Bargara Beach (posted Thurs. 2nd March)

I drove to Bargara Beach this afternoon in the hired car. I parked on the seafront and ate my sandwich, watching the waves crashing on the rocks and the rain beating down on the windscreen. I drove around the tiny place a couple of times with a view to getting a hot drink, but decided that nowhere looked appealing.

Before leaving Bargara I followed the signs to the esplanade and parked at the end of the drive for a last look at the ocean. Three or four other cars stopped there too, the drivers and passengers looking out at the wild weather from behind glass - as I was doing. I was just about to drive off when I noticed that one man had got out of his car. Dressed in faded blue swimming shorts and a T-shirt, with bare feet, he opened one of the rear doors and got out something that looked like a neatly folded blanket. It turned out to be a battered tan suede jacket, which he struggled into as the wind tried to take it from him. My reaction was, 'Is he mad?!' But immediately I thought, 'No, he's got the right idea!'. Why is it that as soon as we get into a car we are separate from the environment - protected and sanitised, safe - and reluctant to immerse ourselves in it. I watched him progressing along the beach, battling the wind. I took off my sandals, pulled on my kagoule and got out of the car. The wind and rain hit me full on - it was like being washed and blow-dried all at once. Black rocks, red and black sand, sea pools; the patterns and textures in the sand, made by wind and rain. I stood on the edge of the shore and the waves rolled in - the water warm as it lapped over my toes; then the drag and suck as the waves pulled back, my feet sinking into the sand. I thought of the 1000s of miles of ocean out there and I could feel the pull of it. It's easy to understand why someone might just walk into the sea and keep going.

As I turned to go back to the car a pelican flew low over the beach. I took a last look at the broad sweep of the bay. My trousers were soaked through when I got back to the car. I wasn't bothered!

There's a lot of new building going on at Bargara and around it. It won't be wild much longer.