One Day At A Time: Life's a Beach

I was born in Christchurch but we moved to Dunedin when I was a toddler. As I grew up I have lots of memories of days at the beaches around Dunedin - St Kilda, St Clair, Brighton. When we moved back to Christchurch we were on the west side of the city and it's a good 30-40 minutes across town to the beach, so we didn't go very often. I went today though. Along with half of Christchurch!

Kites flying overhead

On a beautiful blue-sky day, and a Sand Sculpture competition going on, it was always going to be busy - but it was just great - I loved seeing the crowds. Lots of families, and heaps of kids playing at making smaller sculptures of their own with their sand buckets further down the beach.

Crowds by the pier and the sculptures

Anyway, I took lots of photos of the sand art. There are some very creative folk around. I'm not sure what my favourite is. I do love the Gorilla, and the Rose Window. Sea monsters were regular creations along with a couple of cars and some beer.

Reflective sand under the pier

I sat along the sea wall and looked out, looking at all the families. There's still not a lot to do in Christchurch, in many ways, but simple things, like a fun day at the beach, a walk along the pier, and the obligatory ice-cream in the sun (I did abstain, *touches halo*) are still some of life's simple pleasures that are available us all.