Henley Beach

Henley Beach, a suburb of Adelaide.     Once we lived in Henley Beach, in a large house with eleven rooms, on the Esplanade, with fantastic views over the sea.    We had a very large enclosed front verandah, with tinted windows, and we could watch the world outside, but people could not see us.   Fantastic place for people watching.      We spent hours sitting in our comfortable chairs, drinking coffee or sipping cooled wine.   The memories.    The friendships.     Our children grew up here.  And we all loved the house, and the beach and the lifestyle.

But there was a downside.     The house was a wreck when we bought it, a cracked concrete front verandah which needed to be demolished and replaced, white ant infestation (I wonder if the current owners ever found out that the back window sill was filled with concrete), salt damp in the walls, cracked plaster, beautiful marble fireplaces painted over to look like wood, an old doctor's surgery at the back which we converted into a flat, and the list goes on.   We worked hard, and we did a pretty good job of saving this house.    It looked great when we sold it.    But after nine years, we had run out of money and energy.

  We sold the house 27 years ago, to a couple who still live there.   They painted the woodwork Greek blue, whereas we painted the woodwork Dutch dark green.  Different cultural backgrounds.  They also built the high fence at the front.   The native trees I planted, are still there but are huge now.

 Our children used to run out of the front door, down the steps, across the car park, down the steps, across the sand and into the sea.   In the middle of summer, in bare feet. I bet they could not do it now.

A touch of the mediterranean.   Loungers wth umbrellas for rent.   It does not have the same effect as on a crowded beach in the south of France.  They look a little forlorn and lost on this large, and relatively unpopulated beach.

 The old toilets, such an eyesore, have long gone, and sadly the salt water swimming pool also.   The large pool was open for the first four or five years when we lived there but became too costly to run and too old to renovate, so after standing empty for the next ten years or so, were demolished together with the toilets.   

One wonders why a swimming pool was built, when there was so much sea on the other side. It was used for club training, swimming laps, and avoiding sharks and sting rays.   The absence of sea life was my excuse for using the pool.

The starting blocks, stand as a reminder of the old swimming pool.

The new surf life saving club.   Very flash.   Built last year.    Our children spent quite a few years there as nippers, or junior surf life savers.    Those were the days when they dressed in swim suits, striped hats, and perhaps some coloured sun block on their noses.   Now the surf life savers wear protective clothing and sunhats plus sun screen.

Henley Square, which has undergone a few transformations in the past thirty or more years.    Our children's playground, especially when there was a fountain there.  Now the square is surrounded by trendy cafes and restaurants.

As the temperature was in the 40s, a stop for an Affogato was in order.     An Affogato is a vanilla icecream, over which you pour an espresso coffee.   So delicious.

Then back out into the bright sunshine again, and a quick look at the jetty.   Where are the people?  Under the jetty, sheltering from the bright and relentless sunshine.    People in South Australia, have become very sun conscious.   People try and keep out of the sun, and if they do go outside, they cover up.    The usual clothing items for the beach now, are protective UV long sleeved tops, and shorts plus broad rimmed hats.   No brief bikinis, and generally people do not lie on their towels, slowly getting burnt.    They save that activity for when they visit Europe.

 The Henley jetty.    The home of fishermen, and swimmers who dive off the end of the jetty.   Our children were banned from this activity, that is 'jumping off the end of the jetty', and we thought they obeyed this.   Much too dangerous.   There have now been admissions, and yes, they did jump off the jetty.   'But at least we did not jump off the roof of the jetty, like some people'.  

The nearly deserted beach.   And I think the people in the front of the photograph are sunbathing, in brief swim suits.    Tut, tut.

So after some more reminiscing, we set off back to Aldinga Beach, and up to the Victory Hotel, with the fantastic view over the bay.   I ordered my favourite dish, salt and pepper squid.   Cooked to perfection.   With chips of course.