Swimming

Sunday, 19 January 2014

A swimming day at Ramsgate Baths. 19 January 2014

The day started cloudy. We beat a retreat to a cafe for some coffee and a bit to eat; the sun came out and it was glorious. Water was gorgeous. Sydney is best known for its ocean - surf - beaches, but the harbour and bay beaches are pretty stunning too.

Saturday, 18 January 2014

Hotel pools Part 3: Buenos Aires, Rome and Delfi

Here's three of my favourite pools from overseas trips.

Apartment accommodation in Palermo, Buenos Aires

15 March 2012

Cavalieri Hilton, Rome

Looks great, was a good pool to swim in, but the nonsense surrounding its use was off-putting. "Free' to hotel guests, but a compulsory 16 Euro fee for a sunbed. And you weren't allowed at the pool without a sunbed to rest your towel on....in the end I did a quick dash, dropped my towel, plunged and swam.

2 June 2008 Canon Powershot S60

4 June 2008 Canon Powershot S60

Amalia Hotel, Delfi Greece

26 September 1989

Friday, 17 January 2014

Hotel pools Part 2: Queensland

Four of the best outdoor pools from Queensland.

Top of my list is in the swim-up apartment hotel, aptly named Pool, at Port Douglas.

Sanctuary Cove Resort on the Gold Coast is renowned for its pool area, including an artificial beach lagoon.

.

The Ramada Hotel at Hervey Bay

..and Eurong Resort on Fraser Island (there's two pools)

Thursday, 16 January 2014

Hotel pools Part 1 :Melbourne

From time to time I'm lucky enough to stay in hotels with really nice swimming pools.

OK, I admit it: I seek out hotels with great pools.

Here's a selection of some of the best, starting in Melbourne.

Crown Metropol, Melbourne

This wins, hands down "best rooftop" AND "best indoor" pool. It's light, airy, with great views. Who would have thought a rooftop city pool could be so glamorous, yet a proper, full 25 metres for some serious exercise.

Park Hyatt, Melbourne

Until I met the Crown Metropol, this one had my "best indoor hotel pool" award. I love the aesthetics, the Roman pool feel, and also that's it's a full 25 metres, so a real pool, for real exercise swimming. Open til late, and early, the perfect attending-a-meeting availability.

Melbourne Short Stay Apartments

Pretty good indoor pool here too.

When he was seven or eight, Ben thought the pool at the Saville Suites was pretty good!

Ocean Pools

I've been trying to visit as many ocean pools as possible over the past few years.
This post is an attempt to gather together a single favourite picture from each.

A fair amount has been written about Australia's ocean pools, especially those in NSW. There are a few links below. You can google more.

NSW Ocean Baths (a project to swim 1000 metres in all NSW's Ocean Baths. Great photos!)
Modern swimmers and ocean baths (Australian government site)
Sydney's outdoor pools
Best ocean pools in NSW (subjective!!)
My Favourite pool - Blue Pool Bermagui - Lenore Taylor - The Guardian

Eastern Suburbs, Sydney