Mona Vale Beach at Night

The beaches around the peninsula are pretty busy at this time of year because of the school hols, so it's hard to get a quiet moment on them. We also have a pool right underneath our verandah which I prefer to use instead of getting battered within an inch of death by the Pacific.

I should also mention that Mandy has been holed up in the flat as well. Due to a fall in the kitchen she bruised her coccyx. Which, despite the obvious comic potential, has meant that she has been pretty immobile for the past week. And combine that with a week of rain, Yep! Rain! So much rain that I almost felt homesick (if it hadn't been 20 degrees at the time), upshot is I haven't made much use of the beach over the past couple of weeks. So I decided to make an effort last night. And it was looking stormy so I thought I might get a good sunset.

Here are some of the results.





All of the beaches here have 'Rock Pools', these are walled off spits of flattish rock which shelter you from the full force of the Pacific. These are perfect for people like me who just want a fairly quiet swim, without having to master the 'rips' and tides which can be pretty fearsome if you don't know what to look for.

I don't mind admitting I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to swimming in the seas here, nothing to do with the miniscule chance of being munched by sharks, or stung by box jellyfish and bluebottles, but I've already scared Gareth by being caught in a teeny wee rip at Whale Beach. I didn't know it was happening, which further compounds my theory that I'll take it slowly, learn to swim a bit better and understand things a bit better, before I get swept out to New Zealand.