Enjoy Coogee – it’s the real thing

The last stop on my east coast odyssey was, of course, Sydney. I cruised into Coogee on a Saturday afternoon…and I didn’t leave the neighborhood for about five days. I guess I just needed to sit down and rest someplace after two weeks of being on the road. My inability to move from Coogee turned my two-week spring break into a three-week vacation. I figured I wouldn’t have done any schoolwork in Melbourne anyway. So I followed a strict regime: sleeping in, puttering around the house, beaching in the afternoon and then socializing in the evening.

The neighbourhood of Coogee is mostly quiet residential streets with a few bustling main boulevards. Coogee Bay Road has everything you could want: lots of great restaurants, groceries stores and bottle shops, as well as the requisite beachwear stores. The road runs down a hill and finishes gloriously at the beach. Eva, Rachel and Noah all live within a five-block radius of each other in Coogee so I beat a well-worn path between their doors. Noah hosted a dinner party for the Fraser Island group and we dined on his excellent chili con carne while enjoying a slideshow of our photos from the trip. In addition to this, Noah spent most of the week as I did – I would come upon him napping on the beach or working on his tan.

I spent much of the week in the company of Nathan, Eva’s roommate and your stereotypical Australian male: he is a firefighter by profession, a volunteer lifeguard and a sports-mad jock. He would always be scooting out for a quick game of footy or a run around the neighborhood. The Rugby League Grand Final was on one day and Nathan invited me to the neighbor’s footy party. It was the Aussie equivalent of the Super Bowl or the Grey Cup: friends gathered around the television with copious amounts of beer and fabulous munchies. After Manly, a suburb of Sydney, killed the Melbourne team 40-0, our host Glen fired up the barbie and we had an epic feast. I felt lucky to get this glimpse into Aussie culture.

I also enjoyed the opportunity to nest a little at Eva’s place. While I have enjoyed my lack of domestic responsibilities in Melbourne, I do sometimes miss getting cozy at home with cooking and cleaning. Yes, I realize that that sounds kind of pathetic – just blame my Ukrainian heritage! The urge to clean is almost as strong as the urge to shop. And once you start, you just can’t stop. So Eva declared me the best houseguest ever after I washed the dishes, swept the floor, did four loads of her laundry and cooked everyone a lovely supper: chickpea curry wraps, roast chicken and red cabbage coleslaw with tomatoes and fresh mozarella.

It was Rachel’s birthday on Thursday and we celebrated Sydney-style by buying a bottle of pink bubbly at the Coogee Bay Hotel and proceeding to the beach to drink it in our bikinis. Rachel said that it was her most memorable birthday yet. Usually, she spends it eating pumpkin pie or driving across Southern Ontario for the family Thanksgiving party. I was becoming a serious beach bum and was thrilled to help get her birthday started properly. After some disco naps, we all got dolled up and went to a Mexican restaurant in Darlinghurst followed by salsa dancing in King’s Wharf of Darling Harbour. Yes, that was the only time that I left Coogee during my visit.

Many Melbournites hate Sydney, just as Montrealers hate Toronto. I’ve always enjoyed my visits to Toronto because I stay with family or friends and live like a local. I must say that I love Sydney, perhaps because of my neighborhood experience just hanging around Coogee. One shop on the Coogee Bay Road has a tee-shirt with what looks like the Coca-cola logo on it…except it says Enjoy Coogee – it’s the real thing. And there ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.