I had a non-alcoholic gin and tonic one evening at a country pub. I asked the waitress, "What is a non-alcoholic gin?" She said , "Well it's really just water flavoured with botanicals." That flavoured water was amazing, it was clear with a slice of lemon and served with tonic water and tasted fabulous. My brain said if it's just flavoured water, why not try and make my own with Tasmanian edible plants. So, we did. My wee helper and I. We picked and chopped in half 25 pepper berries, added 8 sassafrass leaves chopped finely, squeezed half a lemon and mixed it all together. The juice from the pepper berries turned our concoction a deep red. We added tonic water and we had our pink gin. It was our own magic potion. It looked amazing. It tasted fabulous. It was fun.

This was a random recipe and you could change the amounts to suit your taste. You could make your own brand of gin with any flavourings of your choice and we will no doubt try different concoctions and brew up some more fun. And if alcohol is your thing add vodka or gin to give a real boost. 

On Friday nights there is a train of vehicles heading to the coast. Small cars weighted down with kayaks or surfboards tied precariously to roof racks. Larger vehicles tow caravans or boats of every size. Many cars have riderless mountain bikes perched in a starting position on the roof, but mostly on racks behind the cars, the bike sizes reflecting the ages of the family. All fun stuff.

Summer fun. Getting away from the humdrum of modern life to the beach. To relax in the beauty of natural areas and experience some serious fun; swimming, fishing, bike riding or sandcastle making on the beach. We are attracted to areas of great natural beauty, especially those around our coastline. We can't wait for the weekend to leave the suburbs behind and go surfing.

Then there is a lightbulb moment, this is so much fun, why don't we buy a block of bush and build a beach house, then we don't have to cart all this fun stuff. And we want a view of the sea, so another level with a deck would be great, and clear the trees and coastal scrub to make it neat and tidy. Lastly, landscape the area with a fence to mark our territory, a concrete driveway and a pebble garden with a few colourful plants. Perfect.

It's perfect, but what we are creating is a fenced suburb next to the beach, one house at a time. The bush disappears into houses surrounded by concrete, and meandering walking tracks are replaced with sensible footpaths with kerb and guttering. It becomes organised, neat and tidy. Just like home. What we are leaving to get away from it all, we have just recreated, in a different location, one house at a time.

What if we thought about beach suburbs as a new way of living. Living in harmony with a natural area that enticed us here in the first place. Inviting nature into our lives so we benefit from their presence, to have wild birds that become so quiet they will eat out of our hands. What if we thought of fences as a strip of natural bush that allows echidnas to wander through, and wallabies to mow the native grass.  We can enjoy the antics of all the birds that feast on our bush fences. We don't have to visit national parks; we are actually living in one.

When we clear a bush block for a building site it will naturally regenerate itself without us doing a thing. We don't have to buy plants, water, or mow lawns. We can just lie back in a hammock with a glass of wine and relax. After all, this is what beach living is all about. Cheers.