Australians have an affinity for the beach like no other people. It is our most natural and accessible playground and we embrace it with uninhibited gusto.
Renowned photographer Rennie Ellis, steeped in beach lore since his early days as a lifesaver and surfer, has put together this vivid collection of quintessential images of Australian beach life with great affection and insight.
They shimmer with summer light and an infectious sensuality. Candid, humorous, provocative - they take you on an eye-opening journey from Cottesloe to St Kilda, Bondi to Byron Bay, Whale Beach to Noosa and more. Nothing escapes his experienced, inquisitive eye as he cruises the beach in search of those memorable icons of the Lucky Country by the sea.
Since 'Life's A Beach', Ellis's enormously popular original beach book published in 1983, there have been changes on our beaches - mobile phones, nipple and navel piercing, the revival of the Malibu surfboard, beach volleyball, a big increase in female surfers and lifesavers, the professional iron man and iron woman's circuit, the neck-to-knee sun protection suits for kids and the annual open water swims that attract thousands of competitors.
They're all here and much more in this dazzling book which reminds us how good it is to be an Aussie at the beach.
