An iconic beach

Being asked to organise an event for work is very often a pain.  It usually entails additional work with little to no recognition.

However, there can definitely be situations where the benefits outweigh the hard work.

For one thing, it means that you are able to control where it is you go and what it is you do.

More importantly, it means you get to arrange the allocation of rooms!

All things being equal, that meant that I got a lovely room with an ocean view.

The room itself was a bit older, but that wasn't a real concern to me.

In fact, I think I actually preferred it.  As I've said numerous times before, the bland ultra modern hotels seem  to lack soul and feeling.  Rather than make me feel at ease, the rooms they offer make me feel cold and alone.  I hardly see this as being a recipe for successfully providing comfort to patrons who are often traveling, by themselves and away from those they care about.

This room was a bit rougher than some of the other places I've been in lately.

The furniture was not perfectly matched.  It was a bit old fashioned.  The bathroom was tiled from floor to ceiling in a truly awful colour of off-white.

And yet I liked it.

I liked  the old wooden furniture that looked like it had been used.  I liked the couches that had clearly been sat in.  It actually felt like someone had been in the room at some point.

Of course, it also helped that the view from my balcony wasn't too bad.

Or rather, it was amazing.

This was the first time that I had the pleasure of staying in Bondi.  The weather was cool, so the beach front felt a bit sleepy.  There was a mood of a beach resort in winter, which I guess is what Bondi is during the cooler months.

It didn't stop me swimming.  Once I had a break from work, I rushed down to the beach and jumped into the water.  Looking north and then south up the long expanse of Bondi's sands, devoid of its usual crowds, it was peaceful.