Bagni di Lucca and Beyond followers who live in the northern hemisphere will be expecting a cold Christmas, possibly with snow.
In Australia, where I am now, it is hot, hot, hot. It is quite normal for Australians to have Christmas at the beach. As children, my brother and sister and I would be up at the crack of dawn to open our presents. One very good Christmas we got Coolite surfboards and we were immediately off to the beach to try them out.
We came home reluctantly for lunch, gobbled down our Christmas delights and headed straight back to the beach. I grew up at Main Beach, on Queensland’s Gold Coast, and we now have an apartment just one block from our old house, which has long gone.
We don’t go often enough, but I was there this morning for a very early morning walk on the beach. The surf was whipped up into choppy swell by the wind or I would have been in the water as well.
I was on the beach before 6.00am and the mist was still heavy towards Surfers Paradise.
It was a bit clearer the other way, towards the spit.
The seagulls were in a huddle against the wind…getting themselves ready for their busy day.
This is what people in the cold north are missing out on. These are some photos of my favourite beach in all the world, taken over the last few years.
On the way back to the apartment I spotted this little koala. Someone with a sense of humour had clipped it to a Frangipani branch in the garden.
Now for a shameless plug. Our apartment in Norfolk Apartments, just across the road form the beach, has some vacancies over the Christmas holidays. We have a newly refurbished swimming pool and a delightful new property manager. He has arrived recently with his charming wife and their 3 little children to look after Norfolk for us. We are delighted to have them with us.
Here is the website…www.norfolkapartments.com.au
Our apartment is number 8, but if that is booked, there will be others available.