Beauty 365 … Stories of Love and Life for Everyday

“I’ve been coming down here for nearly fifty years!” is one of my most frequently repeated expressions when I am at Phillip Island with the family. And although dates are a little bit sketchy, and perhaps somewhat exaggerated, it is true that I have been holidaying down here since I was a child, holidaying with my own family.

I implement this phrase when I need the family to understand that I am the authority on everything Phillip Island, or quite simply to understand, “Mum knows best.” For example, I know which beaches are the best for swimming, depending on the direction of the wind. I can tell whether the tide is going out or in, by looking at the slope of the buoys in the channel. I know where to buy the best gelato, coffee and pizza, and basically, down here, I have insider’s knowledge, and no matter how long they have been coming here, it will never be as long as I have.

Down here, I have the reputation of being a big fat “know-it-all”, but we all embrace it and my family mostly lets me get away with it, accepting that it’s my time to shine, and knowing that, really, I am the authority on nothing else. (Sorry, not true, I was once dubbed “The Lice Queen” because of my extraordinary ability to remove lice… Yes, I am good at that!)

One notable fact about Phillip Island is the unpredictability of its weather. Well, I do concede that in winter it is predictably cold, but you never know what you will get in summer. So, we always pack bathers and coats, sunhats and beanies, sunscreen and scarves.

Having said that, the weather on lock-down day 8 was absolute perfection: clear, blue, sunny skies, light breeze, about 23 degrees. We went for a long walk on the near-deserted beach; some swam, some paddle boarded, some danced on the sand. Feeling a bit guilty that our lock-down days seem so much like paradise. One of the loveliest days in my “almost fifty years”.