And that is a wrap.

Until Next Time,

Sea Ya!

hehehehehe…..

Clichéd title reference: √

My trip to Melbourne was largely impulse driven. It was a trip where I’d wake up in the morning, hit the streets and then simply let my whims do the guiding, so when my mum left me to my own devices on a Wednesday morning, I told her that I’d simply explore a different part of the city, especially since it promised to be a rainy day.

Now, when I stepped out, armed with a Mickey Mouse bag, I glimpsed the tiniest patch of blue sky, amidst a cloudy backdrop and my feet simply directed me…..

Here….

Onto a train, taking me outside Melbourne.

hehe.

One of the things on my Melbourne bucket list was visiting the Brighton Beach. I had planned a very adventurous itinerary for the same, involving a walk from Brighton Beach to St Kilda’s Beach, based solely off of my idea of the place, so when the time came to put my plan in action, I did have beginner’s jitters, which made me really think of when to visit Brighton, but that tiny patch of blue sky was my calling, so there I was, on a train to Brighton Beach, solely led by an adrenaline fuelled heart.

The Brighton Beach Station is a five minute walk away from the actual beach, so when I got off, I spent my five minute walk in disbelief that I’d actually made it to Brighton Beach, without telling anybody. Well, partly in disbelief, because the houses that lined the road definitely diverted my attention.

Whenever I see house with a view of the sea, my mind immediately starts planning a future life in such a house. So far, I have planned my life by the sea in Mumbai, Goa, Pondicherry, Santorini, Istanbul, Newcastle upon Tyne and finally Brighton.

If anyone has any other place in mind, lemme know.

I am not, at present, equipped with the means to buy a sea view house, but rest assured, I will plan my entire life around the property.

hehe.

Finally, Brighton Beach.

When I thought of the Earth as the blue planet, I used to believe that the sea everywhere is nothing but adrenaline-fuelled water, crashing on sand, but once I started experiencing the sea in different places, I realised that the sea has a different personality in each place.

For instance, the Arabian Sea in Goa, is very warm and welcoming, and waves gently embrace those who dive into them, the Bay of Bengal in Pondicherry is one that commands respect, owing to its big, rough waves and a reminder that the sea is the most powerful element on the planet.

The Southern Ocean in Brighton(and other parts of Victoria) has a sense of calm, mixed with an air of grandeur. When I glimpsed the Southern Ocean, I felt it was like a Princess of Seasons, since Melbourne is a place that literally experiences four seasons in a single day, and the ocean changes colour with the weather.

Here, we have a steely green Southern Ocean, against a cloudy horizon. This was my first glimpse of the Brighton Beach and it made me forget all my apprehensions and filled me with a sense of gratitude for that tiny speck of blue sky that made me come to Brighton. I simply stood there, looking at the sea, with nothing in my mind, save for the joy of being alive.

When I reached Brighton Beach, I was the only person on the beach, so it was just me with the ocean and it was absolutely brilliant.

When I was planning my trip to Melbourne, the Brighton Beach Boxes were by far the most popular thing-to-see after Kangaroos and Koalas. Before starting out, I wasn’t sure if I could manage to see the Bathing Boxes but when I saw them in all their glory, I literally did a little happy dance and clicked a picture of them in every angle possible.

I actually tap-danced on the beach….There was no one watching, save for a sea-gull who looked at me funny.

hehe.

The Brighton Beach Boxes are used by the people who live on the Bayside. I heard that they get a license to use the Boxes and the license is passed down families. I did actually see a person leave one of the Boxes and get into the sea to train for the Ironman.

Like the triathlon, not an adaptation of Marvel’s multiverse theory.

hehe.

If I ever accomplish my dream to live my life upon the Brighton Beach and I end up getting a license to use the Boxes, here’s a glimpse of how it’ll look….

Now, Imma talk a bit about preparing for a beach day.

While visiting the Brighton beach, one must have a jacket with a hood for wind protection, waterproof attire for rain protection, a nice, sturdy hair tie, also for wind protection and sunblock for sunburn protection.

I always like to prepare for my trips, so, when I set off for Brighton Beach, I carried none of the above items.

hehe.

No seriously, it was the day when my resourceful braincell(singular) decided to remove the hood from my jacket, because I was going for a Barbie Fashionista look in a hoodless caterpillar jacket. I decided to secure my hair with nothing but a pair of tiny red tic-tac clips for a more candyland vibe and all I had in that Mickey Mouse bag was a Dora the Explorer doll to reinforce the fact that I was a girlie on an adventure.

So here’s a picture of me feeling very sea-princessy as the wind takes my hair for a ride and I feel the rain on my skin(as advised by Natasha Beddingfield in Unwritten) while my Dora The Explorer doll looks inside my bag for my missing braincell.

Trust me, I have never been happier.

The picture was clicked by a sweet lady, equipped with cap, hoodie, umbrella and sun-block.

Did I mention I wore red, dangly earrings that swayed in the wind?

It’s called living fashionably on the wild side.

Not effectively…..But 10/10 fashionably.

I also wore liquid eyeliner….

Here’s a few pictures showing the Beach Boxes. There’s 93 Boxes in all and each one of them has a unique design. I walked the whole stretch containing the boxes and the vibrant designs really made my heart do a happy hum. I did have a few favourite designs, so here they are….

I love how the Boxes depict surfing Koalas and a surfing Cockatoo.

Very cutesy….hehe.

I also love the colour schemes. When it comes to painting, I always prefer brighter colours and the Boxes really matched my vibe with all their vibrancy.

When I glimpse the ocean, I am immediately engulfed by the urge to dive into the waves, but since I was not equipped to do that here, I did go close enough for the waves to just caress my feet and I saw this beautiful shell, sitting majestically on the sand. I love the blue-purple tinge on the spiral and it feels like some sort of a magical object that can be used to communicate with Neptune or a mystical seahorse

I did not pick up shells from the beach because it is often used by crabs and other Crusties for shelter but I was really awed by how beautiful it was.

Here’s another shell which I found among the wave debris. Loving the beige monochrome palette here. This shell found its way back to the depths of the ocean when a rather colossal wave crashed over it, so I was lucky to get a picture of it.

At the beginning of this post, I told ye folks that the ocean changes colour with the weather, so here’s a glimpse of that magic. This picture was taken around fifteen minutes after the first picture of the steely ocean and what we have here is a bright blue hue against a gentle sky, adorned with a rainbow.

I was so, so lucky to see a rainbow. It was like a sign from up above that told me that my whimsical decision was the best decision I ever made. Feeling the sunshine after being drenched in the rain was really comforting and I simply soaked it all in, while finishing up my camera storage with pictures of the said rainbow.

This is also a good time to tell you that I did not have sunblock in my Mickey Mouse bag.

Sunburnt Barbie would be a good addition to Mattel’s vision of covering every type of Barbie.

So would a Barbie with one braincell.

hehe….

Finally, here’s a glimpse of the whole beach in the sunshine. The ocean is slowly transitioning to a more greenish hue as the clouds are beginning to gather once more. This was also the time when the crowds had started to arrive at the beach so there was a lot of excited chatter mingled with the crashing waves.

This was where I left Brighton Beach to start on a walk along the Bay Trail to get to St Kilda’s beach in Melbourne.

Here’s a glimpse of the start of the Bay Trail. It is one of Australia’s most scenic walks, involving a 6km trail between Brighton Beach and St Kilda’s Beach. The trail is literally the definition of Robert Frost’s Road Less Taken because when I walked the trail, I only came across about nine other human beings. It was just the ocean, scrub vegetation and me with my Mickey Mouse bag:)

I will be talking about the trail in the next blog, continuing the Bay Walk series.

And that is a wrap,

Until Next Time,

Sea Ya!

hehe.