It was a cold and gloomy afternoon in Adelaide, when my parents and the kids decided to hit the beach. Again. For the best fish and chips in the world of course and the playground. 

After chomping down the fish and chips at the Largs Bay Kiosk, Borey and Boran ran to the playground. They wanted to sit in the blue round swing shaped like a petal and be swung. After a few rounds, my mum asked if could join them. Seeing an excited nodded from them,  she jumped in and started to clap her hands cheering Borey on as he attempted to push the swing forward. 

Standing close on the right was my dad holding his phone, attempting to capture this moment on camera.  He was a serious man and rarely smiled but at this moment, his mouth was set in a permanent smile, as if he couldn’t imagine a more silly moment but immensely happy to see how much fun my mum and the twins were having. 

It was a picture perfect moment and I felt grateful to witness this moment of joy between my parents and the kids. Semaphore Beach and Largs Bay held a special place for my parents, it was a place that they had brought my siblings and I to play when we were younger. 

The Jetty Walk

As I turned away from the laughter, I followed the call of the waves and headed toward the jetty, which was next to the Kiosk. Built in 1882, the jetty was 2100 feet in length but after a storm hit in 1953, it was shorted to a third of its length.

It was the middle of winter and besides a few soul braving the cold, there was barely anyone in sight on the beach or the jetty. In the summer, it is a well known and popular fishing spot for locals.

“Only someone who has a great and deep love for the seas or be a tourist and insane like myself would be there on a day like today,” I thought to myself.

Pulling my coat a little closer, I decided to endured the cold and started to walk across the wooden planks of the Largs Bay Jetty. 

I could hear the sounds of the waves crashing ashore on the white sand of Largs Bay Beach. A few minutes later, I was at the end of the jetty and found myself surrounded by the deep blue ocean. 

As I looked across to where the sky met the ocean, I was reminded of how big the world we live in truly is. Sometimes, we are so focused on surviving the day to day grind of life that  we forget how big the world is. I am not sure about you, but I did.

Looking back towards land, I realized that there was not a single soul on this jetty. 

It was just me and the ocean. It was unbelievable. It was rare if ever that one could truly be just with nature. Perhaps on a nature walk but never with the ocean.  Not for me. I knew I was blessed with a moment like no other. One very few could find or embrace. 

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I closed my eyes and felt the breeze from the Gulf flow around me. There was a smell of salt and fish in the air but I didn’t care. The wind might have been cold but the sun warmed my face and filled heart.

And while I was alone, I did not feel alone. I felt a deep sense of peace and love as if the ocean was refilling my empty cup of life. It was at that moment that I felt everything was going to be okay. 

As I enjoyed this moment of solitude, I realized that I wanted to share this moment with the world. So I opened my phone and turned on Facebook Live. I couldn’t find words to describe the moment, and as I shared the ocean through the video feed, I realized there was no need to say anything anyway.  The moment was magic.

Final Words

Nothing truly soothes the soul like a walk on the beach or the jetty. The moment of laughter and love between my parents and my kids would forever be etched into my memory and theirs. And the walk by the jetty alone was just what I needed to feel whole again. If you haven’t hit the beach lately, I hope you do soon. The beach is more than just sand and water, it peace for the soul and magic for everything else.