I have a picture in my living room, on the wall to the right of the projector screen. Laura and I bought it several years ago when we visited renowned Australian photographer Ken Duncan’s Gallery in Matcham, which is on the Central Coast in New South Wales. The gallery was almost right next door to Laura’s relatives, although from looking at Ken’s website it looks as if they have moved and opened a new Central Coast gallery.
The picture is of Whitehaven Beach, in the Whitsunday Islands further up Australia’s east coast, in Queensland. Whitehaven Beach is listed as one of the world’s top ten beaches, and is a stunning place. We had visited it a couple of years before on an earlier trip to Australia.
We both liked the sentiment below the picture, and the whole image summed up our attitude to life, and our reasons for moving to Australia.
I still look at that picture now, and read the words, and think that it is very good advice. I also suppose that this sort of thinking is part of my reason for doing what I am doing now. It is all part of making a new life, as the life I had when we bought that picture is no longer possible for me.
The text reads:
Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
For your interest, Guardian travel writer Gavin McOwan lists his top ten beaches as being:
1. Las Islas Cies, Galicia, Spain
2. Tayrona national park, Colombia
3. Porto da Barra, Salvador, Brazil
4. Anywhere on Palawan, the Philippines
5. Nungwi, Zanzibar, Tanzania
6. Arambol, Goa, India
7. Whitehaven, Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia
8. Shell Beach, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset
9. Sinclair´s Bay, Caithness, Scotland
10. Aroa, Aitutaki, One Foot Island, Cook Islands
You can read his article online by clicking here.
To find out more about Ken Duncan and see some of his amazing photography, visit his website at:
https://www.kenduncan.com/