This picture was taken at the same beach and on the same day as the others but I was saving this one for a specific post. School has been back a few days so you'll have to excuse me a little timing glitch but I want to mark the end of holidays.
I enjoy spending time with the young 'uns in the holidays. (Well, when I can get past the trivial annoyances that come from dealing with kids and sometimes I allow the trivial stuff to become major but you're getting my drift here...) Anyway, this is a favourite spot for us.
The building has a restaurant on the verandah and a more casual take-away inside. Sometimes we go there for lunch and then a wander on the beach or a swim. Sometimes the focus is the swim and then we get a milkshake or whatever happens to take our fancy.
The last time we were there it had been raining in the previous few days so the water was a bit murky and less attractive than usual. It was the perfect opportunity to hire a kayak, which we did, and the kids had fun paddling around the boats moored in the bay.
The boys like to explore the rocks at the end of the beach and I quite like to watch the tugs take the container ships out through the heads. (who knows why?)
Sydney's main port is just a short drive away and the oil refinery on the other side of the bay. All of that stuff is kind of ugly but I think it adds interest. I sit on the beach and marvel that we are on this pretty little beach near a major shipping terminal, with a disused fort only minutes walk away.
One of Sydney's bigger cemeteries is not too far away and we often stop there on the way home. There's quite a bit of historical value in the cemetery and we like to look at the family crypts as well as some of the headstones dating from the early days of colonial Sydney. Visiting there has sparked some interesting conversation about the afterlife, funerals, death and grief.
Anyway, I guess that what I'm saying is that I have had some good times here with my brood and I hope that we are building some good memories for them because we are for me.
i love the beach but i dont take every opportunity to go. you see, walking on sand with my particular brand of dodgy ankles is a special exercise in concentration and persistence, especially when i'm cold out of the water. wearing shoes seems so unsexy compared to barefeet or flip flops, having to ask my kids to assist me into and out of the water takes humility i sometimes would rather not develop. then there are the times my drive for independence means i decide to exit the water unassisted and i end up staggering through the shallows where proud parents play with toddlers and there is no chance of being inconspicuous. i will probably fall and drag myself ungraciously to my feet only to fall again. if i can overcome my pride enough to ignore these things i adore the water, i love having beach hair, i love the post-beach-scratchy skin, i love the people watching and the sea breeze and the colours of the sea & sky. today it was with just a touch of trepidation that i took the kids and headed for coogee, cant remember the last time i might have been there... and i loved it the moment i got there. i loved the vibrant atmosphere, the sea breeze, the salty air. i loved watching kids play in the showers, i marvelled at baby faced policemen, i was reminded of the hilarious incongruity of toddlers showering naked except for sandals and i played games imaging the lives of passers by... i didnt swim, the surf was rough and i didnt want to make all that effort just to take a pounding but it was all good and a little wander taught me that there are ocean baths at one end of the beach, that might be just the thing for me to do another day! 
on the trip home i decided that a little refreshment was in order and we stopped at a cafe i have often wondered about, the pool cafe. we had milkshakes and iced coffee, the view was divine, the sea breeze coming through the open windows was lovely, the drinks were good and the food looked excellent. a return visit is on my to do list! 
