The Beach.....47 to go

Aaah the Beach - such an icon of Aussie culture and seen as an endemic part of our society! Alas the beach is not for me, at least not in summer! Queensland summers get hot, really seriously hot and horrible...this is when hordes of people head to the beach and I cannot understand this. The beach is hot, usually very little shade, the sand is hot, and you are exposed to the sun the entire time, unless you bring along a shade hut or something similar to provide your own shade. You have to cart drinks and food along unless its a really popular beach then it might have seriously overpriced drinks and ice creams available on a kart.

Don't get me wrong I don't hate or dislike the beach, not at all, I just don't like being on it when it is hot! I love the beach in winter, at dusk or dawn and when it is building up to a storm or just after it! It is partly related to my deafness as I have to remove my hearing aids to go swimming and they are such delicate pieces of technology that I dread sand getting anywhere near them and you know how sand gets in everywhere and everything. So going swimming is not a social event as I can't communicate happily with people around me, communication can happen but its usually very loud and repeated and accompanied by hand gestures for added theatre!

I am of a very fair complexion and burn to a crisp very very quickly unless slathered in uber strength sunscreen and even then its odds on I'll get burned, I am very conscious of watching for melanomas and get screened regularly for quirky marks and odd spots on my skin.

It is funny for about 7 years we lived about 20 minutes from Noosa Main Beach known internationally as a very desirable beach and I could count on two hands the number of times we visited that beach.

Go figure........