B Is For Beaches

Spiky Beach, East Coast, TAS

I love the beach, oceans, water and waves. Just drop me off at a beach in the morning (with some shade and some food, of course) and pick me up at sunset, and I’ll have had a perfect day.

Here is a beach we actually did get to have a swim at

on our generally cold September holiday. Forster, NSW

The eastern-most beach we've been to -
Wategos, just below Byron Bay lighthouse

I can watch the waves all day. Their individuality fascinates me. Their formation, cresting, then tumbling. How each waves is different while still recognisably part of a pattern. How the inner lift of water can show the sea floor. That incredible moment when the water arches over just before gravity wins.

Western-most beach we've been to -

Cape Naturaliste, W.A. Those waves were huge!

I like to watch surfers. I admire their skill. They also give scale to the size of a wave. And they give a legitimate excuse for watching waves. If you just watch waves, well, you’re a bit barmy, right? But if you watch surfers, well, that’s okay because it’s following a sport!

I like to walk along the beach, idly beachcombing, seeing what treasures the waves washes up, and just as quickly reclaims.

I get impatient with sunbathing (besides, I boil like a lobster, and it’s dangerous!) and I don’t always feel the urge for a swim. I love to snorkel, if the opportunity presents itself. My ambition is to snorkel somewhere where the water is warm enough to not wear a wetsuit, but without the dangers of stingers & jellyfish.

Coolangatta Beach, Queensland
While this isn't the most northerly beach I've been to, it's the only photo I had.
It's from our September trip, and the weather was lousy. We still went walking on the beach. Beaches. All of them. Between Brisbane and Sydney. Oi.

I want to live by the beach, on a small cliff (to keep my place safe from rising sea levels from global warming); but the way the property prices are, I don’t think I ever will. So, I visit, and take lots of photos.

One of the most southerly beaches we've been to on mainland Australia
- Castle Beach, near Cape Otway, VIC.
Wilsons Promontory is probably further south. It's on our 'must visit' list.

A Is For Australia Day

We celebrated Australia Day in our typical Australian fashion:
Visitors round for lunch - ham, cheese & tomato melted onto ciabatta, with avocado;
then a trip to a bayside beach, a little bit of snorkelling - saw the usual toadfish, many silvery little fishies, starfish, sea urchins and a beautiful grey-purple stingray - a small one, only about 40 cm across;
then a relaxed evening meal at the nearby cafe - king prawns & salad, greek dips and sourdough*;

while being treated to a spectacular lightshow put on by mother nature - lightning, rain squalls moving across the Bay, godrays and orange sunset skies;
then watched the Australia Day fireworks in the distance while we sipped coffee. They used the top of the Eureka Building (Melbourne's tallest) as a platform for some of the fireworks - spectacular!

*Australia's multiculturalism has its ugly side, for sure, but I love what it has done for local cuisine. And in typical Aussie fashion, cooks and chefs happily mix and match elements from all cultures. I love it. I can remenber as a child being thought of as really weird because I had salami sandwiches for lunch.

We didn't have a barbeque - it's not compulsory. On the way home, the Nylex sign showed the temperature at 10.00pm was still 27 C.
It was a lovely day.I reckon Australia is the best country in the world!