended children that I narrowly avoided stepping on. The life guards at this beach (and many beaches in Sydney I assume) are very highly trained and always actively doing something. They drive around on little golf-cart-like vehicles with giant speakers so that they can give direct instructions to specific parts of the beach. For example, "PLEASE SWIM BETWEEN THE FLAGS. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO BE OUTSIDE OF THE FLAGS. IF YOU ARE IN FRONT OF ME PLEASE GET OUT OF THE WATER." Me personally, I was never breaking the rules.

Also, there is a TV show that follows the life guards at this beach. You can give it a watch if you're curious:

They also had a helicopter constantly circling the beach and people out in kayaks beyond the breaking waves and I have been told that is the shark patrol. If they see a shark, an alarm would immediately go off so everyone can get out of the water. A little freaky, but at least they have a procedure for that kind of thing.

Monday morning was orientation for the University of Sydney! The campus is absolutely beautiful. It honestly looks like a castle.

We attended a welcome ceremony in the Great Hall, which included an official Welcome to Country and traditional dance by members of the Aboriginal community in this area of Sydney. Also - the Super Bowl was happening while we were in Orientation, but not to worry, we were given official announcements of score updates throughout. And in the afternoon, they put the end of the game on the screens in a lecture hall. I didn't actually watch, but I did get a picture of the sweet setup.

This was a dance about seagulls

Great Hall Super Bowl !!

We also got the chance to see the setup of the club fair that would be happening in the following days and I spotted this booth that was calling my name:

At the end of the day, we grabbed dinner with some new friends from orientation at Webster's Bar, which had a delightful rooftop dining area!