It takes me about 20 minutes to run there (I walk through town for the first 5 minutes – you don’t run in town, people would stare – and it’s hilly, ok?), have a swim, and then 20 minutes back again – no nicer way to start the day. This morning I passed a guy on the track, carrying his groceries – potatoes, bread etc. I was intrigued because each time I have gone to the beach lately, I have seen this same guy. But why the groceries to the beach?
I was just getting ready to run back again and he arrived at the beach – I asked him about the slaters which are on absolutely every surface today – every rock, every tree root, even on the beach. He said that they are buba -seems they are brought out by the heavy rain – then got the courage to chat to him and ask him zasto (why) he has krumpir at the beach. He said that he has been coming to Nugal for 28 years and each year spends time with the same group of friends – and they like to build a fire and cook their rucak (with a ‘ch’), their lunch, and eat it together. He was disappointed at the market this morning because there was no kukuruz – sweet corn- so the potatoes were going to have to do for lunch today. What a lovely thing to do. I had noticed the smoke stained rocks at the far end of the beach…
And that got me amusing myself as I ran back, thinking about another guy that was at Nugal one day. He was there with his wife and three young daughters – they were in kostim za kupanje (togs) but he opted for no togs, completely comfortable with his own nudity. His daughters had goggles and snorkels to play with in the sea. I was trying to work out which country they were from (him particularly) and decided maybe that small island called Weirdo, or the larger island of Very Odd.
Now, where he seemed comfortable with his own nudity, he seemed more than interested in everyone else’s situation. He stood knee deep in the water, facing the beach with what one can only describe as a fevered brow. Each time anyone, man or woman (and only if they were naked) headed in to the water for a swim, he grabbed the snorkel and goggles from his poor bewildered daughter, and immediately snorkeled towards the naked swimmer, getting as close as he could to them, sometimes within 60 cms! It was plain for all to see what he was doing, but I was intrigued to see that his wife wasn’t bothered by his behavior. The rest of the beach were laughing and pointing. I don’t know what he thought – maybe he thought that the minute he put the goggles on he became The Invisible Man! The faster he swam towards a naked body, the faster the people walked further down the beach away from him. I was waiting for someone to push his snorkel under the water!
It’s a great little beach – because of the longish walk, there are not so many tourists there, it isn’t crowded, it is beautiful and as you can see there is always something to amuse me (I’m easily amused). By the afternoon it is mainly locals who head there for a swim after work – and then as the sun goes down it is a lovely walk back home again. Who can argue with that. (And will I find somewhere similar to go to on my way home from work when I get back to Auckland…. *sigh*)
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