On the Beach

II would love to be able to see the sea from my bedroom window. There is something reassuring about it. Ever present, reliable - you could set your watch by it.

Equally I have the utmost respect for sailors who left the comfort yet confinement of the land and set out on voyages of discovery. It was either extreme bravery or foolhardiness. One such son of the north east made his name in these parts and reminders of this are scattered around. Captain Cook, with  the crew of his ship The Endevour, travelled from England to what is now known as New Zealand.

So I spent a large part of the day staring out to sea, beyond the people swimming in the shallows of the South Pacific, far towards the horizon. Just spending time spending time if you catch my drift.

It hasn't all been relaxing though. Oh no. Before breakfast we joined a handful of other people and ran up and down the beach, looking for all the world like lunatics who couldn't make up their minds where they were heading. What the run lacked in both distance and variety it made up for in sheer splendour. Probably worth the 36,000km round trip alone. Follow that up with a walk across the cliff tops to Cathedral Cove and you have a pretty full day. Even in a so called 'lazy day' we still clocked in nearly 14k. 

So after all that excitement I've returned to my sea gazing. And wondering what it must've been like for a young man from Cleveland setting sail across the oceans in search of his destiny.  Not bad for a Smoggie.