Moffat Rocks!

I just love this pic taken on my mobile phone's camera of "Rock Star" (!) Banx standing on the jagged rock pools at Moffat Beach last weekend.. We took time out from furnishing the little beach pad to get back to Nature.. the waves were about 4 metres high, the weather was dramatic and thunderous and it somehow brought back many childhood memories of spending hours at rock pools at the seaside, time just slipping away, imagination running wild as to whom or what lived in each little salty pool. The strata of the rocks is fascinating, years and years of water wearing away stone, producing a stunning natural slate floor! Soon enough it was time to get back to assembling flat pack bedside tables and we had to tear ourselves away....

Caloundra

As we strolled towards Bulcock Beach early on Sunday morning in search of coffee and breky, I was reminded of one of my favourite poets, Emily Bulcock. Her poetry is so visually stumulating, she was prolific, her love of the region easily recognisable in so many of her poems. What a wonderful woman too..kind and generous of spirit and very helpful on a practical level to young writers and children.. Below is an excerpt of one of my favourites of hers entitled simply 'Caloundra', it makes me see the place through new eyes..

She has dawns of wonder, and flaming sunsets!
When soft strange lights on the waters lie.
I have no words to paint the marvel
Of opal colours of sea and sky,
When the ocean chants to the day "Good-bye,"
'Ere back of Beerwah the last rays die!
The weird Glasshouses catch the glow,
Then dark with mantling purples grow!

If a painter stood at the gates of Heaven,
And caught the gleam of the streets of pearl,
Then, as they opened, glimpsed the vision
In the radiant eyes of some ransomed girl,
Watching the banners of beauty unfurl:-
He then might picture with artist hand
These rare rich colours on sea and land!

The Simplicity of the Beach

I love the simplicity of the beach more than almost anything in the world (besides chocolate). Remember when we were little and someone said 'Come on, we're off to the beach', and all you needed to grab were your togs and a towel and if Mum could catch me as I flew out the door, a splash of sunscreen on the nose.... well now it's half an hour preparation time just to walk across the road to the surf! Check list.. sunscreen? hat? towel? extra t-shirt? thongs? book? spare change? mobile phone? spare undies? keys? beach umbrella? chair? By the time we collapse on the sand these days, groaning under the weight of the beach bag and its items, the sun is almost setting ha! well, not quite.. Even packing for my glorious week with Mum and sis at Coolum last week was bigger than Ben Hur. I have travelled and worked around the world with small suitcases, but last week needed our mini van to take everyone's "stuff" to Clubb Coolum!! And you know what... MOST, no in fact, nearly ALL of it remained untouched... books unread, CDs not played; DVDs unwatched (no TV watched at all); unfinished art pieces still not finished.. no jewellery worn; no make up put on for the entire week; no pretty flouncy dresses worn out at night (way too over-dressed), we three just sat mesmerised by the ocean view right across from our balcony (see pics above from our balcony) listening to the loud crashing waves.. we were literally drowning in the ocean's chant.. absolute sheer bliss! Who needs all that STUFF! I have to remember this as we start to excitedly decorate our new little beach bungalow at Moffat Beach.. the KIS principle.. Keep It Simple! A true escape from the mind clutter of our daily lives.. want a sneak preview of our bungalow's website.. www.moffatbeachbungalow.com Stay tuned!

Moffat Beach Barefoot Bungalow, Sunshine Coast, Queensland

This is it! Moffat Beach Barefoot Bungalow!!! On the stunning Sunshine Coast about one hour north of Brisbane, this will be our barefoot escape from the urban jungle, we can't wait!

Two Loves

I definitely have Two Great Loves... I wonder if that means I have a split personality? I LOVE Paris and all that European culture has to offer but I also LOVE Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland... could you get more polar opposites? In October we were walking ten hours every day in the City of Lights and last weekend we were swimming in the Pacific Ocean, feeling sand between our toes (and everywhere else!)and wanting to live at the beach forever! Mmmm, now there's a thought.. 6 months France... 6 months Coolum... I will work on that one!

A Grain of Sand

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

This beautiful poem by William Blake epitomises the two days my partner, artist Banx, and my best friend and I just experienced at sensational Kingscliff, just over the Queensland/NSW border on the NSW coast. How ironic, that this weekend is our ‘Labour Day’ long weekend, and yet we all completely chilled, and relaxed, and I even purchased a pair of shoes from the I Love Billy range called Laziness!

The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the 8 hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest (thank you Wikipedia!) – and this weekend we figured we’d better ‘celebrate’ the rest and recreation part! Once again ‘merci’ and gratitude come to mind – only the weekend before we had attended the very moving ANZAC Day dawn service at the Eternal Flame memorial in Brisbane; saying the biggest thank you’s of our lives to those who helped make Australia a free and wonderful county to live in - to cherish every day of our lives. This weekend it’s thank you to our hard-working forefathers, who fought so valiantly for our worker’s rights, all those workplace "given's" we now take for granted that make our lives more tolerable and balanced.. but also, this weekend it is ‘merci’ for wonderful friends, grains of sand that stick between my toes as I walk along Kingscliff Beach, funny dogs on the beach chasing shadows, the beautiful sunset beach wedding I witnessed early evening under a hot pink sky (who could ask for a better start to married life!), and eggs sunny side up this morning at Salt Village as the crashing crescendo of the ocean echoed in the background… ah! Sheer bliss…eternity in an hour..
PS The stunning black and white surfer image is another by my talented Brissie photographer brother Peter Hardie, check out his website for more great surfing images Down Under!
http://www.pbase.com/pshardie/sun_n_surf
The other two we photographed at Fingal Head not far from Kingscliff, well worth a visit!