Here is beautiful Bondi Beach. We woke up early on Sunday morning so that we could go out here and see the beach.
Chris and Sarah and real outdoor peeps and so they wanted to go running on this trail that goes along the coastline. It really was spectacular. And since Nathan and I weren't dressed for exercise, we walked the trail. This was supposed to be the big scene of the proposal, as Chris had pulled us aside the day before and told me to have my camera handy for when he was going to pop the question. So we were waiting all morning for it, but it ended up raining. A lot. So Chris had to nix the idea of proposing that morning and told us later that he would try it at Manly Beach instead. And even though it was raining, it was still really beautiful out there. Okay, enough talky, more pictures!
Here's a shot back to where we were when we first got there. This was after we had been walking along the trail for a while. It was so peaceful because it was early enough that there weren't that many people there yet. Really a cool experience to get to be there with Nathan and just enjoy each other's company without worrying that Eli is going to run out into the ocean any minute. :)
More pretty scenes of Bondi Beach. Interestingly enough, the little blue tarp thing that you can see on the rocks is someone's makeshift home. It was very strange, we walked by and could see lots of different tarps and pots (presumably to collect rainwater) and other various things. And the weird part is that it's on this enormous cliff that looked pretty precarious. But hey, if you're going to be homeless, it might as well be on the coast of the prettiest beach around, right?
Here I am, all wet and rained-on, trying to pretend I'm having the time of my life! :) The whole time I was worried that we wouldn't be there when Chris asked Sarah, in case it stopped raining enough for him to do it. But luckily it didn't and he didn't, so we were okay. :) I just really didn't want to miss the photo opportunity, to tell ya the truth!
Here you can see more of the trail where we walked. Okay, I guess it's not so much a trail as it is a path. But you get the idea.
Here's another of me pretending to be excited about being in the rain and trying not to freak out thinking that my camera's going to get ruined! I have to say, Nathan does take his fair share of good photos. :) I'm very proud of him!
After we ate breakfast at a cool little cafe by Bondi Beach, we went to do some more touring. Nathan and I found ourselves on this path that led to the Botanical Gardens (which we never actually saw) and I saw this amazing tree that I just had to photograph. I love this picture. We actually spent a long while just sitting there under the tree, enjoying the wonderful breeze that came our way. That was seriously one of my favorite moments of the trip, just sitting under a really cool tree, soaking up the peace and quiet. That's the moment I want to go back to when I'm up to my elbows in dishes and laundry. So that's another reason why I love this photo.
Another view of the Sydney Opera House. This one is from the ferry that we were on, taking us over to Manly Beach, the second beach we saw that day. This is the one where Chris actually proposed, which was cool. But more on that later. :)I really like this view of the Opera House. You get the shape of the roof at an interesting angle but you also get a lot of the great harbor as well. Did you know that the roof itself is not a solid white material, it's made up of millions of tiny ceramic tiles? I had no idea until I saw it in person. And the tiles are not all white, they have a pattern of white and off-white so that when the sun is shining directly on the roof it doesn't blind people. :) I'm glad they thought of that.
And here's the sign that welcomed us to the Manly Wharf. If you know Nathan at all, then you know that our afternoon was filled with 'manly' jokes. Seriously, left and right, everywhere I turned, he was joking about the 'manliness' and how I wasn't 'manly' enough to be there. Funny up to a point. :) But I just couldn't resist snapping a shot of this Manly Wharf.
Ah, what do you know, it's the manly man himself! :) I actually really like this picture of him, and not just because I took it and I like to admire my own work. (hahaha, just kidding) I like how he's actually smiling in this photo! Sometimes it's hard to get him to do a real smile and not the cheestastic one he usually does. But this one turned out great.
And here's the happy couple at dinner, later that night. (Their engagement pics will be in another post.) We ate at this place called Ribs and Rumps, which was pretty good. I ordered the wrong thing, but everyone else had good ribs and Nathan had a great steak. The food all came out on wooden planks, which was kinda fun. :) I know, little pleasures make me happy.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you the most terrifying part of the day. So we walked around Manly Beach after Chris had proposed and we ended up on this path that went all the way around the coast, kind of similar to the one at Bondi Beach. So we're going through this forested part of the path and all of a sudden Chris is like, "Oh my gosh, look up!" So I look up, and this is what I see above my head. I seriously almost flipped out and ran away. There are spiders like this everywhere in the trees where we went. And not just on this trail, I mean everywhere. At the zoo where we went they were all over the place. And spiders really do freak me out, I hate the thought of having something crawling on me. Nathan can attest that I have been worried more than once about swallowing spiders in my sleep. I must just be gullible when it comes to creepy crawly things. So anyways, I had to take a picture because there were like twelve spiders in this one web, and it was right above my head. Not cool, man, not cool.
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