Christmas Day at Watsons Bay (Gibsons Beach, Wharf Beach, Wharf Beach South, Camp Cove, Lady Bay Beach)

Watsons Bay

The sun peers down through a cloudless sky. The cityscape peeks through distant heads. On they watch as I delicately lower myself off the pontoon to immerse myself in the harbour baths, all save an outreached arm beer in hand. At 27 degrees, it’s the first pleasant day in a week or so and from recent memory the first non-gloomy Christmas. I raise my bottle in salute to the holiday miracle.

An Australian Christmas - prawns, barbeques, sunburnt backs, and surfing Santas - not spent at the beach it just doesn’t feel right.

This year I’m at my auntie’s for lunch on her newly furbished deck right on Gibson’s Beach by Watsons Bay. A more secluded spot just north of the Bondi swarm, families laze around on the white sands and feast on picnics in the shady reserve. 

Sea, land, and air, our own feast has all the major terrains covered: mustard-sauced salmon, honey-glazed ham, and roast Turkey. Vegetarian options too. I guzzle down some beetroot and feta salad mixed with barley couscous, stuff myself with Turkey stuffing, and follow with a plate of the crowd-favourite mashed potatoes (my addition to the buffet).

The hours stretch on and my belly stretches over my feet. I sink further and further into the back of my chair into a distant reality, only eventually drawn back to the table from a whiff of Pavlova paired with Christmas pudding. Call me un-Australian but I can’t stand the stuff. Knowing it’ll be forced on me I need to get out.

Gibson's Beach

So I find some inner strength and quietly slip away. First another quick splash in Gibson’s Beach and a couple more by the ferry wharf in the Watson’s Bay shore and I’m off to see what else awaits. Along Marine Parade past the waterfront restaurants and into the residential backstreets, I follow the trail of bathers dripping from recent swims to Camp Cove sheltered away on the backyards of houses.  Yellows gradually blend to green to blue: sun-bleached sands, gentle shores, and a deep harbour centre.

Camp Cove

My auntie later begs me to leave it out of the blog not to spoil her hidden gem.  Yet it’s already been discovered by the Christmas crowds. Sands are bathed on by European backpackers and photos are snapped by Asian tourists on the paths above.  All the while Sydneysiders remind themselves how lucky they are with frequent refreshing dips. A site like this it’s just a matter of time before someone’s let the word out. 

Into the water and I spot Obelisk Beach hiding across the harbour. I wonder whether I’d have the stamina to swim on over but a few strokes in and an aching belly is suggesting otherwise.  Full of food if I don’t sink first it’s only a matter of time before the sharks sniff me out for their own Christmas feast. 

So I escape their prowl back to shore where I wander over to the South Head Trail for views back on the bay and to the north to Dobroyd Head and Manly out in the distance. A short stroll and I’m at Lady Bay Beach with a mixture of nudes and clothes. Concrete stairs built into the rocks shade afternoon nappers. I join them between two resting boulders in and out of a sleepy daze.

Lady Bay Beach

The sun has made some decent progress on its trip across the sky. I make my way back for leftovers.

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