Australian Skin

                                                               At Noosa Beach yesterday.

             Well it is a fact that Australians wear a significant less amount of clothing than most Americans... Sure, maybe places like Miami and the California coast could put up a fair fight against that claim, but still, I'm from Oregon and no, we don't dress like that, not even at the beach...  I have observed in my short five months living here on the sunshine coast of Australia that I have never seen so much skin in my life.  It is not always an easy thing as a previously divorced and now newly married woman that each day you are bound to see at least ten girls in nothing but bikinis, and that's on a day when you just are going to the store!  If you're going to the beach... well it's hundreds. 

          With all of this flesh-baring Australians take their suncreen seriously, which they should, because as my husband claims, "it only takes 10 minutes in the sun to get fried".  At first let me tell you, I didn't believe him and I learned the hard way after spending half an hour sitting on the beach trying to get a "tan" only to discover later that my legs had been cooked like a couple of snags, the australian word for sausage.. yeah it hurt..

Mick and Esther lathering on the sunscreen.

                                       

Lucy all white-faced and ready...

                                    So yesterday Mick finally took me up to see the famous Noosa beaches.  Known as some of the most beautiful beaches on the Sunshine Coast... which is saying something.  And they really are.  Naturally, Noosa is a major tourist hot spot so you are likely to come across people traveling from all over the world, which we certainly did:  an asian couple from Japan out for a surf, brittish people wearing way more clothing than anyone else there with cameras around their necks, and my all time favorite, two german guys in their mid twenties all decked out in what they obviously considered the authentic Australian garb... Kaki shorts, kaki ranger hats and boots... it was delightful.... Hahah.

Lucy and Esther looking out at Noosa beach...

Me, Mick and Lucy and Es at Noosa

Looking out over the cliffs.  Beautiful!