It’s about two doors up from North Bondi RSL and set on one side of two buildings — a private hotel and a small block of apartments. Two black awnings, split in the middle by a blue and white sign saying Speedo’s, have SPEEDO’S CAFE in white painted on one and TAKE AWAY painted neatly on the other. Above the two signs, the brown wooden tiles of the hotel balconies cling to the stucco concrete face of the private hotel as they climb towards the roof. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors face the street, there’s a blackboard out front which says coffee, juices, salad, focaccias, etc, and beneath the glass doors, built at an angle onto the footpath to allow for the rise of Ramsgate Avenue, are two long, narrow wooden tables and stools. A sign shaped like a world globe on the cafe door says SPEEDO’S CAFE TO THE WORLD and inside are more stools, counters, chairs and tables lorded over by a large red coffee machine. Small framed posters hang on the walls, there’s a full blackboard menu and the ubiquitous coffee shop notice-board with small ads for writers’ workshops, aromatherapy, skin care, therapeutic ryoho yoga, etc, etc.
