Not that we Aussie's seek solitude, it might be a wide-brown land but the locals no exactly where they want to live and it 'aint in the middle. Beach culture is hardwired into the Australian brain. Nearly everyone grows up with the beach in their lives. Australia's love affair with the beach is not the decadent lazy love affair that you see in the Costa Brava or the Costa del Sol. It's more of an passionate, steamy wrestling match.
Beaches become less of a clinic for injections of vitamin D than an extension of public space.
Part of our relationship with the beach is governed by our weather and the large amounts of sunshine we enjoy. The sunshine comes at a cost though. Our own sizeable whole in the ozone layer coupled with a population containing a large portion of individuals from pale skinned northern latitudes has meant that Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. A ruthless public education campaign has alerted each and every Australian to this fact and we now live in perpetual fear of the sun. We dare not emerge from our domiciles without lathering ourselves in sun screen, donning hats and suitably impermeable clothing.