I took Claire and James to Clearwater Bay Second Beach today. We drive by the car park for it at least two times a day but James has never been there. I took Claire once or twice when she was quite young. She didn't remember it.
What a day we had! Both kids didn't want to leave. I originally thought that we'd go play for an hour or two and then go home for lunch. Over four hours later we finally left! Claire (who always seems to be hungry) didn't want to go eat lunch. She was too busy digging, splashing and, later, body surfing.
It was overcast when we arrived and there was a plethora of seaweed. We moved down the beach about 30 minutes after we arrived to a much nicer spot. By the time we left, there were about 70 people there. Not many people were in the water. Basically us (and we didn't go that deep) and the really intense old people (they remind me of Cocoon) who swim everyday. The few that I saw today had lots of gear: wetsuits and the women had these face coverings---kind of like what you would wear skiing but for the water. Kind of creepy. Early in the morning there are large groups of elderly who go to the beach. I used to drive by them every morning on my way to work. They'd be done swimming by about 7 and would be waiting for the #90 bus.
By the time we left, it was BEAUTIFUL. Sunny and relatively hot.
Attire ran the gamut: a few people had swim gear. Most wore regular clothes but with the pants rolled up. Quite a few children wore shirts and underwear. And one child, wow, she had on layers including a winter hat (which she never removed) and a vest.
Claire and James definitely want to go back to the beach next week if the weather is nice. I won't take them on a Saturday or Sunday because there will be too many people around.

