Last post, I shared that this year I'm planning on pushing mysef to walk really bloody far. Well, this next series of posts is one long day in Southeast Sydney, where I attempt to cover my ten remaining suburbs of the region in a single day.

Maroubra

Maroubra is a surprisingly large beachside suburb in the city's southeast. I took the bus in today, arriving roughly at this street corner.

This was the perfect spot to begin trekking through residential Maroubra.

Upon first landing, I found a clearly wealthy place, boasting plenty of large and fancy houses with modern metal parked outside.

And across the road, a quite large local park,

named after a Harry Potter professor.

Hehe.

I continued on past the expensive real estate,

past this really cute house,

and the widest duplex I've ever seen,

through Maroubra's suburbia,

to reach the main road.

This led to Maroubra's town centre. When I looked at the map, I was expecting Maroubra CBD to be a quite interesting spot.

Instead, it's a handful of shops with the huge Anzac Parade running through the middle.

Even Anzac Parade is split into two here, with a car park plonked in the middle.

As a result, I didn't bother sticking around and kept moving on through.

Immediately finding more suburban Maroubra.

At first glance, this side of the shops appears to be a bit less flashy, with apartments,

modern art,

and smaller houses.

But no matter. After all, Maroubra's a beachside suburb and I was heading east.

I carried on past this suspiciously comfortable looking streetside furniture,

to see the suburb once again open up with larger and flashier homes.

I also found this gate belonging to a beer drinker.

Turning a corner, I began heading north,

soon reaching here, Quarry Reserve.

This led me through some pleasant walking paths,

with some aesthetically pleasing picnic tables,

and all tucked into a bit of a valley behind people's houses.

I suppose this is where the quarry bit of the name comes from.

As the park ended, I left this suburb and entered my next.

Ordinarily, this would be the end of this post. However, once I finished my next suburb, I ended up in Marouba again. So...

Maroubra Part 2

After completing a neighbouring suburb which you'll read about in my next post, I teleported to these stairs facing the water.

The stairs lead to some rocks at an angry bit of the sea.

Rather pretty though.

Thankfully, the rocks can also be followed as a way to bypass streetside Maroubra and take a walk parallel to the shore. A word of warning though. If you're planning your own Maroubra trip, this isn't the most accessible way to go, with the rocks under me being uneven, and in some places, mossy. I was wearing hiking boots and even then, care was required.

Regardless, this is a wonderful bit of the suburb, particularly for any amateur geologists out there.

You've got this super cool open cave,

a rock pool,

and, of course, some fetching views.

Eventually, a real footpath began,

which I joined.

To once again arrive streetside.

At this stage, the ominous rain clouds started to deliver on their payload, which is a bit of a bummer when you're only two suburbs into a day that you're trying to cover ten, but it just made the ocean views more dramatic.

And thankfully, the rain was extremely light, stopping almost as soon as it started,

as I headed part these round apartments,

and supremely blue house.

Here, I ended up taking this hill off the street,

to this pointy marker, which helped me to see where I was headed next.

As I carried on, I found another one of Sydney's many dramatic ocean pools,

before once again returning streetside.

It was now time to head to the main bit that people think of when they think of Maroubra -

the beach. Was it beach weather today? Not particularly.

Does that matter? Not particularly.

I'd now been walking enough where I figured I'd earned lunch.

And the first place I found on the street corner seemed as good as any.

It sort of feels illegal to have lunch at the beach if it's not seafood, so I opted for some salt and pepper squid with chips and salad. While not life-changing, it was definitely what I was after.

To accompany it I thought I'd try an acai and banana smoothie. Apart from the deep mauve colour, it tasted mostly like banana with a touch of tangyness, but that's okay.