A driving day today. We headed off first thing from Port Stephens and drove down the coast to Avalon Beach. Avalon is named after Avalon (!) – the final resting place of King Arthur, though we can be fairly sure he didn’t make it out here. According to Celtic legend Avalon is an earthly paradise and though it is nice here, earthly paradise may be overstating it a little ….
Trading on the earthly paradise theme, an episode of Baywatch was apparently filmed in Avalon. The producers of the programme were finding that their California base was getting more and more expensive and the proposal was to move all production to Avalon Beach. However, following complaints from residents (including local property owner and former world surfing champion Mark Warren), Baywatch moved permanently to Hawaii. The Pittwater Mayor at the time, Alex McTaggart, clearly jumped on the right bandwagon as leader of the protestors as he was then elected to the NSW State Parliament for two years.
Our apartment actually overlooks Bilgola Beach, the next beach south from Avalon. The name “Bilgola” is thought to be derived from the Aboriginal word Belgoula meaning “swirling waters” – something the surfers clearly enjoy.