Each year for as long as I can remember, I’ve gone on holidays to stay at the family beach house at Bilinga on the Gold Coast. It has been in the family for generations, the land was bought by my great-great-aunts/uncles after the War and has been passed down through the family over the years. The house has changed over time - there are some great photos up on the wall that show what it looked like 80 years ago, and the various family members enjoying their time at the beach. Sadly we’re coming to the end of an era, increasing costs and taxes etc have brought it to the point where the family can’t afford to keep the house any long, so it’s on the market to be sold. Chances are we’ve just had our last summer holiday there, and I’m feeling a bit sad and nostalgic!
It’s a teeny little beachfront ’shack’…
As a child, I remember staying there with my grandmother, great-grandfather and my mum and brothers and sisters. We would stay for a week or 2, and Dad used to come down on the weekends after work. There was no TV, so we played board games, did lots of puzzles, and learnt all sorts of card games. I remember the boredom of being a teenager, stuck with no phone, no friends, no TV, having to go with my nearly 100yr old grandfather when he went for walks to make sure he didn’t fall and hurt himself. At the end of highschool I spent Schoolies week there, stayed there with a bunch of friends when I was at Uni. That was a lot more fun! 
In the last 12 years it’s come a full circle and I’ve enjoyed seeing my own children having fun on the beach, doing all the things I used to do.
I’m going to miss the place once it’s been sold!