Newcastle Beach

The last time I was at Newcastle beach was late November 2005. Les was working at a house out near the Wentworth Hotel and so I would spend time there waiting for him to get done. A few times I sat looking out over the ocean and timing contractions, which all proved to be false alarms. That particular November afternoon, very pregnant, I had left work a little early because I was having intense cramps in my lower abdomen. It felt, and I thought, it was the worst gas I had ever had. I went to Newcastle beach to walk the shoreline in hopes that the pain would go away. It didn't, and by the time I picked Les up from work I could barely get out of the car. When I got home I called the doctor, who told me that what I had been experiencing was the seperation of my pelvic bones, as the baby's head was dropping and getting ready for birth. I won't go so far as to say the pain was as bad as labor, but it was easily the second most intense pain I'd felt in my life.

So today, I revisited the beach, baby in tow. It was the first time Magnolia has ever walked in sand, and she wasn't too thrilled about the idea at first. When I put her down in the soft section, she cried until I carried her to the firmer packed sand at the shoreline. Even then she would only stand there and point and yell at the different rocks. By the time we left, she was at least walking on her own.

A Tiptoe through the tulips

A Magli in a bucket

...and at Crackskulls, the local coffee shop