So what do you do on the second day of Autumn, and it's 36˚C?

I'm using the term 'Autumn' very loosely here, by the way (though I did pass a very optimistic Plane tree in town, with almost all its leaves gone)!

Well, you go to the beach of course.  So I went to my favourite cafe, the South Beach Cafe, for lunch with a friend, and immediately thought 'damn, wish I'd brought my camera'.  Because I've been moaning about how horrible and hot it is here, and that I'm really not a summer person, and looking with extreme envy at all the lovely pictures of snow on all my favourite blogs...and it dawned on me how much I love this cafe and yet it's an essential part of what summer is all about, or should be all about, here in Western Australia.  I've been going to this cafe for years, and the first thing I love about it is that it hasn't really changed at all.  It's still essentially a beach kiosk, where you can wander in wearing wet bathers and sandy feet, on a long patch of grass with big pine trees providing very welcome shade, right next to a beautiful beach of turquoise water and white sand.  So you wander down to the beach, have a leisurely swim (which we did, and the water was perfect), wander back up with sandy feet, sit on the grass outside the cafe (as we did) or sit inside and no-one will look twice at your bare feet or care that you're dripping onto the paving, and order simple but pretty damn good food at reasonable prices, and good coffee (my other half fancies himself a bit of a barista, so good coffee is appreciated).  I didn't take my camera, but a quick web search and I found they have their very own website with pics, and even a couple of videos to watch.  So here's a few piccies for a little summer dreaming.

Inside the cafe...no dress code, YAY!  Though this must have been a colder day (it's open all year round, and I'll go there anytime!)

Just over those bushes in the background, is the beach.

Free live music on weekend afternoons, and well-behaved 4-legged patrons welcome.

There's those bushes again...and the beach!

Great place to go for an evening swim and watch the sunset.

No explanation required really!

Sometimes I think we West Aussies are very spoilt when it comes to beaches.  We really do have the best in the world!

As a final note, watching the dodgy little video of South Beach led me to other videos on YouTube of West Aussie beaches and scenery...seemed kind of silly to watch at first, I mean I live here, but then I started reading the comments left by other people.  People saying things like "One day I'll live there", or "It's been my dream for so long to visit".  And it was good to be reminded how lucky we are, no matter where we are really.  If we have food on the table, a good roof over our heads, and live without fear of war or famine or persecution, with our loved ones around us, then paradise is wherever you make it.