We don’t go to the beach often. Hell, we go an average of twice a year if we’re lucky. This bothers me a great deal. I mean, I live in Western Australia, home to some of THE BEST BEACHES EVER and I never go to the beach. I call that a great big FAIL. I blame it on The Geek who doesn’t know just how good he has it. He grew up here and fantastically awesome beaches with warm, clear water are no big deal to him. He never had a family outing at the Jersey Shore where you have to fight for a two foot patch of sand and pick your way through the cigarette butts and rude people to get to the water. I will say that I consider the rocky, gray beaches of the Pacific Northwest to be amongst the most beautiful places on Earth … but you can’t swim at them. I know, a native PNWer who was born and raised there will argue with me. They are insane, though. The Pacific Ocean up in the Oregon/Washington/British Columbia area is freaking freezing and not suitable for swimming. Nor is the weather often warm enough in the PNW to *want* to swim. This is part of why I love it so much. No, the beautiful beaches of the PNW are for bonfires with friends or a quiet walk along the beach, looking for pretty shells but definitely not swimming. The beaches of Western Australia are for swimming, and surfing (all sorts) and snorkeling and whatever else people can think of to do in warm, clear sea water.
Prior to kids, I didn’t drive so it was far more difficult for me to go to the beach on my own (we went together more often than we do now, though, but in the evenings). And now that I have a license and can take myself there, I am, quite frankly, terrified of taking two kids to the beach by myself! Besides, it’s not like I’d get a chance to enjoy a swim on my own anyway. So I’d need The Geek to be on board for any trip to the beach. He, unfortunately, is under the delusion that it can be “too hot” to go to the beach (erm, the point is to go swimming to cool off, right?). He will only go early in the morning or late in the evening (the latter being impossible with children). Since early in the morning is our only option, we miss our opportunity often. This makes me sad.
However, we finally got our butts in gear and took the kids here yesterday morning:
Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia Image from http://www.westernaustralia.com/en/Pages/Attraction.aspx?pid=9001806
Fantastic, isn’t it? It really looks like that, it isn’t just a clever promotional photo. The trip itself was a mild fail in that we’d applied sunscreen before leaving but forgot to bring it for reapplication and the kids decided they were both terrified of the water. Also, it seems I have a minor bathing suit problem: I can’t wear my suit without board shorts over it and my boardies are suddenly a tad too big on me. We didn’t stay long (mostly due to the sunscreen issue … the kids could have happily played in the sand for hours and I would have loved to have another swim). But we got there, that’s what counts! I hope we can do it again soon. Maybe this Sunday morning. Hopefully, also, I will be able to fix my slightly annoying bathing suit fail. 🙂
The Ausmerican 