So, mr tog and I decided, on our return from abroad, that we really should keep up this walking-around-with-the-kids habit we’d developed over the 4 weeks of sightseeing. Instead of just lounging around the house on Saturdays, we should get out the door bright and early and go somewhere for a walk.
As we are in Sydney, walking near the water seems a most attractive idea, and there are plenty of harbour/coastal walks. We can also combine trips on buses and trains and ferries so that we’re training the kids in how to get around for when they’re older and out on their own. It also means we get a few precious hours with the kids away from the electronic miasma that surrounds us all at home – TV, computer, videogames, MP3-players etc.
So far we’ve done two walks. Last weekend we went to Cremorne Point and walked around the shore into Mosman Bay, then caught the ferry back to our starting point.
Cremorne Point/Mosman Bay: originally uploaded by tigitogs
It was briskly windy when we started, and by the time we finished the southerly had fully hit, making the ferry ride quite fascinating as the pilot jockeyed back and forth through the heavy chop in order to tie up at various wharves.
Yesterday we went to La Perouse and walked out along the track to Henry Head, although we didn’t get to the end because the togster was wearing sandals and hated the track debris sifting through underfoot.
La Perouse: originally uploaded by tigitogs
We cut off and went down to Congwong Beach instead, so the track would be more sandy and less troublesome to the togsters tootsies. We ended up walking further along to Little Congwong beach, which is one of my favourite beaches in Sydney because it’s totally surrounded by bushland and is sheltered (unless there’s a full southerly) and beautifully clean.
I have no photos of this marvellous beach as, much to the bemusement of the togster and tigling, there were nude bathers enjoying the sun, sea and sand. Nudists tend to find strangers waving cameras around perturbing, as I well knew from growing up around the nudist movement, so I packed it away. Then, I astonished the kids by stripping off for a swim. They managed to get over it enough to come into the water with me, although they kept their undies on. mr tog, although he’s skinnydipped with me before, wasn’t in the mood this time. Although it’s a nudist-friendly beach, the nudists aren’t aggressive about compulsory nudism if you go there (obviously, they are more friendly to folks willing to have a go) – they understand that groups of family/friends will include some with more modesty issues than others, and that’s OK.
The kids coped pretty well, really. They found the idea of the nudists in public a bit weird, but we’ve never bothered about wearing robes between bedroom and bathroom in our house (unless it’s really cold) so they have seen bare bodies about the place. It’s only the last year or two that they’ve had modesty issues themselves. I think it’s actually a good idea for teens to be around people who are naked in a non-sexual context, considering the bombardment of messages about naked=sex in popular culture. When you just see people swimming, sunbathing, chucking a frisbee about and having a chat without clothes on, it helps take some of the reflex voyeurism away from nudity. We won’t be going there every week, but we will be going again, definitely.
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{ 3 comments }
This was such a lovely post – everything from walking to the nuddy stuff.
I grew up in a nuddy family (though mostly it was private nuddiness, living in Fiji in the late 70s meant we got fairly used to exposing a lot more skin than the Brits back home – everyone wore sulus (sarongs)), and have been gradually converting The Squeeze to nuddiness. When I say ‘gradually’ I mean to say that he took to it like a fish to water and has to be convinced that wearing pants to the shops is a good idea. Hanging around dancers, especially European ones, being body conscious stops making sense.
Yay! It’s such a great city to be out and about in. And the pics are fun, as well as the story.
The domestic nuddy issue is an interesting one – we do a lot of it and I’ll be interested to see if/how that changes as the youngster grows up.
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