01
Feb
Kutti Beach is in Vaucluse, long the most affluent of Sydney suburbs and still in the top five. Prior to European colonisation the area was home to the Birrabirragal clan of the Dharug language group. They named the whole area, now called Watsons Bay, Kutti. That the usual Sunday crowds are waiting at Watsons Bay is evident
04
Jan
The strange summer continues as I’ve had to skip another (and hopefully the last) of the Hawkesbury beaches which can only be reached from the water. I will visit number 39, Hungry Beach, along with numbers 35 (Gunyah – Brooklyn) and 37 (Hallets) in due course. *** I got up this morning and didn’t
21
Dec
This summer’s beaches have created challenges. I should have begun with No 35 Gunyah (Brooklyn) – up on the Hawkesbury – but it can only be reached from the water so I need my mate and his boat at a time that works for us both and the weather is amenable. I broke my rules
23
Nov
It’s late November and this is only the first beach of the summer. I’ve been delayed by the hopes of sticking to my rule of visiting the beaches in strictly alphabetic order. Beach number 35 is Gunyah (Brooklyn) which can only be reached from the water so I’ve been waiting for my boat-owning friend’s schedule
22
Jun
On Friday I woke to a radio program about ceremonies people create for themselves. A caller described a women’s winter solstice ceremony she had been conducting for some years. The Winter Solstice marks the moment when more light begins to fill your days. It is the beginning of a new cycle of growing then diminishing sunlight –
I have been looking forward to this: the westernmost beach in Sydney. Grand Flaneur Beach is on Chipping Norton Lake in Liverpool. This would be different. The day is hot and a heat shimmer dances along the tracks as I await the train to Liverpool. What, I wonder, might I expect? A parkland? Yes. Picnicking
Living in Sydney brings joy to my life. Even when all else is shit, when plans fail, promises are broken and my mood is sour to see Sydney Harbour, the Bridge, the Opera House brings me joy. Perhaps especially when all else is shit the magic of my own joyful response to the sheer beauty
05
Jan
I would have posted Freshwater sooner but I got distracted by Duke Kahanamoku. Kahanamoku, a native-Hawaiian, Olympic swimming champion and sometime-movie star, is credited with introducing board surfing to Australia. Australia without surfing is unimaginable; surfing culture is, to many, synonymous with Australian culture. Board surfing surly would have arrived by another route but
31
Dec
I’ve been to the beaches but not blogged about them. It’s been quite a year for me. Sundays the Beach was our project and now it is my project. Change is hard and change is good. I’ve decided that counting the beaches with fingers is fun and worth doing when I can but failing
24
Nov
If I were ranking the best named beaches Flint & Steel would be near the top. That I can’t find anything explaining the source of that fantastic moniker adds mystery – maks it even better. I can tell you it was already called Flint & Steel by 1832. Flint & Steel was an exciting beach for
You must be logged in to post a comment.