The Pool Blog

We finished our pilgrimage of pools with the two pools the furthest down the coast – the famous Blue Pool in Bermagui and Aslings Beach Pool in Eden. Secretly, my hopes were high for Eden. We had travelled a long way for our last pool. While the pilgrimage has been...

All through this trip, I am asked: “Tell me, which is your favorite pool?” I respond: "The one right in front of me". My favorite pool is the pool that is here, the pool I am about to breach and unto which I will be enfolded. This is Bohmian. It is how David Bohm saw...

Blowhole Point Pool All morning my children correct me. Every time I say Australia Day, they remind me it is Invasion Day. It is their world, and they represent the huge cultural changes that are coming. However, in the end, the two concepts get mixed up in my head...

O’ Wollongong! What a lot of pools you have! We have swum in Wollongong pools before, but now that we are seriously pool hunting, we just keep discovering more each day. We shall have to revise our list. We rise early this morning to meet the lovely Kerry Kimbrey, who...

We have decided that the collective noun for pools should be ‘splash’ as in a splash of pools. We have a full splash today with four pools on the horizon just north of Wollongong. The pools of Bulli, Woonona, Bellambi, and Towradgi beckon. Four pools in a day does...

Today we are pool hunters. We have heard about Bulgo Pool, and it fits our criteria – it is man-made, filled by the ocean, and functional according to all reports. However, the route isn’t entirely clear. There are a few references to it online here and there but...

Coaldale Pools Coledale is one of our favorite pools. Nominally it sits to the south of Coledale beach, but the rock platform it is in is so big and wide that the pool has little relationship to the beach. It sits rather proudly on its own on the rock, in no need of a...

We arrive at Oak Park Beach Pool slightly fatigued. A 4-pool day requires significant energy. On the way we debate if we will even go in. We have already swum at the North and South Cronulla Pools and then at Shelly Park Pool. Maybe we should just take some photos and...

When the tide is high and a pool is awash, timing is everything. You go to the water not really knowing what it will be like until you are there. You could retreat, but in our busy lives the time is now, you will not have the time to come back. When the water is high...

We continue our tour of the Coogee pools today with Wylie’s Baths and the Ivor Rowe Rockpool. We cannot get in at Ivor Rowe even at low tide because of the continued post-tsunami turbulence. Ivor Rowe is a teardrop pool scooped out of a rock platform south of Coogee...

Coogee beach There is no collective noun for pools so let me suggest one – a coogee of pools. This is to reflect the one kilometre in Coogee that has 5 pools, the densest concentration of pools on the NSW coast. The pools are (from north to south) Giles Baths, the...

Bondi Icebergs Pool There’s a tsunami warning this morning which adds a level of excitement to the day. I spend some time at the first pools – Wally Weekes and the Children’s Pool at Bondi – scanning the horizon for a disaster-movie event. In the end, there is no...

Today we did the last 3 pools on the northern beaches – Freshwater, Queenscliff, and Manly. Freshwater and Queenscliff are both large, serviceable pools. At Queenscliff, the Saturday morning races were on and we couldn’t swim. I love seeing a pool being used by its...

North Curl Curl Pool It is ideal when a beach can have a pool at either end. The south pool (facing north) will have the sun for longer while any cliffs behind the north pool may provide some welcome shelter on sweltering days where even being beside the water is too...

Collaroy Beach Pool We are back in our own beds for this part of the trip and that makes everything a bit easier. We get up early to head to Collaroy and Dee Why – our 20th and 21st pools of the trip. Collaroy Beach Pool has excellent access and should be an example...

Mona Vale Today we do our 18th and 19th pool – Mona Vale and North Narrabeen. We have planned this trip with stops along the way. For the last few days, we have been staying in Narrabeen with the lovely Sarah H. and Leigh B. and have been to a total of 7 pools in 3...

Today we visit three pools on the Northern Beaches – Avalon Pool, Bilgola Pool and Newport Pool. They are all concrete pools, and each has its own charm. However, if I had to recommend one it would be Bilgola Beach Pool for its ease of access – of which more later –...

Whale Beach Pool is a beautiful space. It’s not large, you can’t really do laps, it’s a cement pool but despite all of that it stands out like a sparkling jewel on our pool-dotted coast. Firstly, the location is excellent. We can park nearby and the pool, while at the...

A grey day doesn’t generally dampen my experience of an ocean pool. Every pool is worthy due to the combination of being outside and part of the ocean. It doesn’t matter if it rains or not – in fact as the rain keeps the crowds away it can sometimes be desirable. The...

Terrigal Pool We are completely at the mercy of the tides and the weather on this trip. Our schedule of 59 pools in 26 days is punishing and there’s no room for turning back to swim in a pool that we could not enter at the appointed time. So Yamba Beach Pool – where I...

The cross in the wall at The Bogey Hole We must get up early to get to The Bogey Hole – probably one of the best, and the oldest ocean pool on the NSW coast. It’s a natural pool that’s been cut into rock, so we cannot go at a time of our own choosing and instead have...

The best thing about the Newcastle Ocean Baths is the art deco entrance. It speaks to a real grandeur of vision. At some point in the last century or even prior, someone looked at this bit of land and thought – we could have a really great pool here. And then in...

Today is a two-pool day and thankfully the weather is respectful of that. The skies cleared as we approached Black Head Ocean Pool and we got in for a dip and were able to dry off in the sun. Black Head Ocean Pool is a good pool – regular-sized with...

We are running on a very tight schedule. To do 59 pools in 26 days means we don’t have a lot of wiggle room so despite not getting in at Yamba yesterday, we have to keep going forward to get ahead of the cyclone off the coast. That meant saying goodbye to Grafton (an...

The Pacific Hotel at Yamba Today is the first day of our 26-day trip down the NSW coast to swim 59 ocean pools. We had decided to start at the top with NSW’s most northerly pools - Yamba Beach Pool and the Angourie Pools on the 3rd of January. Nature has its own...

We've finally hit the road, a night in Wingham and now we reach Grafton. A round of golf, then lunch in South West Rocks. The swims begin tomorrow! Kate will be the new voice and my prep is complete. Only one sleep to go..! Photos & Video [modula...

So the kit is assembled, 2021 is almost over, accommodation and vehicles booked, we have a drone! This has been a very tough year for everyone and we're all looking forward to this break. We hope you enjoy following the updates!