On Thursday we drove down to the South Arm Peninsular and visited Opossum Bay. It is a beautiful bay with great views across the water to Mount Wellington. Like many such places in Tasmania it has become a popular spot for beachside holidays and retirement. Unlike many Australian beachside settlements the housing is not flat but tiered up the dunes, the resulting vernacular architecture is like a cross between Australian beach culture and Greek Island chic.

As I was walking up and down the beach admiring the view and looking at the houses I noticed something. A lot of the gardens had a row-boat or a tiny in the garden. In many cases the boat was almost new and in good condition. The boat represents a dream to spend time in this beautiful spot and go out on the water fishing – an antidote to the stress and bustle of the world many of us live in.

After a while the boat doesn’t get used that much, time commitments probably prevent the owners getting out to the beach house as often as they like. Slowly the garden plants start to encroach upon the boat.

Eventually the holiday or retirement dream of spending time at the beach house fishing in the bay becomes a long forgotten idea and nature reclaims the boat and it becomes as though it had never existed as either an idea or a physical reality.