Having just finished the last edit of Red Dust and farming, kids and just ‘life’ not allowing a lot of time for writing at home, I picked up my laptop and headed to town.
Plonking down at a cafe on the Esperance Bay foreshore I started to focus heavily on Blue Skies for the first time in about three months.
Re-acquainting myself with my main character, Amanda, and her world of “Kyleena” (the family farm), I failed to notice the beauty that was surrounding me that day, until I finished the part I was working on and ordered my second cappuccino!
The sea was flat, the yachts that were moored were bobbing gently and there were people swimming and running through the sea and up and down the beach.
How lucky I am to live in such an inspiring, beautiful place.
On a trip to one of local beaches recently, we laughed at this Christmas tree that had been transplanted from the roadside to the beach.
Stuck in a huge hole on the beach, decorated beautifully and complete with a filleting table underneath, we’re pretty sure that ‘John’s Filleting’ and the rest of his campers had a great time!
And what a beautiful place to have Christmas! I wonder what the tree thinks of its sea change?
I reckon there’s a huge difference between inland and coastal kids, when it comes to being comfortable at the beach! Growing up far from the sea, I barely knew what a live fish looked like let alone tasted like.
I knew they smelled, and Mum ordered it most times we went out to tea and I didn’t like them, but I’d never felt or touched one.
Never really wanted to. And I still don’t. I like sitting on the beach with a book and a glass of wine or beachcombing.
But my two … Hayden and Rochelle love their fishing! Hayden is his Dad’s right hand man when it comes to catching the big ones.
He’ll be there handing Anthony the bait, winding in the rod if dad say’s it okay and he will sit for hours, not moving, watching the top of the rod to see if there’s a bite. He takes his job very seriously!
Both kids have no problem in touching or playing with the fish and love teasing me with them before they throw them back. Once an Inlander always an Inlander! But these two will always love the beach and what goes with it!
Rochelle and Hayden were lucky enough to be given a basketball ring from their Gran, for Christmas.
Supposedly for the kids, it brought out the competitive nature in all the oldies, who tried to outdo each other in slam-dunking or defending the ring.
The kids watched open-mouthed as their Uncle Nick and Papa tried to get past each other to the hoop, with all sorts of illegal hip bumping and defending actions.
We had to foul them both of in the end! Out of everyone who vying for glory, I think the kids outdid us all — they seem to be a bit more flexible!
Aunty Ellie played a bit more sedately with kids, and here, Hayden has just shot a basket.
On our visit to Thomas River, there were heaps of jellyfish and ‘things’ like them, washed up on the shore. I haven’t seen anything like this on Thomas River Beach before, so the water must have been really stirred up at some stage to throw them onto the beach.
Being orginally from the Flinders Ranges in SA, I still don’t know a lot about the beach creatures and with Anthony (our source of information) on the header, we inlanders didn’t have any idea if these strange looking things were alive or dead… we still haven’t worked it out!
After the busy day of Christmas, we decided it was time to head to the beach and work off some of that extra pavlova and wine we had!
Some of my family that came for Christmas hadn’t been to Esperance before so we took off down to Thomas River in the Cape Arid National Park (the best beach in the world!) to have a run — or walk!
Magic blue seas, skies, and a beach to ourselves made for a wonderful afternoon’s entertainment, with the kids running rampant and the adults vainly trying to keep up.
Thomas River at sunset
We went fishing one night after a quite hot day. We caught one salmon but since they’re not great eating, Hayden put it back in.
Campfire on the beach
No fish in sight, but there was a wine, beer and some nibbles not far away
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