I’ve asked some of my favorite bloggers to hold down the fort while I’m lazing the days away on Kangaroo Island. To kick things off, I’ve got one of the best music bloggers I’ve found – Agnes of It All Started With Carbon Monoxide - to talk to us about vacation music…

While A Free Man is enjoying some fun in the sun, he’s asked me to share some holiday music with you. Last year in the September school holidays I went away by myself for the first time. It was nothing major, just a couple of days in Point Londsdale and Queenscliff which are gorgeous Victorian coastal towns about half an hour past Geelong. My grandparents had a caravan down there and we used to go there for holidays a few times a year when we were kids. I actually had no intention of revisiting the places we used to haunt as kids because I wanted my memories of those times to remain untainted, but I gave in to temptation and ended up paying a visit to the caravan park we used to stay in. I was immediately struck by how small it was. Things always seem so much bigger when you’re a kid. We used to tear around the place on our bikes and there was this huge hill I was often too scared to ride down. Turns out the ‘hill’ is little more than a gentle dip in the cracked asphalt. Perspective is an incredible thing.

I also sat for quite a while in a little area we always called ‘The Terrace’. It overlooked the ocean and wasn’t too far from the caravan. My grandpa wasn’t very agile but every day he used to make his way to the terrace and sit on the bench overlooking the ocean. We would often join him and he would tell us stories or just listen to our chatter. As I got a little older sometimes we would just sit together in silence, enjoying the beautiful view.

Revisiting that park bench last year wasn’t a pilgrimage exactly, but I certainly felt like it was a place I had to return to. My grandpa was an incredibly sweet and tolerant man with a really cheeky sense of humour. He’s been gone for over four years ago now and I still miss him every day.

Aside from a trip or two down memory lane, I spent my time sitting on the beach, photographing piers and lighthouses and driving the winding coastal roads. I had just discovered Hello Saferide around this time and there were several songs I couldn’t get enough of. Whenever I hear ‘Anna’ or ‘San Franscisco’ or ‘2006′ I’m immediately transported back to those drives along the coast, with the window open and the sound up loud. Not only are they fantastic songs, but they conjure up a heady mix of memory and sun and some time alone, and back then, that was exactly what I needed. And maybe one day they’ll become part of your fondest memories too.

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icon for podpress  Hello Saferide - "2006": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
icon for podpress  Hello Saferide - "Anna" [3:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 
icon for podpress  Hello Saferide - "San Francisco" [3:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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