Captain's Cottage

We drove round to the other side of Batemans Bay today to Long Beach, where we lived a few years ago. The hot summer weather has finally arrived (over 30C here, and a bit hazy and humid, and pushing 40C elsewhere). Mrs D cooled off in the beautiful clear water while I walked along the stretch of golden sand, renewing acquaintance with this and that. Then we lazed in our picnic chairs on the grassy foreshore, in the shade of some tall Norfolk Pines, watching boats come and go, jet-skis whizz along in their allotted portion of ocean, and holiday families at play on the beach and in the surf. The beach-house above has always been one of my favourites, with its Jolly Roger and ship's bell on the "bridge". I've never been able to get close up to it, though. The gate is always kept firmly shut.