Cottesloe

Sometimes, when you’ve heard about a place, seen a lot of photos and anticipated things to be just like you’ve seen and heard, you can be disappointed. Not so with Cottesloe. It’s a place I can never get enough of. Cott is about 30 minutes from home. It’s just across the river and around the bays. If there’s nothing else on then a trip to Cott is. I love it in summer for a swim. The water is full of shells. It break very very close to shore and sometimes, the waves receding back to King Neptune are bigger than those breaking onshore.

This summer one of life’s big decisions was made there. We were all having a lovely swim on a very hot day, the umbrella was up and the kids were swimming. I got a text to say that the beach house at Lancelin was free and we could go up when we were ready. The plan was to go the next day. As we were all swimming and throwing a ball, we took an in-surf vote about leaving for Lancelin then and there. The vote was 5 to 1 in favour. The chaos that ensued was laughable but in true Griswald style we made it to Lancelin in time for dinner. Cott and Lancelin all in the same day!

I love Cott in March too when the sculptures are on the beach. They draw an amazing crowd but they are worth the effort to see. My favourite has been the whale (2014) and the flamingos (2015). But I have loved almost every sculpture I’ve seen there. This year, they even had one underwater off the breakwall for those with a snorkel and goggles. We missed it but if they do that next year, I’m in.

Just around the corner from the breakwall there’s a fabulous sundial. I don’t think many people know it’s there. And it’s a little bit tricky to get the hang of. But when you do it’s accuracy is amazing. Next time I go there, if it’s sunny, I must remember to have another look.

Of course the big draw card for Cott is the Indiana Tea House. I think that’s just a stupid name for the building but I know nothing about it’s history. I just know I have about 100 photos of it. It’s so very beautiful. It looks forward over the sea and watches people swim and play. While the people stand on the breakwall and look back at it. I’ve never eaten there. Maybe some day. I’ve pee’d in the very draughty and open bathrooms there though!

My favourite time to go to Cott isn’t summer. I love it there in summer. But I really really love it in winter. There’s not as many people there, the surfers are in the water, the weather does this amazing thing where it comes in over the ocean, dumps torrential rain and goes again. I’ve seen whales just off the shore there in winter. Swimming about where the surfers catch the waves. A mumma and her bubba.

Cott is a great place to go, sit in the car and drink a vanilla milkshake. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on milkshakes at Cott but I’ve never had a bad one and they make Cott taste good. All my sense come alive when I go to Cott. I was there today and only left when it was too dark to see anything.

The sculptures 2018

The sculptures 2020

The Sculptures, 2021. Rest in peace Douglas.

The sculptures 2022.