More beach scenes...

The last post was only from our first day, with so many experiences I really wanted to share these moments. What was so wonderful over the ensuing days was watching our son's reaction to the sea and playing in the waves. His confidence levels were on maximum overdrive as he ran into the surf and discovered it's beauty and power. My daughter's first experience on playing on the beach was no less captivating.

Swimming this time of the year in this part of Australia, the water temperature at the beaches in are generally (except maybe beaches that are on the NSW/VIC border) are a lot warmer then Victorian beaches this time of the year. With the warm water arriving generally in February and usually bringing the jelly fish and blue bottles with it (nothing I should add from visiting at this time it's still incredibly beautiful!!), January is a perfect time to be holidaying on the Sapphire Coast!

One of the most marvellous things about the coastal waters in this area is the colour of the water. Which was made even more apparent on a little day trip we did. We traveled through Tathra (reportedly the best Fish'n'Chips in the area according to my parents who are definite connoisseurs!) down the coast to Moruya, having a picnic by the beach. (Check out the links to view the superb scenery.)

Generally we made regular visits to the beach each day which were a 10 minute walk from where we were staying. There are three main beaches:

Pambula beach:



Lions beach:



The River mouth:




Adjacent to the River mouth and quite clearly seen from the balcony of my Grandmothers is a beach known as 'Barmouth Creek' beach located in the Ben Boyd National Park area. After over thirty odd years of holidaying in this region I requested we take the family to this beach as I had always been curious and interestingly never been there.



We finally made it, although along the way we did get sidetracked and how interesting that was. We found a secluded beach in the Ben Boyd National Park, (whose name I didn't record) Not only did the so-called 600m walk to the beach involve walking down steps on a cliff face (with two small children was no mean feat) but as we walked along the beach bare foot as you do, I had a most extraordinary experience! I stepped on the discarded carcass of an Echidna and it has to be said that my cry out could be heard all up and down the East coast of Australia. The beach was quite secluded (with one very odd family from Victoria-not a story worth telling just a strange interaction that made me wonder why you need to be sarcastic to an enthusiastic 4 year old!- they were not worth interacting with) but on the upside this is highly unusual in general terms of most people we encountered!




So anyway Eight barbs in the foot later I sat there and thought I better pull these out...now at this point a photo could have been suffice but hey not everything needs to be recorded and I can say that once I had kicked the carcass off my foot then taken the barbs out. All I wanted to do was discard the carcass and threw it further into the scrub as far away as possible, so no-one else would tread on it!.


So the long and the short of it is I bathed my foot in the ocean and still walked back to the car and persevered in visiting 'Barmouth Creek' beach, which I had always wanted to visit. Later that evening I rang Pambula Hospital and asked if they could advise me wether I should come in for a Tetanus shot and a resounding 'Yes' was the reply, especially as my last Tetanus shot had been in 1994, plus the triage nurse added that tetanus can be rather difficult to treat, so I didn't need to much swaying.

By the time I had popped up to the Hospital and got home MD was snoozing in the chair. I watched a little RAGE on ABC then at midnight I heard the fireworks on 'Main Beach' which is in Merimbula but part of the same stretch of coastline. Hobbled out the front door and onto the road with other family's in their pyjamas and got a glimpse...still I loved it...there was entertainment then solitude, if that makes sense...I then retired to bed to continue reading my chosen holiday book "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows" and it was truly exciting.

Post script : I have since finished 'Harry Potter" and loved it..That's it..yes I loved it!
Post Script #2- Would have had this post up on Saturday but was experiencing technical difficulties with uploading pics.
Post script #3- I had to re-edit, on reading my post today (08/01) I felt that it was a little clunky.