It occurs to me 100 metres above the beach. Foreigners would pay a fortune to experience this, I think, as I take photos from the drone hovering silently overhead.

Login or signup to continue reading

The waters below are clear and travel brochure turquoise, the small crescent of sand shimmers in the early morning light. In the water two swimmers duck under the waves - men in their autumn years playful as pups in the surf. A woman fossicks around the rocks at one end of the beach, perhaps searching for sea glass or shells. At the other end, a man throws a ball for his dog. And that's it, the morning "crowd".

I've done it hundreds of times, walked the same bush track to the beach where I launch the drone. But it never gets old. Every day is different, the sea's moods changing with the wind, the tides and the seasons. If I'm lucky, the drone will capture a phalanx of cormorants heading out to fish. Or a school of salmon swirling as one through the shallows. Even a humpback resting just off shore with her calf. It's endlessly fascinating.

For me, the daily ritual of a walk through the bush and a flight over the beach and headlands is also a celebration. I've seen plenty of coastlines in my travels but when it comes to beaches, Australia wins every time. We're girt all right. By sea that sparkles brighter and cleaner than most other places.

Our national story is moored in the sea. We cling to it, most of us living on the coastal fringe of our island continent. The very first settlement is thought to have been via land bridges that once joined us to Asia. The other "first" settlement came by ship from the other side of the world. And the waves of........

© Canberra Times