My favourite Perth beach....

is Port Beach in Fremantle.  Every beach in Perth is divine...white sand, brilliantly clear sparkling water in the most divine colours and the water is so cool and refreshing.  The Indian Ocean is a couple of degrees cooler than the Pacific which I grew up with on the East Coast.  I'll never forget my first swim of the year way back in '93...I was 6 months pregnant with my eldest daughter and I waded in to the water to soothe my hot, swollen body.  The coolness took my breath away and my tummy muscles tightened around my belly as if on instinct they were protecting my little girl...saying you're safe and warm in here! The coolness and the weightlessness are so soul calming. In the heat of Perth summers the water is insanely refreshing.  It's such a contrast from the blistering heat we experience during our summers.

Yesterday I headed to my fave again... Port Beach.  The water was strangely devoid of swimmers...helicopters were hovering... people were standing looking out at the water.  Beach closed due to shark sightings.  There have been more shark sightings this year than I can ever remember and with (sadly) a couple of deaths of surfers the patrols are not taking any chances with any sightings, even if they are the harmless variety. Yesterday there were 2 sharks - one harmless, the other a human eating variety, but they were nowhere to be seen and eventually the beach re-opened.

While it was closed I did brave the shallows though - a couple of very quick dip and rolls to cool down.  And then snapped a few photos as I sat and lay there. The wind whipped up....last night as i opened my current novel in bed sand fell out everywhere!  The wind had deposited sand in it as it lay on my towel!  Perhaps this is why trashy throw away novels make the best beachy summer reads?

How I love summer days at the beach.

My view looking up

My view looking out...

Isn't it heaven?