Packed with Summer Life on a Winter Day – Terrigal, New South Wales

I could take a bus, but that would be boring. Heavy grey-black clouds hover in the sky, promising to soak me. It doesn’t matter. This day, I have decided, I will, for the first time since I traveled to Australia, explore the town immediately next to mine. A beach pounding with surf is just a 10-minute walk from my door, and I wind my way through the streets in its direction, cockatoos and parrots flying about. I hit the sand, kick off my sandals and begin the hour-long trek to Terrigal.

What is today a very popular resort town 85 kilometers north of Sydney on Australia’s Central Coast was originally inhabited by the Guringgai or Awabakal Aborigines. Like so many towns in Australia, it has kept a variation of its original aboriginal name. Several different meanings are attributed to “Tarragal,” my favorite being “a place of or where one can find wild figs.”

A pretty wild breakfast place is what I find immediately upon arriving. Not past 10:00 in the morning and the music is blasting with a large crowd milling about at the packed Bellyfish Cafe. I’ve never before experienced a bar-type atmosphere for the breakfast crowd. I like!

Not so much, though, that I eat there. I decide instead to grab something from Bakers Delight nearby. On a metal bench positioned on the crowded boardwalk I then sit and eat what soon reveals itself to be the best scone on earth – lemon, white chocolate and softness. Its texture is a major factor in my love of this scone, I decide. I’ve never quite learned to appreciate the hard, crumbly nature typical of this British treat. I finish it off while watching yet another of Australia’s exotic species of birds hop around on the ground by my feet.

The blackish clouds which hung over me earlier now float away, and I decide to spend my time in Terrigal along the boardwalk, lined with scores of shops, restaurants, and masses of people. The store exteriors seem rather blah, but inside I find most of them are extremely upmarket and sell some pretty original items, many made in Australia. The moment I walk inside Terrigal Bakery, I sorely wish I hadn’t just filled up on the best scone in the world. Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City” blasts over the speakers as I gaze longingly at photogenic pastel-colored cookies and cakes. Adorable. How they taste, unfortunately I may never know.

Later, walking past the Aromas on Sea cafe, I for some reason ask if they serve dinner. “Not now,” I am told. “Only in the summer.” As I stand in my capris and sleeveless blouse, looking at the girl who tells me this, I remember that, on this July day it is winter here in Australia. It is difficult for me to keep the season in mind, as the pulse of the people in Terrigal on this “winter” day feels similar to the summer vibe of many resort towns from where I hail in New England.

I take off my sandals once again for the walk back home, the winter beach devoid of people but filled with the sounds of crashing waves competing with squeaking sand. A winter day spent in the busy town of Terrigal makes me wonder. What does the heat of summer bring to this Australian resort on the sea?

Thumbnail crowd photo by krynsky