Life on the edge
I’ve always been attracted to the sea ever since our childhood holidays at the seaside. It’s hard to say what it was exactly but there was something fascinating about standing at the edge of the land and looking out to sea and wondering what was on the other side of the water. There are so many other things I love about the coast though.
I liked the old fashioned seaside towns the best, the ones I remember from my childhood, towns that had a beach with a row of huts where people made tea and read the paper. There would be shops that sold buckets and spades, postcards and fishing nets. On the beach there would be Punch and Judy, donkeys to ride, a pier with amusements and maybe Butlins, that was England.
When we came to Australia I found the coastal towns very different. The beaches were bigger, the sand more golden and they were not usually as crowded as the English beaches I’d been to although there would be some exceptions to that in larger cities.
Then there is the wildlife, you might be lucky to see dolphins swim along beside you if you are on a ship, or a colony of Little Penguins, there are a few places in Australia where you can visit them. There are seals who visit the fish farms in the estuary of the Huon River much to the annoyance of the owners and at the right time of year, you might even see a whale playing in the water off the coast in many parts of Australia. There are birds too, the Ibis who will practically take your lunch out of your hands in Sydney, gulls, sea eagles, pelicans.
Of course, there is more to see and photograph at the coast than just the beach. It’s interesting to visit a working port and see the shipping whether it be local fishing boats, ferries, pleasure craft, cruise ships or even commercial shipping.
The other thing I like, or I should probably say, used to like, about coastal towns is that they often have interesting old buildings, grand hotels, beach bungalows, sheds with sawtooth roofs and long ones where emigrants took their first steps in a new country. Sadly many of these buildings are being pulled down to make room for resort hotels and high rise apartments.
More arched windows near at the Hobart Waterfront. 
This is the grandest building we saw in Auckland. 
This is the last of the original wharf building in Port Adelaide and for some years has operated as a Sunday market. A year or so ago a hotel was built next door and now the shed is to be torn down to make way for trendy restaurants and cafes. 
Elizabeth St Pier on a sunny day what could be nicer? 
Semaphore Water Tower 1880. This is in South Australia. photo by Naomi 
Station Pier, Port Melbourne 
Dockside is one of the re-purposed buildings at Queen’s Wharf. 
Sandy Bay
A very nice introduction to the beaches of Australia.
We used to have those shoreline amusement parks. We still have a couple — Coney Island is one and there another big one along the Pacific and a third on one of the Great Lakes, I think in Michigan. There were at one time, many more, but time has done them in.
Coney Island was and is my favorite. It almost disappeared. We had rallies and campaigns to have it become a protected site and not wind up a bunch of condos!
We used to go there as kids because you could get there by subway and you didn’t need someone’s mother to drive you there. Then we could ride the Cyclone ALL DAY if we wanted. When it wasn’t crowded, the guy would let you keep riding forever on one ticket until your legs were shaking and you could walk anymore. Then it was time for hot dogs!
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Nathan’s!
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I’ve read about Coney Island and would loved to have seen it in it’s heyday. We still have Luna Park in Sydney and Melbourne but most of the beachside amusements that we used to have on Adelaide beaches were long ago dismantled except for the old carousel at Semaphore. The amusement pier seems a very British thing.
The beachside suburbs in Adelaide are all becoming full of ugly apartment blocks and trendy cafes. I miss the places where you would buy simple fish and chips and an icecream. It seems you have to be rich to have access to the waterfront these days.
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I love the sea in all its iterations. I was born and raised in South Florida after all. But now I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and I love the rolling hills and mountain views too. Would that I could be home in both.
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I have to admit that I miss living near the sea but I have the Huon River close by and I love the hills and mountains in Tasmania after the flatness of South Australia, yes I would love to have both too.
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The only thing I can do is, agreeing 🙂 You explained it pretty well. Also the air is awesome too near the sea. There is nothing better than sniffing the mix of water, salt, algae, washed stones, sand and whatever makes the beautiful mix of sea air. Here in Northern Germany, many people arrive from all federal states if they want to do health cure here, because it’s said that sea air is healing. So, our state is pretty much seen as a health resort in Germany.
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Yes I like that ozone smell as well.
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