Tag Archives: post swim coffee

Ramsgate Baths – Ramsgate Beach, NSW 2217

Named after the Ramsgate in Kent, also a seaside resort. My experience in the pool The air temperature may have been up at 22C and the morning sun still warming the back of my neck as I undressed on the sand at Ramsgate Baths, but the water has got a whole lot cooler in the last few weeks. The guy who dipped in head first next to me and pushed off along the side of the shark net had a heavy duty swimming cap on, and this reminded me of the advice I received almost a year ago when I Read more [...]

Brighton Baths – Brighton-le-Sands, NSW 2216

Named after the UK Brighton beach maybe, but why le Sands? Anyone know? My experience in the pool They call Brighton-Le-Sands 'Little Greece'. I didn't know this when I arrived for my swim at Brighton Baths but virtually all the old guys lounging around the beach seemed to be speaking a language that sounded a lot like Greek (not that I'm a Greek speaker myself), but since I'd passed Greek restaurants, Greek lawyers, Greek travel places, I kind of guessed. The Brighton Baths Athletic Read more [...]

Fairlight Rock Pool – Fairlight, NSW 2094

Named after a village in Sussex near Hastings My experience in the pool Is it an ocean pool or should I call them harbour baths? Fairlight Rock Pool could be called either. There's no surf here; it's far too tucked away, protected from the ocean by Manly and the other stony outcrop that houses Balgowlah. But if they took away the pool wall at the eastern end and you just kept swimming, you'd end up out in the middle of the Tasman Sea heading towards New Zealand. It certainly has more Read more [...]

Avalon Rock Pool – Avalon, NSW 2107

Named after the island in Celtic mythology My experience in the pool I liked Avalon Rock Pool as soon as I saw it. It was not just its unorthodox shape – a kind of parallelogram jutting out towards the surf – but also its clear water which looked temptingly fresh and deep as I walked along the pool edge taking my shots for the blog. It’s only about 22m long, but when a pool is as beautiful as this, who cares about serious 50m lap swimming? Its depth does help with Avalon Pool; Read more [...]

Balmoral Baths – Balmoral, NSW 2088

Named after the Royal Estate in Scotland My experience in the pool Apparently Balmoral Beach was my family's favourite when we lived in Sydney's northern suburbs in 1967-8. When I got there on a warm Friday morning in March 2016, I have to confess I had no recollection of the place. A whole bunch of people were doing leisurely freestyle up the beach when I arrived, and I passed the time with a few of them. They seemed more interested in the fact that I now live in Kiama since we had Read more [...]

MacCallum Pool – Cremorne Point, NSW 2090

Named after Hugh MacCallum whose local work helped establish the pool in its current form in the 1930s My experience in the pool It was a damp, grey morning in February when I turned up at MacCallum Pool. At first there was nobody else there so I had the pool to myself, though I had taken the precaution of checking what time the coffee shop back at the wharf closed so I knew I only had half an hour or so in the water, if I was to get that cherished post swim coffee. This is a little Read more [...]

Mona Vale Rock Pool – NSW 2103

Some say Mona Vale is named after a place in Scotland, but where is Mona Vale in Scotland? My experience in the pool There were half a dozen lap swimmers already in the water when I turned up at Mona Vale at about 11am on a sunny February morning. And lots of grandparents were in the toddlers' paddling pool next door - with their toddlers, I should add... It was a warm morning without the searing heat of some days recently and no sign of thunderstorms for the first time in a while. Read more [...]

Bowral Swimming Centre – Bowral, NSW 2576

Don Bradman’s childhood home but he was 63 by the time this pool was opened My experience in the pool It was a cool, cloudy Sunday at the end of the summer holidays when we pitched up at Bowral’s lovely swimming centre. I couldn’t help remembering that in country South Australia, they wouldn’t even open an outdoor pool like this on a day when the air temperature is only 19C, but they’re a hardier lot in New South Wales. This is a lovely swimming complex, with a 50m Olympic Read more [...]

Malabar Rock Pool – Malabar, NSW 2036

Named after a ship that ran aground in 1931 My experience in the pool As you walk along the southern edge of Long Bay to get to Malabar Rock Pool you first pass signposts warning of snakes being seen in the area and then a ‘pool wildlife’ board with images of various marine life from tiddlers to stingrays via Port Jackson Sharks (don’t worry, these are not lethal and don’t get bigger than about 1.5m long, though thankfully there were none in the pool when I got in). Actually, Read more [...]

Dee Why Rock Pool – Dee Why, NSW 2099

When swimming in public first became legal, this area was all owned by the Salvation Army… My experience in the pool My first ever experience of an Australian beach was at Dee Why, back in 1967 – I was promptly sent flying by an incoming wave as I paddled along the water’s edge, expecting things to be like the North Sea back home in Yorkshire. This was the nearest beach to our home for that year but I only have that first memory still engraved in my brain all these years on… I Read more [...]