On the Beach

My good friend Ant and I spend the morning hanging round Torquay Beach. First we got thrown about by surf waves, then we shimmied into the rock pools for an epic photo sesh. I am now quite sunburnt which will be fun when I am catching a plane back on Saturday.

The day was fun, and with Ant, it was always going to be. We played in the sand and posed and laughed and posed some more.

Sometimes jump-shots are hard to capture

Sometimes they are easy to capture, except people end up looking like amputees.

I have to say that body image is a funny thing. I spent the years of 13 to 23 hating my body, but now when I look back at myself in photos (especially of my teenage legs) from that time, I wish I'd shown it off more.

I would say for the first time in my life, I am happy with the way I look. I don't wish I was skinnier, because I know if I stop downing beers at the pub my beer belly would disappear. I don't wish for less broad shoulders, cos that's impossible, instead I choose clothes that suit the shape I am. I love my tats, I love my hair and I love my eyes. 

More than that, I can have fun with my body, and feel confident enough to pose in silly, albeit 'sexy' shots at a beach with people walking past wondering what the two people giggling insanely were doing. I welcome my late twenties and the body confidence I now have; I wish it had come earlier. 

Gremlin poses!

The title of this post On the Beach is from a Nevil Shute novel I read when I was younger. It's about an end of the world scenario when we have blown each other up with too many nuclear bombs and the whole world is infected with radiation poisoning, EXCEPT Australia (because of where it is geographically). The book is so freaking depressing as it is pretty much about Australians waiting for the nuclear cloud that's going to kill them all to come and get them... it was written in 1957 and is worth the read, but similar to the Grapes or Wrath and that NIN album, it is a depressing pastime that makes you feel good about being alive and saddened by the human race.

Neither Ant, nor I are the type of people to sun-bake or lie around on the beach doing nothing. It is much too boring, we would rather spend the time fighting the waves or doing creative funny stuff.

One thing we realized today, which I am sure we both already knew, was that we are both rather adventurous. We scaled rocks, fought waves and hobbled along rock pools just to get some great photos. We didn't even think about it being dangerous or inconvenient, because, a good photo has no limits.

Rock scaling

Waves? Bah! I laugh in the face of waves! Except if they get the camera wet...

A behind-the-scenes shot of all the hobbling and balancing we had to do to get these 'perfect' shots.

Gotta love turning the contrast up on a normal photo to make it into a hella vivid photo

Wallowing in the shallows

the giggles start getting out of control by this point

Riding the sea-horse monster in a straddlerific manner

So remember, no one ever looks perfect at the beach, and if they do, they certainly aren't scaling rocks and having fun. Love the skin you're in! I'm gonna go put some after-sun aloe-vera on mine right now. Ouch! Wear sunscreen!

Our 'it's a wrap' shot.

Oh Ant, it's always an adventure when you are around, we can talk about the present perfect tense, exercise, travelling, drink too much chocolate milk and shout at the radio and cars with roofs, scale walls/rocks/trees and laugh our arses off. Come to 'Nam soon old boy!

This is what sea anemones look like apparently. ;)

I'll miss days like these in Aus. 

xox