Yummy Mummies

Bronte is an expensive suburb to buy in to. A modest house will cost a million dollars. Nevertheless, there are lots of young families in the area - often well-paid professional couples. The women in these partnerships are often referred to, rather disparigingly, as "Yummy Mummies" - young, sexually attractive, hip, and stylish. Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angelina Jolie and Kate Beckinsale are supposedly archetypal yummies. The opposite of a yummy mummy is a slummy mummy.

Whether they're yummy or not, there's certainly a lot of Mummys around Bronte, as this line of strollers attests.

(This is an older photo that has been in 'the vault' since a warmer time of the year; you may have noticed a bit of a fall-off in the blog lately - due to a very busy time at work, mostly, getting home exhausted and not having as much time to attend to bloggy matters! Apologies!)

Swim Between The Flags At Bronte

Bronte is renowned for dangerous currents and rips. The designated swimming area on the beach is quite small.

This post is a bit of a cheaty fudge. Originally I posted the photo now showing for March 1 on Sat 28th, but I've swapped them around, cos I forgot March 1 was CDP Theme Day - Glass.

Bronte 13 - Blue Gropers

In 1998 the Eastern Blue Groper was made the fish emblem of New South Wales. It is well known on waters around Sydney. They are protected from spear fishing. It has been protected since 1969 because of depletion. (Actually, they're not gropers at all, but wrasse)

Blue Gropers will swim right up to divers.

All Blue Gropers start life as females and some later change into males. So a particular blue groper could breed as a female one year and then the next year turn into a male! Little is known about the factors which trigger this sex change however it is believed that they appear to change sex when they reach a certain size and age, or if the local male is removed from the reef the next biggest female will change to a male. It is also believed that if there is an increase in the female population a female may turn into a male if the threshold between the number of males and females is exceeded.

This ends the series on Bronte, at least for now. Tomorrow we are heading south aloong the coast to the next beach, Clovelly. Cloey has a very different vibe to Bronte, but is interesing in a range of different ways. So come along while it's still hot and summery for this Sydney eastern suburbs beaches exploration!

To read more, including historical notes, on the Bronte Baths and Bogey Hole, have a look at my Swimming Blog.

Bronte 12 - Exploring rock pools

Bronte 11 - Wanda

Wanda is from the kiosk at the Surf Life Saving Club. She told me she was bored so decided to draw pictures of the fruit and vegetable types of the juices on offer. Unfortunately she didn't have a yellow marker for the pineapple picture!

Bronte 10 - Hugo

Meet Hugo, who works for Waverley Council, which maintains the beach and wonderful facilities (like the free stainless steel barbecues) in the extensive park behind the beach. He told me that every day he has to paint over fresh graffiti in the picnic shelters and toilets.

Yesterday, a young woman, aged 18, was convicted of writing her name (tag) on a cafe wall in Sydney with a black texta (felt tipped pen). The cafe says it was $200 worth of damage. For this forst offence, she was sentenced by the magistrate to 3 months jail!

Harsh or justified? That's the debate that's been raging today. Does sending a young woman to jail (at a cost of $30-40 000) serve any purpose? Does singling out one person ever have any deterrent effect on others? (It never did when I was a kid at school! And so far capital punishment or long jail terms haven't seem to have stopped murders occurring)

Meanwhile, a young male graffitist was placed on a good behaviour bond and wished well in his artistic future "as long as it is displayed in public galleries, not on walls." Read more here.

Bronte 9 - The Kiss

Love on a summer's morning.

Bronte 8 - Reading

Did you know that Australia has the highest melanoma rate in the world? Not a world record to be at all excited about. According to the Cancer Council the incidence of melanoma in Australia and is around four times higher than in Canada, the UK and the US. However, mortality rates for melanoma in Australia are quite low compared to other countries.

I read once that its incidence is really on the rise in countries in Northern Europe, now that its fair-skinned population gets sunburned more often on Mediterranean holidays. You can always tell the British and Irish backpackers on Sydney beaches - they're the ones out in the blazing sun in the middle of the day, and often beetroot red!

The swimmers on this day were out and about early - this photo was taken about 9:20am. I can't speak for the others, but i was in the shade then inside by 10.30!

Bronte 7 - The Curve

Bronte Pool - 23 Jan 2009

Bronte 6 - The crossword

What a great place to sit and contemplate the crossword, after a dip. Friday's cryptic x-word in the Sydney Morning Herald is notoriously difficult!

Bronte 5 - Outside the Baths

Not everyone wants to swim in the confines of the baths. There is a ladder enabling access to the ocean from the baths. I'm standing on the edge of the baths looking towards Bronte Beach. Just beyond where the woman is swimming, where you can see a cluster of people in the water, is a "ring of rocks" natural pool called a "bogey hole". The word bogey apparently comes from a local Aboriginal word meaning "to bathe".

Today I'm still in Melbourne at the Australian Open (see previous posts - I won a trip). As I write this on Sunday night, it's predicted to be 35 in Melbourne, and the thought of swimming in the ocean in Sydney will have to suffice to keep me cool!

Bronte 4 - The Leap

This little fella, cute as all get out, took the great leap of faith, into the safe hands of his dad. But not before seeking a little reassurance about where to go.


Today I'm in Melbourne enjoying the Austalian Open tennis (see yesterday's post - I won a trip and tickets!).

Bronte 3 - Hanging on

The turning board was added to the baths after its construction to enable races to be held. It divides the lap swimming area from that used by young children, and provides a convenient resting spot.

Today was much more pleasant in Sydney - max 26.

Tomorrow mornign my son and I are off to Melbourne to see some of the action in the Australian (tennis) Open. I won a competition which provides us with business class airfares, a night's accommodation at the Grand Hyatt, a whole heap of tennis gear and tickets to the Rod Laver Arena.

I'm presetting the blog to publish for the next couple of days (not taking laptop) and hope to get some good tennis pics!

Bronte 2 - The stairs

One way in to the pool at Bronte is down these steep stairs. The pool has lane markings for races; it was pretty frantic when I was there and people were all over the place! I had to wait for some time to get a snap with no people in shot. I was pleased with some of the others, but wanted a contrast, and this one with the simplicity of the white contrasting with the greeny blue water pleased me.

Today it reached 41 degrees in Sydney (that's 105.8 fahrenheit), having not dipped below 27 overnight. At 2am I decamped to a chair in the backyard for a while.

My son and his friends opted to go to a public pool today - the large water slides were a great attraction. Being old enough to look after themselves now, I dropped them and went to explore another rock pool - this time at beach further south - Maroubra. I'll bring some photos from there after the Bronte series.

Hot In The City. Bronte baths - Skywatch Friday

Photos taken 9:33 am today. Air temp 30.4 degrees celsius. Sea temp approx 22 deg.

As I mentioned yesterday, it's hot in Sydney at the moment. At 7am it was 26 degrees. So this morning I took myself off to the eastern suburb of Bronte for a swim in Bronte Baths. Mind you, it was an expensive excursion. There is very limited parking anywhere near the beach - maximum one hour. I overstayed by 15 minutes and got pinged $81 for the privilege. That's the problem with those automatic machines - they send a message to the parking inspector as soon as they expire!

The skies are uninterrupted blue, at least until the afternoon, when, typically, it gets cloudy, and there might be a thunderstorm, as there has been the last couple of days.

I'm going to stick around Bronte for the next few bloggy days at least, and there'll be even more pics on my Swimming blog when I get them uploaded.

It' magical swimming in the cool sea (about 22 deg?) looking at the sandstone overhang above.

Bronte Baths were opened in 1887. In late 1887, after complaints to Council about bathing during prohibited hours, Council adopted regulations for the conduct of the Bondi and Bronte Baths. The Bronte Baths 1887 Regulations stated 'gentlemen could bathe between daylight and 10am and from 4pm 'till dark each day. Ladies were welcomed from 10am to 4pm daily' except on Sundays and Public Holidays, when the baths were reserved exclusively for men 'from daylight to dark' and that 'each person using the baths shall wear an appropriate bathing dress'. Baths entry cost fourpence for adult and tuppence for children. Monthly tickets were available and towels could be hired.

In 2003 Waverley Council refused permission for QANTAS to film an advertisement in its I Still Call Australia Home campaign at the Bronte Pool. Council felt the area, which already attracted five million visitors a year, did not need the international publicity, nor an enforced three-day closure of the pool at the busiest time of the year.

Information from NSW Ocean baths website