A drawer of bikinis and nowhere to wear them

In Hawaii my weekend attire consisted of a mix of sundresses, shorts, bikinis, and slippahs. In my excitement to pack for Tasmania, I filled my two suitcases with a brand new fancy black coat, a Patagonia black bomber down jacket, office clothes, "weekend clothes," and bikinis. Now that Ive been in Tasmania for two weeks, Ive realized I have a drawer of adorable bikinis and nowhere to wear them! Its a problem. Here in the land down under, Summer is quickly fading into Fall, and the beaches aren't that close to my small town of Launceston. Ive been feeling the urge/need to put on a swimsuit and jump in the ocean.

So when Mark said we'd take a drive to a North coast beach, I was excited to wear a bikini feel the sand between my toes, and put my feet in the ocean. The plan was to drive about an hour North to Green's Beach. Mark and his friend were going to freedive and attempt spearfishing. I wanted to lounge and recover from my hangover from the footy match shenanigans the night before. Armed with a plan, sunscreen, and dive gear we started off on our Saturday road trip. After the long scenic drive and pulling over a few times to "calm my stomach," we got to a lovely beachside town. I could not wait to get some fresh ocean air. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we were bombarded with flies. Not just a few flies. The town was infested with flies! Swatting flies away from my face, I was ready to jump back in the car and sleep, but I was on a mission. I marched to the beach thinking that the flies couldn't possibly be on the beach. I was wrong. I found a spot to set up camp. I tossed and turned on the sand, covered in flies, trying to have a relaxing beach day. It didn't work. The only thing that kept me on the beach for 30 minutes was that my massive hangover was not allowing me the energy to physically move my body. But after 30 minutes in the hot sun, I could feel the sunburn developing. The UV index was high that day. I needed to get out of the sun. I searched for shade and couldn't find any on the beach. Eventually I walked towards the spot Mark and his friend got in the water. I saw the guys floating. Im pretty sure the flies were attempting to attack them in the water too. I was sitting on the rocks, trying to ignore the flies around/on me. There were so many flies that they were behind my sunglasses...thats a lot of flies. After 45 minutes on Green's Beach, I was ready to leave. Mark was ready too, which is rare because he can easily spend 5 hours freediving. He said there was no life in the ocean. Nothing. From the pictures, the beach looks nice. Maybe it was the hangover, barren ocean, really cold ocean water, or strong UV rays, but it wasnt the beach trip I had expected. Admittedly, Hawaii did spoil me. Since Summer is ending, Im not sure if i'll get another chance to sun bathe much longer. I am looking forward to checking out the beaches on the East coast of Tasmania. I will probably be sporting a thick wetsuit for those waters though. 

Look-out to Green's Beach. It was a very sunny and clear day.

An empty-handed, wetsuit-wearing, speargun-armed Mark. Hes a sad frustrated diver here.