In England?

5 February 2011

Coming back from the Alps, England looked so grey and dull.

Is Australia, an island the same all the way through; hot, dry, arid, bush and dirt? “No!” you say. Correct, there are beaches and rain forests and even places to ski! Now, is any island the same all the way through? England is part of an island, but there’s more to the island than the greyness, albeit it does constitute a significant bit of the country.

Enter, then, the South coast of England. Specifically, where I’ve been, Dorset, of Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ fame:

It’s not the same type of coastal beauty as Australia. As you can see though, there are beaches.

I went for a walk across this area so called’Old Harry Rocks’ I came to this realisation, that England’s coast was really nice, not suddenly, but through a series of, let’s say, troubling thoughts.

  1. At first, I thought the coast of Dorset was mind blowing.
  2. “Oh shit. I’ve been away from Australia too long. Shit. This is England we’re talking about.”
  3. “I’m at the beach wearing a jacket, thermals, jeans, shoes and socks. At least I’m not wearing socks and sandals.”
  4. “… Yet…….?!”

Don’t worry yourselves; I came around, eventually. What I had to see was that the place is stunning, but as a place, not just as a beach. It’s like comparing a nicely designed house to a flower; you just don’t do it and say that one’s better than the other. It’s the same with the Australian coast vs. English south coast. Just as a side note, most other English coastlines are pretty bloody awful, e.g. Blackpool.

I didn’t think at first it would have’English-ness’ to it, i.e. green-ness, pleasant-ness and rolling-hills…… -ness. I guess there is.

I think it’s quite a place. Who would have thought it existed amongst all the talk of constant rain and greyness that you hear of the UK.

It’s unavoidable that I miss the Northern Beaches. Seeing all of this makes you realise how bloody nice even Dee Why beach is, despite its olfactory flaw (the seaweed problem). You don’t even have to wait for 100% optimum conditions to go to the beach; you just go. What you find in the UK is that people go outside even if the weather isn’t ideal, because that’s all the time you’ve got.

Right now, even that lovely girl called “under 24ºC day at the beach with an almost unnoticeable wind” is dressing herself more and more attractively. Also, I see a classier lady, not quite dressed the same and not quite the same manner, though still pretty hot, beckoning, and with all things considered, I came for a change so I’ll get in touch with the other when I get back.