Canberra-by-the-Sea

The picturesque South Coast town of Batemans Bay in New South Wales, Australia, usually has a population of about 16,000. That triples during peak holiday periods as families from the National Capital, Canberra - a two-hour drive away - swarm over the Clyde Mountain to the beaches. It's hard to keep them out, for many of them own second homes down here and pay their dues to the Shire Council; then there's the awkward fact that a fair number of the permanent residents (my wife and I among them) are retirees from . . . Canberra.