Hyams Beach

the land of lost beaches

sand for DAYS

A couple weeks ago, me and couple friends decided to head down to Jervis Bay for a day trip.  It was a nice 3 hour drive down south (I was asleep for most of the way).. lucky me.  Oh real quick sidetrack,.. we stopped by some place to eat/ get some coffee, but I had the heartiest pie ever.  it had some basic beef + gravy, then add on some bacon and an egg in the middle= delicious! ... ok back to the story.  I didn't know what to expect of this place (I guess have have a habit of not knowing what to expect).  Well, I just knew it was south and the beaches are supposed to be "nice"... Quite an understatement if i ever heard one.  Anyways, our arrival in the bay ended up with us getting lost (surprise surprise).  We must have driven 40 minutes just trying to get to this one lunch place.. and didn't even find it.  But whatev.  we found a cafe, and took our sandwiches (well, they got sandwiches, I was content with an apple strudel and juice) and strolled down to a beach.  Sitting there in the sun, with the sand below our toes, the day just drifted and swayed.  After a seemly distant time, we got up and seeked out Hyams beach.  This beach is known for two things: having a deceiving pronunciation... and the whitest sand beach in the world (guiness book of records.. check it)

waters gonna water

 To describe how phenomenal the sand is... it squeaks.  lemme explain.  the sand here is so fine that when you scruff it with your foot, so many particles (sand) rub up on each other and break the sound barrier (produce the squeak).    Now I must remind you it was still winter.  So good news,.. we pretty much had the beach to ourselves.  Bad news.... water was just a tad chilly, but that wasn't gonna stop us.  We ditched our gear and went for a swim.  This was probably the clearest water I've ever swam in.  You could see the sand below the water, even 50 yards out.  And the sand was so fine, walking in the water produced a sort of underwater dust cloud, though it seemed the sand behaved similar to a puff of flour or baking soda.  Although the water was a bit cold, we soon forgot it and splashed around the waves.. After a while, the waves got a bit bigger so we rode the waves on our backs and let the swells roll us around til we got tired.  But the sun was still up!  after a round of coffee, we took a most excellent stroll on the beach.  The consistency of the sand led a long and in-depth conversation of the 'sinkage' level and comfort between our toes.  We strolled on and on til we had lost a sense of time.  Eventually we turned around, just as the sun was setting behind the hills.  It was a good day; the scent of sand lingered on my clothes as I drifted to sleep on the drive home.

dusk