We've unloaded the last of the bags from the car but the sand lingers. We had six lovely days by the beach and I've come back feeling as if I've finally exhaled a year's worth of tightly woven stress.

The second I saw the sea I felt the muscles in my shoulders relax. I'd forgotten just how wonderful it is to be near a large body of water, especially one that's strongly connected to so many of my memories growing up.

What compares to a wave? The sound, the contours? I think I'm still drunk on fresh air. A few highlights: cricket on the beach, swimming with my family at dusk, watching a dog chase a ball into the surf, cooking prawns in a pan with butter and garlic, walking in the rainforest, climbing a hill that overlooks the town and the harbour, watching a sting ray unfurl itself in the shallows, eating crayfish three times! Staying up late playing board games, collecting stones and shells, finding a perfectly round rock-pool crowded with starfish, listening to the rain on the roof, reading a book... for hours at a time, watching the night sky turn pink as flares shot into the air at the stroke of midnight... with people I love.

I hope you had a good one too.