It was a beautiful Spring day here in Adelaide, for a change, with the mercury reaching 25deg. We had some things to do at Glenelg, and then we drove back to Brighton for an alfresco coffee, sitting where we could overlook the ocean. The water was still too cold for swimmers, but it didn’t stop the youngsters on their surf skis or kayaks, paddling on a calm, smooth sea.
Coffee finished, we sauntered out onto the jetty.
It’s such a sense of déjà vu for me to have come back to this very spot to live, for it’s where I lived for many years as a child, close to this beach, swimming in the clear water and playing on the golden sand. Good memories. It’s the same now as I’ve always remembered it, in all the years we were way – with the sun shining on an iridescent sea, happy people strolling along the jetty, fishermen with their lines over the side, not catching much but enjoying it anyway. And boys jumping into the ocean from the deep end of the jetty, their calls as they break the surface floating in the air, while the girls watch from above. Same as ever.
It all seemed miles away from the turmoil and troubles of the world.
Today there was the added bonus of a small pod of dolphins frolicking in the water only metres from the jetty. We joined other onlookers leaning on the rail and watched as a mother put her baby through its paces. I remember we used to call them porpoises back then – I suppose that’s just another name for the same creatures? It used to be said that they kept the sharks away, but I don’t know about that! A raft used to be anchored off the beach at Seacliff, and we kids used to walk out at low tide and swim back much later after the tide came in. I know that in all those years I never saw a shark, but the notion that one could be there behind me lent extra energy for a fast swim back to shore.
I hope today’s children grow up with the happy memories I have of this place. Rose coloured glasses for my youth? I suppose so. But looking around it all still seems the same, even though I’m a grandmother now instead of a child.
Kate Loveday 