"Seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care"

This morning we felt like going out for breakfast, so we got in the car and drove to Manly. We tried a café we'd never been to before ― Whitewater. After a little consideration of the menu, I chose the toasted pear and walnut bread with bananas, rhubarb and whipped cream, with a Parkers organic apple and raspberry juice. Graham went for the eggs benedict with smoked salmon, and a passionfruit, orange and apple juice. For Louka we'd brought a jar of apple and mango delight.

The pear and almond bread turned out not to be a yeast bread as I'd expected, but a cakey loaf like banana bread. I couldn't detect much pear or walnut, but the stewed rhubarb set it off perfectly, the banana went well, and the whipped cream, while rather unnecessary, was pleasant enough. The eggs looked nice and fresh, topped with a good sprinkle of salmon roe. Louka's apple and mango purée was less runny than some, and contained a higher percentage (19%) of mango than another brand we'd tried in the past. She seemed very eager to eat it. She also ate a slice of banana from my plate.

After breakfast we wandered round to Shelly Beach. We got out Louka's brand new swim nappy and the rashie she'd been given, and changed her on the sand. Then a big wave came and wet the towels and clothes, so we rushed to move them and hang them over a railing.

While Graham went to the change-rooms to change, with my help Louka walked down to the water. When a little wave broke over her toes she gurgled with delight. Another, bigger wave swept over her thighs and she laughed again. She sat on the sand and let the water run around her. When I saw Graham returning I picked her up to go to him, and she cried to go back in the water.

However, she may have got a bit cold, as she no longer enjoyed it when she went back in. I took her up to the grass and gave her a breastfeed, which cheered her up, then went to change too. But she still wasn't happy going back in the water, so we decided to call it a day. Louka fell asleep as we walked back to the car.