Farewell, Sandy Beach

Sunset, Sandy Beach,
originally uploaded by Pip_Wilson.

I'm moving over the next few days to Emerald Beach, which is two beaches south of here. It's a lovely spot, but my son and I will not be living right on the beach, so I won't be doing an Emerald Beach Almanac. Time will preclude it too, because I have begun a few rather large projects recently.

Thank you for you support of this website. I have had great fun doing it and it's been a privilege to bring to readers worldwide some of the interesting things I've found within 1,000 paces of my wee cabin.

I will keep this site here indfinitely in case you wish to browse the archives, which are found in the sidebar. Thank you again, and all good wishes to everyone.

You'll find me here.

First day of Spring

Wildflowers over Back Sandy 2,
originally uploaded by Pip_Wilson.

Australians call September 1 the first day of Spring, just as March 1 is the first of Autumn, December 1 is the first of Summer and June 1 is the beginning of Winter. The custom dates back to early colonial times and has to do with the dates on which uniforms were issued to the British guards of the convict colony.

Looking south towards Emerald Beach from Bare Bluff (the south headland of Sandy Beach). Click for more Sandy Beach photos taken from Bare Bluff at dawn this morning. And it was a beautiful morning, with a carpet of tiny yellow wildflowers at my feet.

I didn't see the old boomer 'roo who startled me (as I startled him) on Bare Bluff earlier this week at dawn -- kangaroos are not common here, though they are at Emerald Beach, two beaches south. He stood nearly as tall as me (6 ft) and, about three or four meters from me, bounced off hell for leather into the heath.