A Sandy Beach Almanac



You've landed at Sandy Beach, NSW, Australia: Lat. -30.15331, Long. 153.19960, UT +10:00 – local map & zoom Google map. I live in a cabin on this beach, 25 kilometres north of the traffic and shops of Coffs Harbour, 600 km north of Sydney. My intention is to post observations of Nature and life within 1 km (1,000 paces) of my South Pacific home.

 

(This page is designed at the 'Smaller' font setting in the Internet Explorer menu. Other settings might cause layout changes. How to change text size)

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Aboriginal site, shifting sands

The speeed with which things can change at a beach is truly phenomenal.

The thousands of small stones on the sand at the south end of Sandy just a few days ago have mostly disappeared as the sands shift both underwater and above, due to waves and wind.

It's only a few days since I wandered over the southern sand dune on the track to Emerald Beach, but since then there are signs of work by the council. No complaints here: they've covered over with tons of sand the old flaking site as used by the local indigenous tribe in years gone by.

This is where the people would bring back smooth, rounded stones from the rocks and make implements of various kinds. For once I think it a good idea that the effects of Nature have been modified by human intervention, because that section of the beach is something of a wind tunnel and the old implements and flakes were exposed to idiots such as I who can pilfer them. The reason I was there today was to return some tools that I had brought home to take a closer look at, I confess. I shouldn't have done it, so I gave them back to the shifting sands, and the ancestors, where they belong.

The recent work done by council looks like it might have been done centuries ago, for in just a matter of days the dune sands have made it their own. Once again, I didn't want to come home from my flaneur on Sandy Beach, as there is nowhere I know that is more fun to play than on the feet-burning white dunes on the walk to Emerald Beach, where just for a while you can run and climb and feel like Lawrence of Arabia.

(Click thumbnail to enlarge)

2 Comments:

Blogger Jodie said...

Sounds like a beautiful place...I'd love to visit Australia. It's on my 10-year list.

What's your connection to OKC? Because I'm right there. :D

1:13 PM  
Blogger Pip Wilson said...

Sorry, Jodie, you'll have to tell me what OKC is.

1:50 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home