Short update to provide some links to recent posts and news around Australia (and overseas) that made for interesting reading. If anyone has any news items like these and want to share them, just drop us a line via the contacts link (particularly if you would like to be a regular news/article contributor).

First up, Clean Up Australia Day (CUAD) will be upon us in a month, so time to get organised if you haven’t already. We’re pleased to see there are already a couple of sites registered at our favourite beaches – if you are local to either Pt Impossible in Victoria, or Birdie Beach in NSW, register with the CUAD site and get along! CUAD at one of our official beaches is a great way to show you support our free beaches, and want to keep them pristine for the enjoyment of ALL beach users! Don’t forget to wear appropriate clothing in areas off the beach, and follow the local instructions regarding safety during the event.

In other news, there’s a new site for people to check out!! Ultimate Designer Clothing – it’s a bit “tongue in cheek”, since no clothing is _obviously_ the ultimate in designer wear (!), but we recommend you check it out because it seems to be aimed at the Australian youth demographic!! Check out this article, which introduces the intent of the site and why it was created. A couple of the other interesting posts we liked included “15 reasons to be naked”, and “The steps to becoming a free spirit” – check them out, and make sure you leave a comment on the site showing your support for this new effort!

There’s been lots of news lately surrounding Ladies Bay in New Zealand. It appears there’s been a bit of a furor over signage even though the beach itself is not exactly official! For a quick overview of the articles, you can try here, here and here. There’s even a few comments from beach users on this site here. The reason we raise the NZ discussion here is because it is so similar to the battles we have had with our beaches here in Australia – but interestingly, many of the comments suggest that some signage would have solved the issue, and not wholesale police action or beach closure! Kerre Woodham, a NZ Herald columnist, wrote a pretty interesting commentary as well, and is worth a read.

If any readers here went along to the CAVN Samurai Beach Picnic day yesterday, we’d love to get a report on how the day went! In fact, let us know how all your local events go, via the contact page, and we’ll post the updates here on a regular basis!