When M, her boys and I took a walk after our little stint at Bondi FM Cafe we walked all the way up to Notts Avenue at Bondi Beach. For some this is where you go upstairs to Icebergs, the bar and restaurant or those eager for a swim can go downstairs to the Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool. Someone had once told me that membership here cost a mint and so being a very incompetent swimmer, I never thought much more about it. Until that day when we go downstairs and have a stickybeak. For just a few dollars you can bathe and play in the famous Icebergs pool along with other Bondi bodies. We make a plan to go back that coming weekend now that we finally have some clement weather.
Somehow we manage upon a miracle park – one on Nott Avenue just outside the entrance and we walk in and pay for entry to the pool ($13 for a family 2 adults and up to 3 kids, $5 adults, $3 seniors and children). There’s so much to see here, from the two pools, one for laps and one for frolicking and then there’s the human scenery. Bronzed gods and goddesses with some refreshingly normal looking people all in a colourful variety of bikinis (and make no mistake, it’s all about the bikini here, no matter what end of the size scale you may sit on). There is a gymnasium, sauna and massage section which appears to be busy.
The water is beautiful and blue and across the rocks is the ocean where surfers paddle in the hopes of catching a big wave and the safety helicopters fly overhead every once in a while trying to spot sharks. And then there’s the food at The Crabbe Hole, the little kiosk which could have served overpriced fare but doesn’t. It’s not fancy, a it’s a tiny (crabbe) hole in the wall but they’re trying hard and starting with good quality suppliers like Sonoma bread, The Little Marionette Coffee, Penelope Sach Herbal Teas, Zumbo Banana Bread and Pat & Stick’s Ice Cream.
This Sunday afternoon M and I take a seat at the kiosk seating which is the only part really under cover and we order some lunch while the boys and Mr NQN hit the water. I start with the Chai. There’s a mix of light meals including sandwiches, bread topped with agave nectar and ricotta, protein shakes and prebottled Emma & Tom juices. Byron Bay bliss balls, muesli cookies etc round out the small but reasonably well priced menu. The staff are friendly and easygoing and in between serving, some come back after having a dip in the pool.
Calmer Sutra Honey Soaked Chai $4.50
The chai smells like honey and cinnamon but tastes a bit watery. M tries it and says that it tastes like a packet one. I’m a bit underwhelmed by it as the taste doesn’t quite match the ambrosial aroma.
Large Flat White Coffee $4.50
PLT Toasted Sandwich: Pancetta, rocket and tomato $8
The PLT is a twist on the BLT aka bacon, lettuce and tomato. In the toasted sandwich, there’s crispy fried pancetta, semi dried tomatoes and rocket as well as mayonnaise. I do like a good BLT and I like a PLT even better I’ve decided as the sun dried tomatoes and rocket provide more flavour than the regular BLT ingredients of plain tomato and lettuce.
Carrot Cake $5
There’s no Banana Bread so they offer me a slice of carrot cake. “Is it homemade?” I ask and they tell us that it’s made by a home cook who supplies them with baked goods. “Excellent, I’ll take it instead then”. The cake slice isn’t one of those giant gargantuan portions, iced in the centre and towering. It’s a more modest, home baked looking cake. It’s lovely and moist throughout almost like a date pudding but perhaps missing some of the key aromatics in carrot cake like cinnamon and nutmeg. Still the texture is undeniably moreish.
Emma & Tom’s Juice $3.50
Despite the rather grim appearance, the juice is thick and delicious with apple, banana, passionfruit, plum and lemon as well as spirulina and other green but usually rather gruesome tasting things being (thankfully) masked by the fruit.
Muesli Cookie $4
S and In need to fill up their tummies with something healthy and filling so they each get a Muesli Cookie. I have a distinct memory of muesli cookies - they were horribly dry and could be used as a small weapon in cases of emergency. These are anything but and are filled with generous amounts of coconut and dried fruit to give it moisture and it’s a heavy stomach filler for the boys after swimming for a few hours.
Pat & Stick’s Chocolate Lace Ice Cream Sandwich $5
I do love Pat & Stick’s Lace Ice Cream Sandwiches as I adore brandy snaps and similar buttery crunchy biscuits. This is all about ratios. The thinnest holiest biscuit on the outside, perfectly crisp so that you know that it’s there yet thin enough to yield easily when biting into it so that the Belgian chocolate ice cream filling doesn’t splay out to the sides. And yes this is the kind of thing that we talk about when eating these ice cream sandwiches 
The boys both young and adult are starting to get restless, the sun shifts west so many sunbathers leave with the sun. The umbrellas go down and we bid goodbye to the billion dollar view.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer swimming in the ocean or in a pool and are you a bikini/one piece or boardies/budgie smugglers kind of person?
The Crabbe Hole
Bondi Icebergs
1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach NSW
Tel: +61 (0) 403 074 447
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41 Comments | Add your own
Um Lorraine, you’re making me jealous. It’s cold, grey and rainy in nyc right now (and I have a cold!) and your faboo pool shots are making me think about moving to Miami or something.
I prefer the ocean to a pool anyday but i’m more of a laying out in my fab bikini roasting for hours and only dipping my toes in the water kinda girl than a “swimmer.”
That is very, very cool. I didn’t know it was there.
I used to be at that gym every single morning for years. It’s a great view to work out near.
I don’t like chlorine pools… I like oceans all the way, or ocean pools.
We are going to Icebergs Dining Room on Tuesday night. I have a gift voucher to use… bliss. xx
I wonder if any of your overseas readers will start using the term budgie smugglers. It’s better than Speedo in the singular! And did I spy a topless sunbather? I avoid swimming. I don’t like the sand, the salt or getting dumped in the ocean and while pools are better I’d really rather cut out the middle man and go straight for the cool shower. Therefore I don’t have any swimmers. Having had three enormous babies, it would definitely have to be a one piece for me.
Pretty! Everything looks great =D.
I don’t know if I’ve every really swam in the ocean, maybe once. But lakes are always good =D. Pools too. I don’t really have a preference.
I’d go with a bikini though =D.
Well I never thought I would see a topless person on NQN!!! I am definitely a one-piece kinda gal. Those ice-cream sandwiches look beautiful
Love the Icebergs! Great view on a sunny day, and lovely food. Haven’t been to the Crabbe Hole but it looks like a nice place for brekkie or lunch.
What beautiful weather!!! What a lovely day out.
What stunning views – I wanna be there right now! I also covet a Pat and Stick’s icecream sandwich – I saw an article on them yonks ago, but have yet to try them.
Personally, I am an ocean wader rather than swimmer, and although I own a bikini, I mostly wear a one piece.
Looks gorgeous… notice the topless sunbather? bahaha!!
This is a must do when I come to Sydney, so pretty!
wow i’ve always walked past this place (i’ve done the coogee to bondi walk and back many times) but i only noticed a small pool, maybe the other pool is hidden from the main walk way??
pity about the chai (i’m always hesitant at trying the chai’s out there but i think well it MIGHT taste nice and i’ll never know if i never ever try) but the carrot cake looks promising
I’m an ocean girl but would love to go To Bondi Icebergs and bake in the ‘billion dollar view’ with a PLT.
I love the tankini’s from Viva Swim. You can order them as seperates so I can get the nice big ass covering boy shorts, and a cute halter neck top that covers and supports the wobbly bits.
http://www.vivaswim.com/
Was a great day; nice story
You are dead right about the Musli cookies. Also they DID keep them full until the BBQ in North Bondi was ready.
It is so funny to be sitting here in my wool socks looking at sunbathers on your side of the world.
Great post, I always love your food pics!!
Yep this is another post making me homesick the weather looks amazing – hard to imagine from London at the moment
Definitely an ocean girl, have been since my teenage years when I would go to the beach, rain, hail or shine. Don’t get much of a chance to go now as life is too busy but when I do and immerse myself in the fresh, salty ocean I have a smile from ear to ear. It’s so invigorating!!
Oh poor you! How can you stand it? Looks fabulous.. Icecream sandwich craving now.. harrumph! xx
Although I know for a fact that more people are killed by falling Coke Vending Machines than Sharks each year (true) – I have an irrational fear of sharks and refuse to go in the open water… so it’s the pool for me.
Add to the fact that this body hasn’t seen a gym for a good year… it’s Boardies all the way! (Although hubby does threaten me that one day he is going to buy a pair of white budgie smugglers just to dance around me like Borat to humiliate me).
Oooh, I’ve wanted to try those ice cream sandwiches for such a long time! Thanks for the beautiful photos of the summer weather, even if they do make me a bit homesick.
To be honest, I don’t really like water… I can’t remember the last time I went swimming! (I guess about eight years ago, on a high school coast trip!) Much prefer to go for a walk – which means successfully avoiding ever having to shop for swimmers
Billion dollar views! I AGREE!!!!!
Hahaha, I noticed the topless bather too o.O The weather looked perfect on the day you visited.
mmm i love pat & stick icecreams! they sell them at the fishies and i always get one at the open air cinema… which is where i’m headed tonight!
yumm, i can’t wait.
The food looks deliciously healthy – and then you put in the shot of that choc-lace ice cream sandwich! Virtuous viands + decadent dessert + summery venue = WIN!
The view looks amazing! I’ve walked past Bondi Icebergs heaps of times but haven’t been inside to check it out. The prices seem quite reasonable for both pool entry and food given it’s location.
What amazing views – would love to try Pat & Stick’s Lace Ice Cream Sandwiches. By the way, could you post more pictures of the topless sunbather? jk!
The food looks damn awesome, but the hang out… reminds me of my home in California.. West Hollywood… GOSH I miss hang outs like this….
I have to have a one piece to cover my scars from my c-sections. I like pools, and the ocean. But here in FL(US State abbreviation) we have an almost endless coastline with the Atlantic ocean on the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast and the panhandle. On a clear day at the beach we can see the New Sunshine Skyway Bridge(built to replace one hit by a tanker ship and people died going off the broken span) The bridge spans the distance between islands on the coast and the mainland.
A compromise – I love an ocean pool like the one at bronte, narrabeen or wylies baths in coogee. Living where I live though it’s pool or river (sigh).
Why, oh why when booking my oz flights yesterday did i skip Sydney?? I’v seen pics of Bondi before but this has been the only ones ever to make me want to go to Sydney in any shape or form! In regards to swimware I’m about practicality. Cute Adidas one piece for doing laps at the pool, bikini for the beach, and when in Europe topless for sunbathing (not so keen on the tan lines!). I’m a salty ocean lover, but am happy to retire to a fresh or salt water pool to avoid the gritty sandy problem. Are those icecream sandwiches available all through Australia, or just in Syd?
Oh honey, you’re killing me with those gorgeous pictures! That blue! Ooooph!
We tried getting into Icebergs one day, but unfortunately Paris Hilton booked the whole place out and was celebrating her birthday there. Boo! So selfish those billionaires.
Oh, and I’m defo a boardies man.
Bondi can be so beautiful when you’re not on the beach strip competing with the bikinied godlings! My favourite Pat & Stick’s has to be the caramel pecan!
Gosh. I wish I was in Syd now. Much better I reckon. It is so wet and cold here. I even wore my gloves this morning.
I regularly read your blog and I was excited when I saw your picture in this months cleo! keep up the good work
ooh I actually prefer the pool – probably because I am not that confident in the water!
Love Bondi Icebergs – it has been years since I have been there though….you must have been excited to get a rockstar carpark!
I am actually in Sydney at the moment and have to get used to the crowds!!!
Wanted to go to the beach today but there is a school of hammerheads menacing the area! Eek! I don’t enjoy the pool so much so instead I’m sweltering at home. Oh and as impractical as they can be, I’m a bikini girl.
i’m sorry, carrot cake without cinnamon is simply wrong and i can’t allow it. of all the things to leave out, my goodness.
How you made me laugh with the budgie smuggler visual!! It’s a tad upsetting, as visuals go–tiny visual, though it is
— but absolutely hilarious!
What wouldn’t I give for some of that sun over here….
Your pics are really gorgeous, that crystal clear water has me longing for the ocean (and warm weather)!
I would love to get my hands on one of those yummy looking chocolate lace ice cream sandwiches!
Hi La Pastry Chef -Aww no! Sorry to hear that!
Or move to Australia! 
Hehe I think the girls here would totally agree with you!
Hi fat mum slim-I know, it’s kind of at the bottom of the stairs. You’d barely know it was there! Oh have a fabulous time! I want to hear all about it!
Hi Amy-Haha it’s such a funny term isn’t it! Ahh eagle eyed you are! I’m not much of a swimmer eitherI admit!
Hi Lauren-Ahh I guess we have a lot of beaches here compared to some cities. Me too, I love bikinis!
Hi sandra-Haha I only saw it when I was editing the photos. You guys are so eagle eyed!
Hi joey-We were so lucky with the weather. There’s nothing worse than visiting on a grey day!
Hi Anita-Yes we were very fortunate that day! We had had terrible weather the weeks before it!
Hi Cakelaw-Oh they are really good. The lace ones are my downfall and I don’t share them
I suppose if a big wave comes, they’re much more practical!
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-Haha you guys are so good!
Yes you definitely should!
Hi Betty-I think the lap pool is visible but the wading one isn’t perhaps. Yes I was so sad about the chai as it smelt gorgeously honeyed!
Hi Gastronomy Gal-Great idea!
Hi Aussie Foodie-Ahh that’s a great idea! I think a lot of people would love that!
Hi Big M-Ahh good to hear that the boys were full!
Hi BethieofVA-Haha it’s so funny isn’t it! I read about stews and soups and snow and it’s sunny here! Thankyou!
Hi Gourmet Chick-Oh sorry to make you home sick!
Perhaps something to look forward to when you come home?
Hi matilda-Ahh you’re like Mr NQN, a beach baby! He thinks the same!
Hi Liss-It’s tough I tell ya!
They’re SO good! xxx
Hi Joy -I’m so glad that you said that. I’m terrified of them too! I know a shark would go straight for me too!
LOL I should reveal that Mr NQN has a Borat mankini and there’s nothing more amusing or embarrassing than that!
Hi Hannah-May I suggest the lace one if you do? I love that one. I was marvelling about the ratios for a long time! I hear you about the water!
Hi Trisha-Hehe! I wish I lived there!
Hi BuBbles-Haha I’m so impressed by your eyesight! It was amazingly good
Hi A Girl Called E-Oh have fun! I love the open air cinema!
Hi Midge-Haha we had to have a bit of balance
Hi Jacq-Thanks! It was breathtaking!
Yes I thought that it was incredibly reasonable considering how much it is upstairs 
Hi foodwink-Haha you are too funny! I
Hi so Spiffy-Oh I bet it does! Both are famous for their lovely beaches
Hi Julia-Sounds beautiful! You’re very lucky to have that kind of view
Hi jetlagmama-Ahh the best of both worlds huh?
I do enjoy an inflatable pool at times!
Hi Nomes-Oh no you skipped Sydney? What a shame! Hehe you sound like you’d be right at home at Bondi Beach! I checked out the website and it looks like they’re available in Sydney and NSW only at this stage.
Hi Mowie-Hehe it’s gorgeous isn’t it! OH no really! How selfish! I mean doesn’t she want more people to help her celebrate?
Hi Moya-I know! It was crowded that day so we felt like we were in relative luxury not having to jostle for towel space!
I must try that next!
Hi penny-Oh no really? Glove weather? That’s crazy considering the heat you had the week before!
Hi Chelsea-Thankyou so much! That’s so sweet of you to say
Hi Lisa-Yes I’m so not confident swimming! We were! It was like a sign that we should visit
Ahh it’s busy isn’t it!
Hi Conor-Oooh Eeek! Don’t do it! That’s frightening!
Hi grace-Haha I knew you’d object to that!
Hi MaryPoppinsinHeels-I thought I should introduce some Australian lingo to everyone
Hi Su-yin-Aww you should head for our shores!
Hi Faith-Thankyou so much!
I’d love another one about now too I think 
Okay, I shall endeavour to choose the lace one if I ever find them! I trust you utterly
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