Friday, February 8

Beached at Last.

Yesterday, I convinced Gom I would go insane if I didn't get some beach time I had to go to the beach.
He does not share my mania love for the beach, never has. In our younger days, a trip to the beach would be last on his list of preferrances.

I don't really know why I am so drawn to the sea, but perhaps it is because it was always a part of my life. We have always lived close to the ocean in New Zealand, & some of my happiest memories are of being at the beach as a child.

We went to Terrigal, which is a nice beach. It has a reputation as a great Surfing beach. It is has a very large Resort Hotel on the waterfront, & is a popular destination for Syneysiders wanting a break within reasonable distance of home.

This is not a good shot, the sand is really gold. I just wanted to capture the seaweed, torn from it's sandy bed in the deep, & cast up on the beach to dry & rot, or be washed out again by the next high tide.
Sad somehow.


Here is the view towards the Skillion. Foolish young ones jump from this point sometimes. Sometimes they don't return alive. This facing the East.
This is a bold Pelican, which was strutting about very happily sharing chips & scraps thrown by beach goers, who were enjoying food under the inevitable pine trees. I tried to get a better picture of him, but by the time we got there, he was ready to fly off.

This is facing the North, & was a portent of what was to come later. Gom said he could see a dog in these clouds, but I don't think I caught it.


We could see huge ships out on the horizon, & I tried to capture them. I didn't have zoom or long distance on either of the cameras I took, & one of them had no card. Next time I will take the larger loaner camera.


Here is the sweep of the bay, looking in a northerly direction. There were quite a few swimmers, & the surf was quite boisterous, but not really huge.


Here is trusty lifeguard equipment. I tried to get a little close up.



Here is the little jeep for zooming up & down the sand. The lifeguards are on duty for the whole of the Summer, & I think, much of our winter, which seems to still have the hardy swimmers.

I dug my toes in the lovely golden sand. I waded in the beautiful foamy salt water, like a child, venturing too far, & snatching up my jeans so they didn't get wet.



Gom, who has been down of late, carried my sandals, and never took his off. He just doesn't have the feeling for the beach, or the ocean. He stood, watching me splash in the foamy little waves.


We strolled back up past the huge Resort, to our car. We drove home, via the township, stopping at the shops for a quick purchase for the dogs.

We arrived home at 1pm. By 1.30pm the skies darkened to almost black, there was the rumble of distant thunder, then it got closer, the flashes of lightning clear & close. Down poured the rain, much like a cloudburst.

I thought of the contrast, from the beach, to the dark drenched outlook we were faced with then. As these thunderstorms approach, the air becomes so oppressive with humidity, it almost seems impossible to breath.

As the rain pounds down, & the temperature drops a little, it becomes a little easier, but still retains the heat.

I was glad we got home in time to have the dogs indoors. Leo is terrified of thunder storms & shakes violently. We try to be casual so he wont be worried, but it doesn't seem to help his terror.


Joan Baez, Blowin' Away.





30 comments:

fifi said...

oh, lovely, a trip to the sea.

It's a nice place, Terrigal, I have fond memories of working there for a few weks and dancing on the tables at that Big Posh Hotel.

Ah, the seaweed, torn from its home. But you know it breaks down in the sand and the nutrients feed the smaller things of the food chain. And of course, we get to look at the lovelt fronds in the process. I'm glad you had a paddle.

I LOVED the storm, oh, it was amazing. It came and obliterated everything from view lik a curtain. It brought a frog to my pond too, so thats pretty special.

BTW that post below was hilarious.

Catalyst said...

I would love to have a seacoast that close to home. (You didn't say how far away it is - either in distance or time.) Great cloud pictures in the sky over the ocean. Thanks for the tour.

meggie said...

Fifi, how nice to see you bright & early. I know you love the sea more than I do! I somehow sooths my soul to listen to it's music, & I wish I had immersed myself completely in the lovely foamy waves.
That Posh Hotel would be ideal for dancing on the tables!!

Anonymous said...

Watch out for bold pelicans. One recently bit my nephew on the head!!

Jeanne said...

Oh, I'm so glad you got to go and get a bit of renewal!
Jeanne

meggie said...

Cat, you sneaked in, while I wasn't watching. Terrigal is about 20 minutes by car, from where we live. There are other beaches which are just as nice & all quite close to us. I love the golden sand, all our sand in New Zealand was grey with a lot of iron in it.
We used to take magnets to the beach, & drag them through the sand.

Tracey, Yes I keep my distance! I have heard they also have lice!

Jeanne, it was a real battery charger. I even soaked some tissues & dabbed my itches with the seawater.

His Office, My Studio said...

I love the water and the beach. I am up to my A** in 18 inches of snow and sure could use a walk on the beach myself. Thank-you so much for the photos!!!!!

Pam said...

I too love the beach. Not so much in February in Scotland, though! It's lovely to see your blue-sky photos.

Thimbleanna said...

Lovely pictures of the sea Meggie! My youngest got his housing assignment for when he comes to Sydney in a few weeks -- the poor, poor child will be in an apartment RIGHT on the beach! I'm sure he'll never be able to enjoy it because he'll be studying so hard. Yeah right! I told him to just drop all his classes now before he flunks out! What a crushing blow that I'll be home toiling away to pay for it all!

CONNIE W said...

My husband has a love of the sea, ocean, and lakes. It soothes his spirit. I feel that way when we go to the Appalachian Mountains. They both have their beauty.

ancient one said...

I love the ocean and I also like the mountains ... NC has both.. my favorite place to be is the Outer Banks, but I love water anywhere... rivers, lakes, oceans..

I'm so glad you got to go. I actually got to the beach three times last summer...

meggie said...

Debbi, when it is so hot here it is hard to imagine the snow!

Isabelle, you will have to plan a trip to the lovely beaches of Aussie.

Anna, Your poor son. How will he bear it all! LOL

Connie, I love quiet mountainous areas too, & I love rivers. NZ is so small, we had it all. The Blue Mountains are lovely here.

Anne, The first years we lived up here, I went for ocean swims a lot. When I got dumped & further damaged my worn out knee, then skinned all my leg, & badly sprained an ankle I decided maybe it was time to call a halt!
B*gger getting old.

Mary said...

Still laughing at Tracey.

As I was reading this I was wondering how you managed to avoid the rain and get some sun and those lovely beachy shots

and then came the end of your story!

Poor Leo.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Hoping Gom will find more sunshine. Perhaps he will find it in a sun blessed meadow or fishing in a calm river?

Jeanette said...

Hi Meggie, great photo's, im not a sit on beach person yet I love to walk along the damp sand at edge of the water,which we did everyday while holidaying in Darwin.

Anonymous said...

Two of my favourite things. I just love the sea - it always gives me so much energy and an amazing perspective on my general insignificance in the world which is liberating somehow. And I adore storms. We used to spend holidays in Southern France when I was young and there are a lot of storms there at that time of year, and I used to sit all evening on the window ledge just watching the clouds and the lightning and timing the gap to see how close the storm was as it circles round.

Shame GOM doesn't share your love of the beach.

BBC said...

I love going to the beach, or camping at the beach or by a river. As soon as the weather warms up some I'm going to get back to work on restoring the camp trailer so I don't have to tent it anymore.

Gets a bit chilly here in the winter for tenting it. A camper will give me warm shelter while I'm at the beach enjoying a storm.

BBC said...

Oh, I live right close to a beach and often walk or bike to it.

Mike said...

Beautiful beach shots Meggie. Now I am really anxious for summer in our hemisphere.

Shammickite said...

If I lived near you, I would come to the beach with you every day. I lived my first 21 years on a rocky coast, playing on the beach as a child, learning to swim in the cold Atlantic... well, the Bristol Channel. And since moving to Canada, I am a long way from either ocean, Atlantic or Pacific. I can only visit the coast once a year, some years not at all. The ocean holds a special magic for me. The sound of the waves rushing in, and then pulling the pebbles and sand back into it's depths is like a lullaby for me.
I'm very envious!

Leslie: said...

Hi Meggie, I just got caught up on your last few posts. Love the one about "UMBRAGE" - it's a unique word. And I would go to the beach with you to go wading or wandering, just not sitting out in the hot sun to bake! I live near the Pacific and couldn't live inland where to me the air is dead. :D

Bec and Call said...

By way of meaningless coincidence, the rocks in my header where photographed at Terrigal.

(you do know the definition of a Terrigal skirt, don't you?)

Lucy said...

I loved those pelicans in NSW!
This is rather melancholy, very atmospheric; GOM, standing in his shoes, looking after you...

(I'm glad you skip ironing for blogging!)

meggie said...

Hi everyone, you have got away from me, here, too many to answer all individually.
Bec, you will have to email me the Terrigal skirt bit- I dont know about it?

When I was young, I would spend all summer sunbathing on the beaches of the East Coast of Bay of Plenty, in New Zealand. Now I really dislike the sun, & avoid it if I can. A visit to the beach means a hat & sunnies, but I love the air, & the smell of the sea.

Jellyhead said...

There's nothing like the beach for reviving flagging spirits - well for me anyway, and you obviously feel the same!

The photos really helped set the scene, too. Thanks for this beachy post Meggie.

Thanks also for your kind words to be on my last post :)

Rosie said...

oh how I would like to wiggle my toes in the warm sand. I hope spring will hurry up and come to Brittany

Tanya Brown said...

I like the abstract quality of your seaweed shot. I almost see a picture of Christ in there. Maybe with a little retouching you'd have something to compete with the toasted bread pictures of the Virgin Mary on EBay?

I'm glad you got out to the beach for a bit, in between storms.

Katie said...

Ahhhh. Love the beach pictures. I miss the beach too. We really have to take a trip to the North Carolina beaches. About 2 hours away...not too bad. :-)

Lindi said...

For me, the beach at sunrise, in the late afternoon, and at night, is the best place to energise the spirit. My perfect place to live would be on a cliff overlooking the sea and beach, with a rainforest behind me, and mountains not too far away, where I could watch spectacular lightening shows. Somewhere where you felt close to the wild untamed spirit of nature.

Leanne said...

Lovely beach snaps.