When I was a child I would sometimes go camping at Hastings Point, a tiny town in northern New South Wales. I was taken by my Uncle Bob, Aunty Rose and my cousins Sandra and Robyn, who were a little older than I was. I must have been about 7 or 8. These times were some of the happiest memories of my childhood.
Uncle Bob and family spent many holidays there and my family would drive down from Main Beach, where we lived, to join them on a Sunday, so there were lots of visits to Hastings Point.
At Hastings Point I would spend hours scouring the rock pools at low tide for sea life. I loved collecting shells and things washed up by the sea. I loved spending time with my favourite uncle who would be nearby fishing or digging oysters off the rocks. Lovely Aunty Rose cooked delicious meals and my cousins and I would slide on bits of cardboard down the grassy slope of Bogangar.
Much has changed in the area, but the caravan park is still there and the beach has not changed. It was a delight to return and take a walk along that wonderful beach. It was low tide so I got to visit some of the rock pools that fascinated me when I was a child.
Bogangar is in the distance.
On the way back we stopped for lunch at Paper Daisy in Cabarita…I must go back.
I am staying in Burleigh Heads with my son. It is another special place from my childhood.
A morning swim.
I love the Norfolk pines at Burleigh.
The Pandanus trees are great too.
There was a group of rock pool explorers at work.
The winter sky is amazing right now.
Below this cloud is the Burleigh Heads Library where I worked briefly many years ago. It is about to be closed, much to the dismay of locals.
I found a photo of my cousin Sandra, my brother Robert and me at Bogangar.
…and one of Aunty Rose, my mother and someone I don’t remember with my Robyn, Sandra and Robert, taken at Main Beach. I think our mothers made our beach attire. I had a wonderful beach childhood. Thank you Mum, Dad and the extended family.
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