Going Steady in the Windy City: Geraldton Foreshore

My date worked all weekend, so the closest we got to quality time was power-eating takeaway La Italiano in bed on Friday night — provocative, I know. Luckily, the obligatory nature of this column means I shall never thirst for romance. This week, we planned a workday lunch-break picnic on the Geraldton Foreshore. You do not need a dollar in your bank account to enjoy our world-class foreshore, and you only need a few to drag a second-hand hospital knit blanket and a few plastic containers of snacks to the beach. We managed the whole affair on a shoestring budget, packing up a pre-made salad, some celery, popcorn, musk sticks and pineapple, and grabbing two Diet Cokes from the fridge. The most expensive item on our shopping list was the fancy chopped liver we buy from the Platform Markets for our kelpie Uma, who accompanied us down to the beach. The weather at midday was premium. After what feels like an eternity of clammy hot wind, Mother Nature has finally cut beans and prune juice out of her diet. Just a few days before winter officially starts, the town beach still looked like something from a postcard, and the sunshine was still warm enough to heat my bones after a frosty morning. What’s more, the sound of the corellas’ assassination in the background kept things interesting. Uma made a scene every time she heard a gunshot in the distance. I suspect it was all for attention. She spent much of the meal on my date’s lap, cuddling up to him while I munched on celery from the other side of the make-shift picnic rug. “Aww girl, you are all right,” said my date to the wrong woman. I didn’t live in Geraldton before the foreshore development, but I don’t take it for granted. Everyone likes to have a whinge about the council spending — or “wasting” — money, but investment in public space is an underrated equalising force. Geraldton’s modern seaside culture isn’t limited to people who can spend an arm and a leg on an avocado toast and exotic coffee beans. I am sure most folks would not have it any other way.