Pink Sky At Night

I took this photo from the backyard of The Beach House earlier in the week.

Beach House Backyard, Looking South West

It isn't super spectacular in any way but for some reason I love it.   It just sums up what has been a lovely laid back beachy week for us.

Sometimes it is important to sit back and take stock.

Take care everyone.  Wherever you are.

A Beach Snob

Yesterday we had the perfect Australian beach day.  We loaded some friends into the boat and headed slightly south of the main beach near The Beach House.  Some other friends walked down and joined us.  The sand was clean and white. The water was sparkling clear, flat and a gorgeous turquoise.  As I watched Farmboy being slowly towed along on a ski biscuit and Farmgirl swimming and climbing dunes, I was struck once again by how fortunate I am to live in Australia.  We were the only people on our section of perfect beach and could see it extending for miles.

I think most Australians are by nature slight beach snobs.  When I am travelling overseas, the locals proudly show off their beaches and there is always a little part of me that thinks "It's OK, but only OK"  or even sometimes "You call that a beach".  There are always a few exceptions.  The Italian Riviera was pretty gorgeous in places and I did find some of the beaches in West Ireland beautiful.  I have never been to Greece or the Caribbean and they look fabulous. I am sure there are other spots that hopefully I will discover some time.  Largely though, I haven't found anything better than Australia. 

I wonder if it is simply because we have so much beach.  We are the world's largest island with a relatively small population, and so that leaves a lot of coastline to be enjoyed.  Except for a few of the iconic beaches like Bondi you never jostle for towel space. 

Or is it because our coastline is so varied?  We have coral islands, granite cliffs, warm water, cold water, no waves and world class surf all in the one country.

Australia also has accessible beaches.  You do not have to be rich and famous to holiday by the sea.  There are still camping grounds where you can pitch a tent with a world class view.

My favourite beaches in the world are still on the southern coast of Western Australia.  They have granite rocks and silvery sand so fine it resembles talculm powder.

A Beach, Somewhere In Australia

I would love to know what you all think?  Are you a beach snob too?  Or, if you live overseas, do you have a favourite spot that could make me rethink my parochial attitude to beach going? I am very happy to be persuaded.

A Dolphin for New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is going to be laid back and relaxed here at The Beach House. We are having champagne and sea food, and some friends are popping around for a quiet drink.  We may or may not make midnight. Since the arrival of The Farmchildren our New Year's Eves have been considerably more low key than they used to be...

We started our day with an early morning swim at the local marina beach.  We call this the "Baby Beach" because it is absolutely perfect for small children. Shallow clear water, clean white sand and shaded grass.  All the boxes are ticked.

Baby Beach

While we were sitting on the grass putting on sun cream we saw a dolphin swim right into the shallow water.  By the time I had found my camera it had swum out a little way.

Dolphin Fin (With Attached Dolphin)

It was a wonderful start to the day.

I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve, wherever they may be.

Take good care.

Farmchildren as Beach Babes

Arrival of Country Style At The Beach

It is calm and peaceful here now.  We had an absolutely fantastic few days with The Beach House choc a block with people.  So much food, champagne, fun and lots of beach time.  Now, as the weather has cooled a little and the guests have left, I can feel myself starting to relax.  Which is good.  The lead up to Christmas was crazy busy for our family and I think we all need some down time.

The Beach House is in a crayfishing town not too far from The Farm.   I must be honest and say I love being a town dweller for a little while.  When you live in the middle of nowhere and cook every meal your family eats, something as simple as a fish and chip shop seems extremely luxurious.  I even relish being able to food shop every day, and buy on whim, rather than doing the mammoth food shops I do when we are at home on The Farm.

The Farmer and the male half of the extended family went fishing yesterday. They didn't catch a huge number of fish but there was plenty for dinner.

Blue Boned Groper In Front, Pink Snapper Behind

Today I had a quiet wander around the local shops.  Having a house full had made me realise The Beach House was a bit light on in the mug department. Nothing is more annoying than having to wash a cup when you want a coffee...

There is a gorgeous kitchen shop in town and I popped in and found these.

Lovely Stripy Mugs

I love having lots of colour in The Beach House.  I know the lovely lady who owns the kitchen shop.  I met her a couple of years ago when I had to stock out The Beach House kitchen.  She was really helpful at the time and gave me lots of freebies.  Anyway, today when I went in and picked up these mugs she smiled and commented that she had thought of me when she stocked them!  I took this as a strong sign from the Shopping Gods.  So the coffee mugs are now living happily in the cupboard.

I also found the latest Country Style at the News Agent.  Like the blog it seems to have adopted a beachy theme for January.

Country Style

The cover shows a beautiful table near a stunning bay.  I would love to sit there and have a nice peaceful cup of coffee.  I think I would be a tiny bit worried about snakes biting my ankles though as there is an abundance of windswept coastal grass....  That's OK - if I am imaging my dream beachside afternoon I will just imagine the snakes away.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful few days holiday and that you are all happily winding down after Christmas.

Take care.

Crazy Fish

How lucky are we?  Some friends of ours were at the coast on the weekend and caught some crayfish (lobster to all you non-Western Australians).  They cooked them up last night and have given them to us for our dinner.

Yummy And Very Fresh Crays

The Farmchildren sometimes call them crazy fish and Farmgirl in particular is a huge fan.  She has already spotted them in the fridge...

I am a big fan of the less is more approach to very fresh seafood. We will have them with a salad and cold boiled potatoes.  Then we will have mangoes for pudding. Yum.

It will be almost like we are here.

The Coast

Which is never a bad place to be.