Although we seem to be constantly busy… I love the freedom we have around retirement.
The other day we headed off for a walk… we intended to go to for a foreshore walk…
Which for us means anywhere between Shorncliffe and Brighton…
Depending on the day, and how busy it’s likely to be.
But as we were coming through Sandgate… my husband noticed we were driving around what appeared to be a lake…
In his usual wisdom he said “swamp”… that’s usually his comment anytime we see a body of water that’s not the sea!
But then he noticed there was actually a path around said ‘swamp’…
So we decided to take a closer look.
It wasn’t a long walk at all, just shy of two kilometres…
But there were a few bird hides along the way…
Quite a few birds… and some turtles.
There were some information boards around the lake – a bit rundown and in need of a refresh…
And an odd signpost that now only points to Alaska and Japan…
We discovered the lake is called Dowse Lagoon…
(Although on Google Maps it’s also labelled as Sandgate Second Lagoon Reserve.)
Thomas Dowse was a British convict originally sent to Sydney… but later pardoned… and by all accounts lived a pretty successful life ending up as Brisbane’s first Town Clerk…
And he’s recognised for his active promotion of Sandgate as a business and holiday settlement.
I have no idea how many times we’ve probably driven around the lagoon and never really noticed it before…
Often because we have a set idea of where we are going (on this day the foreshore) so you don’t think to say ‘ooh what’s that? Let’s stop here.’
I’m so please on this particular day – we did – thanks to Michael.
I like to think I’m helping him become more mindful in our retirement…
But I think this shows he’s also helping me to see and notice things we could easily have ignored.
We had no set time or date for the foreshore… and in fact didn’t even end up going there…
We just went with the flow… and it was just lovely.
Ann 🙏