a love letter to Wylie’s Baths
By Eva Telemachou
I am greeted by the same sign every time.
“OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR”
I walk towards the front desk, relieved that last month I bought ten passes for 35 dollars. I glance at the chalkboard listing the times for high and low tide and take nothing in. It’s warm. I’m hungry, so I order my coffee and what might be the most affordable poached chicken roll in Sydney. I collect my number on a flimsy piece of plastic and peer out over the pool. No bluebottles today. I’m relieved.
“26!” they call, and I collect my order, gripping tightly to the ceramic mug and pale blue plastic plate I was served. There is a comfort in knowing I can order my cappuccino (sometimes decaf, sometimes skim, occasionally with one sugar) and sit by the pool sipping it from a proper mug. It feels like I’m at home.
I pull out my journal and whatever I am reading at the moment. Although, most times I don’t even touch either of them and just remain present. After my coffee and chicken roll, I stand by the pool; my toes are cold and my mind is clear. I will always dive in, and I do, as always. The water is icy. It doesn’t feel like it has warmed at all this summer, and part of me is relieved by that. I don’t stay in long, maybe a couple of minutes, before climbing the ladder and sitting for a while, skin tight with salt.
I waddle up the stairs with my towel pathetically wrapped around my waist, my bag slipping off my shoulder, and my eyes darting between the steps and the person in front of me. I stare at the showers and consider paying twenty cents for warm water. I remember that I don’t have any cash so, a cold shower it is. Dried with my clothes on, hair dripping, swimmers wrapped into my towel, I peer into the small library, and as always, nothing of interest, at least to me. I head out, salt still clinging to my skin, press the exit button, and use my body to push the gate open.
I’m out of breath as I climb the stairs and arrive back at the same sign:
“OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR”
I glance up and feel quietly held by Wylie’s—my favourite ritual, steady, waiting, and always there.
