First Beach Trip

Took an evening drive to the beach 30 min away, at Torquay, just north of Bells Beach. Bells Beach might sound familiar to anyone interested in surfing - it's one of Australia's most famous surfing locations.

And it's in my backyard.

Simon was content to just watch the sunset, but I travelled all the way around the world to get to this beach and I was determined to put my toes in. I was surprised that the water wasn't as cold as I expected. Summer is on it's way. The sun already stays up until 8pm, but the temperature drops pretty drastically when it goes down.

With my toes in the not-so-cold water, I took a second to ponder the immense difference between this beach and the ones I grew up with. Normally when I visit the beach I send out a mental "hello" to Europe. Can't do that here.

"Hello Tasmania."

And the waves are bigger.

And I'm pretty sure there are sharks starting their dinner by those rocks over there. There are no rocks in Jersey. But there are in the TCI! I'm still not sure if I'll be able to get in the water without my snorkel gear. I haven't body surfed in years and I was really enjoying watching the fish...

... eh, I'm sure I'll get over it.

 

Simon took a small tour through town for me, probably because my ears perked up at "outlets". Torquay holds the headquarters of Rip Curl. To keep them company are all the premium surf-gear shops. Billabong, Reef, Quiksilver, I even saw a Patagonia across the street. Oh yes, there will be a shopping trip here one day. I need my sun protecting swim gear! (I've miss placed my sunglasses and have had serious squinting issues lately. I can only imagine a day at the beach without the proper equipment.)

We circled back to Geelong for an evening view of the harbor. Not a bad evening drive.