If you want a snapshot of Sydney life, head to Bondi Beach at 6:30am. The sand and surf are bustling like peak hour traffic. Joggers are padding down the soft sand. Shivering fanatics are submerged in pop up ice baths and breathing circles. Kayakers are weaving through bopping surfers catching early waves and triathletes are surging against the currents. There are 4am run clubs, sweaty tangles of people of all ages, in a quasi-religious sunrise worship of the breaking of dawn in Speedos and bike shorts. In the water, hundreds of swimmers in yellow caps are making a splash. Known as the Bondi Salties, this is a swim group of about 200 members who do a bi-weekly half mile swim from North to South Bondi and back again.
Started by a group of friends in 2013 who decided to meet at the North Bondi ramp at 6:15am on a Friday, it’s not an exclusive club. It’s as free as the ocean and open to all. “The magic of the Salties is that it's so much more than just the swim, it's about community, it's about starting the day feeling alive, and importantly sharing it with others” explains Salties co-founder Henry Meagher.
In Manly, the Bold and Beautiful swim club does the same but in pink swim caps starting from Manly Life Saving Club Beach and heading about half a mile around the rocky coast and back again. Come Sunday at a leisurely 7:45am, most Sydney beaches are frantic with knee-height children. The “nippers” — young members of Australia's surf-lifesaving clubs — are dashing into the water, running about and learning lifesaving, a rite of passage for many Sydneysiders.
Powered by sunshine, Sydney’s sunny side up way of life is the quintessence of the city’s DNA. What fuels it all? Cafes. Cafes are as bustling at 7am as a London pub at 5pm. Inarguably, Sydney’s cafe culture was born in a tiny corner of Darlinghurst in October 1993 when chef Bill Granger opened his much-loved bills. The founding father of avocado on toast, Granger created and exported Australia’s up and at ‘em café culture to the world. The late chef gave breakfast — the most important meal of the day so they say — the gravitas it deserved. The New York Times described it as the “best scrambled eggs in the world” and compared Granger to both Julia Child and Michel Guérard.
Now, his fluffy ricotta pancakes are savored in bills all over the world, from Tokyo to London, and his legend lives on in early morning cafes all over Sydney where queues for lattes and smoothie bowls begin to form from 7am.
Sydney’s best cafes to start the day
AP Bakery: This all-day bakery was first opened in Surry Hills on the rooftop of Paramount House Hotel by hospitality heavyweights, which include Mat Lindsay (co-owner of trailblazing restaurants Ester and Poly) and head baker Dougal Muffet (ex-Ester). It became an overnight hit for their locally milled baked goods: salted pistachio and rhubarb flans, stuffed muffaletta sandwiches, and warrigal greens and ricotta pies. Now with joints all over Sydney, the cult bakery also supplies bread to top cafes like bills.
bills: The café that started it all. Now with four locations across Sydney and open all day, every day, for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. Go tried and true with scrambled eggs and ricotta pancakes or choose from the hearty menu of big and healthy salad bowls, grilled cheese and kimchee sandwiches, and golden crumbed chicken schnitzels. Don’t miss the spiced Bloody Mary sharpened with Korean chili.
Iggy’s: Sold out by 11am, this hole-in-wall bakery in Bronte makes some of the best loaves in Sydney. It’s renowned for its sourdough baguettes, rolls, bagels, and crusty bread. The pastry shop next door (think sourdough croissants and pecan sticky buns) is only open Friday to Sunday — be quick.
