Aldinga Reef

this is what we did on New Year's Day.

we drove an hour down the coast to Aldinga parked at the top of a cliff near a bin. the bin smelled of old crayfish we climbed down the sixty wooden steps to the beach.

the beach was half sand half heaps of dry brown seaweed, not the place for a picnic. broken concrete steps at the bottom of the wooden steps not the place either, near an outlet too, not the place.

we walked out onto the yellow sandstone reef it was hard. we walked a long way out it was windy. we sat down on a rocky platform with the sea gurgling behind us an expanse of reef in front and in the distance frothy spume. at the edge of the reef many metres away stood the seagulls and skuas and cormorants or whatever it was that they were. they were looking out to sea oblivious.

we ate the food we had brought.

this was a zuccini fritata, leek and gruyere tart, green salad and some cherries. these were rich and soaked up admirably the Cockatoo Ridge sparkling wine which was pink. some wine spilled on the sandstone where it fizzed loudly. five people appeared in the distance far away under the high blue sky and climbed the steps.

we stood up walked around peered into rockpools poked around in them with a stick looking for signs of life. most of the crabs were dead in pieces one dead crab arranged tastefully as by Picasso in a tiny hole, cheese and rhubarb coloured pieces of crab, circular.

we squelched through polypy pools of tepid water to the edge where stood the birds facing out to sea looking for what birds look for there. one of us approached them carefully until getting too close they flew away and floated in the water some way off except for one which did not care enough to leave. when we moved off they came back except the one who was already there.

we turned squelching back towards the steps, different steps that did not look so steep. but sixty steps is sixty steps and it was a long way to the top.

from the top, you see the fault lines in the reef.