Hiding Away in Mystery Bay

A recent visit to the skin doctor for a check up resulted in the recommendation of preventative face peel treatment for me thanks to my fair sun damaged skin. Having previously expected to be doing this in 5 years time, it took a little while for me to recover from the fact that it needed to be done now. After the initial shock had worn off, we discussed the best timing for this treatment. The process involved purchasing very expensive cream called Picato (I actually needed two boxes at $175 each!) The cream was applied to my face once a day for three days. Picato induces cell death and therefore kills the cells associated with keratosis (sun spots). As a result the skin reddens, dries out, cracks and peels off over the next 2 weeks. With this prognosis, I started the treatment on the last day of Term 1 and subsequently took the school holidays off. So my birthday was a memorable one but not for the right reasons....I was on day 4 of the treatment program and not looking very pretty!


The next day we packed the car and ventured off to a new spot on the coast - Mystery Bay where I was able to hide away while my face did its thing. We rented a lovely house nestled amongst tall eucalypts and within walking distance of the beach. It was a great find!

The house itself was interesting. From the layout, it seemed that the original house was built for a couple - compact and quaint. It had a mezzanine with queen bed, open plan kitchen/dinning/lounge and the bathroom/ laundry combined. Lots of natural timbers and wrought iron balustrades gave it a warm and homely feel. It looked like the second large bedroom complete with ensuite, walk in wardrobe and interior access to the garage was a later addition.

A large enclosed outdoor area with tables, chairs and bbq worked well. Having been through the house we were still wondering where the third double bedroom and bunk room was. Part of me was worried that we'd misread the info however a  walk around to the back of the property answered our questions - a separate building! The perfect kids retreat....or so we thought....

With an hour or so of daylight left, while Andy was off running we headed down to the beach for our first dip in the water. Mystery Bay is quite sheltered thanks to a few rocky outcrops. The water temp was rather chilly so we didn't stay in long but felt refreshed and tingly. We were excited to spot several small stingrays! The sunset brought beautiful colours and softness to the beach. A nice way to finish the day.