A hot Sunday morning. No air conditioning in our home in Bradleys Road, Terrigal, the house Sue and I built five years earlier. The warm sea breeze from Avoca filtered through the open windows. Our three children demanded some respite — on a hot day, North Avoca beach was our usual place to go. The family piled into our brown Ford Cortina, we drove the short distance and found one of the few remaining car parking spaces.

Sue and I carried bags of food, clothing and children’s toys. We often met extended family and friends at the beach. Our favourite patch of sand near the rock pools was claimed for the day. Two-year-old Peter, the youngest of our children, played in the water cascading down the rocks. The others, Jon and Sally, aged five and six, braved the small shore breakers. Sue smothered herself with sunscreen while monitoring the children.

I rested on my large orange beach towel as my eyes wandered to the surf and surrounding sunbathers. Time out was my reward after the weekly train commute to Sydney. Now my eyes focused on my family, the children all covered with sunscreen. Our cousins had somehow found each other!

Sue laid out enough food and drink for everyone, and for any friends who might still arrive.

By early afternoon, the Sunday morning fun and sun had disappeared. Dark ominous clouds had gathered over the Beach.

Sue instructed, “Let’s pack up”, which included a lot of beach sand. Back at Bradleys Road, our home was still too hot to rest. One by one we showered, then ate some more, because it was an exhausting day. The afternoon was spent relaxing in front of our new colour TV. Sally, our oldest child, said, “that was a great day. Let’s do it again tomorrow!”

We agreed. We loved North Avoca beach. It was a long weekend and I knew we were building memories that would last a lifetime.