Coasting: A year by the bay

Travel writer and journalist Susan Kurosawa's captivating account of how she and husband Graeme Blundell dropped out with style.

Tired of soy milk lattes and eternal traffic snarls, journalist Susan Kurosawa and husband Graeme Blundell bought a 1920s fishing shack at Hardys Bay on the NSW Central Coast and set about transforming it into Peacock Cottage (named for resident bird Alfredo). This introduced them to the local coastal fraternity of builders, plumbers, painters and other amiable ferals from Mother Mary the real estate matriarch to Adam the Gardener, who only works when the planets are properly aligned and there s no surf. In the course of a year, Susan and Graeme go native: he buys a ute, she becomes foster mother to the local bird population and threatens to take up watercolours and pottery.

Featuring black and white illustrations, snippets of local history, special recipes for local seafood and produce, as well as information on local plants and animals, COASTING is sure to appeal to everyone who dreams of acting out their own Sea Change .