Two Retired Boomers Go Trekking: Sunday, March 6 – Adelaide: Beach, Hills, and The Big Rocking Horse

In the morning we went for a walk on the beach. The beach was one of those beautiful beaches you will never forget. It was long, it felt as if you were walking through talcum powder, and the sand was pure white. The ocean was safe for swimming – well, except for the sharks, gentle waves, and clear blue warm water. There are regular flyovers to spot for sharks, but nothing was found during the time we were there. There is a big problem with erosion on the beach caused by a natural action called “longshore drift”. The sand is pushed north along the coast by the waves. If this continues, eventually there will only be rocks and clay remaining and the roads and houses will be damaged by severe storms. So, they have a complicated process of collecting the sand where it accumulates further north, mixing it with sea water to form a slurry, and pumping the slurry back on to the beaches. The sea water runs over the beach into the water and the sand piles up on the beach. This is about a 25 year project.

Residents involve the beach in their daily routines and it is well used. There were coaches out with their young soccer teams training on the beach. There were people running. There were groups of kids with a coach running. There were so many dogs and little children. The dogs are allowed on the beach unleashed until 10:00 a.m. after which they must be on the leash. There were dogs who didn’t want to go in the water, but their owners feeling that it was good for them, would carry them in, or gently try and persuade the strongly protesting dogs to venture into the waves. Then there were the dogs that “raced” from the beach into the ocean like a streak of lightening to “fetch” balls; and then there were the dogs who went swimming with their owners, who surfed the waves with their doggie paddle, and who loved the ocean as much as they do their marrow bones.

We met Nicolle and her friend at the Surf Club for breakfast, and sat on the deck in the blazing sun until one became free under the canopy, and enjoyed a coffee, and breakfast, and decided that you could stay there all day it was so pleasant. But we didn’t!! We went back to Nicolle’s Dad’s house and said our goodbyes and followed Nicolle to her house in the country north of Adelaide. What a beautiful sight awaited us. Their home is in the hills and from the house you look out over a steep valley to the hills on the other side. Really beautiful! Nicolle and her husband told us all about the fires they had in 2015 which narrowly, missed their house while 20 other houses in the area were burnt to the ground. You can see the blackened trunks in the forests marking the line of devastation.

In the afternoon we took Nicolle’s two young girls, Lilly (aged 7) and Emily (aged 6) to The Big Rocking Horse, the largest worldwide, and Toy Factory in Gumeracha. The horse is made of steel and we climbed to the top up some steps and then a series of ladders. Thrilling!! Then the rain started….for the first time! So, we went inside and looked around at all the amazing and interesting toys in the Toy Shop – everything from wooden horses to furry koalas. When all the rain was over, and the girls had bought up the store, we went outside to feed the animals: wallabies, kangaroos, birds, goats, and alapacas. It was an amazing place. It rained again and this time the water poured out of the heavens like the rain storms you get in the tropics. So, we were all quite wet when we got back into the car.

We headed home via an Indian Restaurant where we picked up dinner. Once again during dinner the rains flooded the earth as if the dam walls had collapsed. Then we had a thunder and lightening storm and the lightening lit up the valley and the hills around us just like the festival of lights in Vancouver lights up English Bay. Very dramatic!! We chatted for the rest of the evening and then everyone headed off to bed.

It is exciting to reconnect with people you have known over the years, and the hospitality that Nicolle and her husband and her father and step mother have shown us has been gracious and welcoming. Thank you all!