Though it is getting to that time of the season when I’m trying (halfheartedly) to be a little calorie conscious with the baked goods. Frozen berries in with the muffin batter rather than chocolate, going fifty fifty with wholemeal and white plain flours. But then I went and ruined it with those white chocolate chips. Oh well.
What’s not quite as quintessentially winter are borderline summer days. When the mercury hits a lazy 26C or so mid afternoon and the thought on everyone’s minds is BEACH. It was a best of both worlds Sunday when we found ourselves having afternoon tea at one of our local beaches.
It’s a bit of a hidden gem, Redleaf. It’s down a few sets of steep stairs from street level and this is the view that greets you as you take those stairs. It’s never that crowded and the people that are there are a lovely mix of locals and tourists. It’s not a place for surfing, vigorous ball games or posing. I love that you can just plonk yourself anywhere there’s a vacant patch of sand and watch the world go by on the water ahead of you and the sky above while everyone around you carries on in their own little beach worlds. Yet you can chat if you like, there’s no pressure either way.
It’s not often in the winter that you can sit on the beach with the cuffs of your mum jeans rolled up as you catch a bit of sun through the clouds.
Preschooler SSG mostly made good on his promise to not get too far into the cold water but still managed to have a really good time.
We fearlessly set out on the wraparound pontoon for a bit of a walk. People were sitting and chatting or lazing and fishing along the way so Preschooler SSG got a quick little lift up and out of the way from time to time. Being on the beach really brings out the best in every Sydneysider, doesn’t it?
My mission this summer is to visit this slice of heaven far more frequently than I have in summers past. I’m hoping to take my running route up this way once in a while instead of down to Rushcutter’s (controversial, I know. The struggle is real…) and bring Preschooler SSG here on the weekends too.
Do you have a local beach that you just have to visit more often this summer?