What a great way to celebrate summer by going to the beach! It’s hot and sunny, you’re sick of being stuck inside, and you want to spend time with friends and family. Newcastle Beach has always been the go-to summer destination since my childhood. Since graduating high school, my friends and I have been appreciating the more valuable time we spend together. Time we can just chill and enjoy life, instead of worrying about exams and workload. So as soon as the weather was right, we went straight to the newly renovated Newcastle Ocean Baths.
When we first got there it was pretty busy. There weren’t a lot of places to put our bags down, but we found a spot away from all the action. To be fair, it was around midday, so a crowd was to be expected. Once we put all our things down and lathered on the sunscreen, we went straight to the water. For a 31-degree day, I wouldn’t have expected the water to be so cold. I’m not very good with “extreme” temperatures so it took me a while to acclimatise to the water. Of course my friends just jumped right in; weirdos.
Once I could comfortably keep my whole body in the water, I was in heaven. Being able to swim around with my friends, not having to care about anything for a day was just what I needed. We had an amazing view of the beach next to us, as well as the water further out. We could watch the ships going by slowly while floating in the pool. We were just swimming around moving from shallow to deep end, relaxing for a minute and then going back to being the idiots we all are. My friend and I randomly started doing ballet in the water, recalling our childhood exercises.
After an hour or so, the baths started to become less busy. This was when my friends and I could really enjoy the moment. To be able to float around without a care in the world. You don’t really notice how spacious the baths are until the business dies down. All that empty space to swim around in without the worry of waves or rips was amazing. When there aren’t as many people there you start to realise that there’s enough room for everyone to move around without being packed in like sardines, even when it was busy. You also start to notice how much quieter it can be without the crashing waves constantly breaking the shore. You can leave the beach without that ringing in your ear from constant noise.
Sadly, we couldn’t stay at the beach forever. But it’s not a beach day without getting ice cream on the way home. We stopped by a shop close to the beach called East End Ice Creamery. There were so many flavours to choose from and they even had their own merch! You know an ice cream shop has to be good when they have their own merch. Trust me, my friends and I were very satisfied. The flavours were so creative. Tiramisu, hazelnut rocher, lamington, milo, and of course the more traditional caramel fudge and vanilla! I had an amazing time that day. It’s such a simple thing to do in Australia, but you really start to appreciate it when all you’ve been thinking about for the last few years is school, exams and work. A day to just relax with the people that make you enjoy life is the best day I could have.
All photos in this post are taken by me
The Travel Journal 
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