Tuesday Sept. 25, 2007 2:45pm

G’day mates:

Today we walked a good portion of the Eastern Beaches Walk; it took most of the morning. The walkway connects Bondi Beach with several other beaches in this area. We stopped on Tamarama Beach (pictured on the left) for an iced tea (bottled, because absolutely no one actually brews iced tea here). While walking back toward Bondi our conversation turned to the subject of skin cancer in Australia. Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Presumably this is due in part, to the fact that the actual hole in the ozone is over the southern hemisphere. A few years back the Aussies were able to make a good dent in the skin cancer rate by mandating that all school kids wear hats as part of their uniform. We got to see these hats on the kids who were visiting the aquarium yesterday as part of a school field trip. However we noticed another contributing factor to the skin cancer rate here that has nothing to do with the ozone hole. Take a look at the two pictures here and tell me what is missing compared to any beach or café that you can think of in America.

Unfortunately, readers, the pictures that were supposed to go here were corrupted somewhere between camera and computer. I apologise for this and I will attempt to retake the pictures and put them here. This being the situation, I will go ahead and tell you what was missing in the photos.

Umbrellas.

There is not a single solitary umbrella anywhere on Bondi today, and it is a really busy day at the beach (for a Tuesday anyway). In California and Florida, the two places with which I am most familiar you would never go to the beach without an umbrella. Never. I have not been to a beach without an umbrella since my Wildwood days. And let me tell you dear readers, that is going WAY back.

I also cannot think of any outdoor eating establishment that does not have some kind of shelter from the sun. That said, it is only fair that I tell you, most cafes here DO have a few umbrellas if you prefer the shade, but almost all of them have large sections of their patios in full sun. And the sunny seats are the premium seats.

Here are the culinary notes for the day, I ate “shrimp on the barbie” for lunch. It was very good, but I would prefer my shrimp not come with their heads still attached. No worries, you just pluck the heads clean off and you’re all set. It was a hell of a mess though let me tell you. Other culinary note: we entered McDonalds today to purchase a soda. (I will not eat McDs on this trip), they have a thing called a MacOz sandwich. In the picture it looked like a regular old burger. Not so. It comes with a slice of (are you sitting down?) beet root on it. Beet Root! Who would even thing of slapping a slice of beet root on a hamburger. Won’t be trying the MacOz, but who says McDonalds doesn’t cater to local tastes?