Ok, well neither of us grew up near the beach. (Dubbo! so not even close! lol)
I always wanted to live on the beach. Always loved visiting Grandma here.
When I was 17 I convinced mum we needed to move. DH came too. I love it, he doesn't. He doesn't get the whole 'water' thing, lol.

We've done both since having the kids. Bush & beach. I do love both lifestyles, but I choose beach for my kids. This way they have the best of both worlds. They can just go hang at the beach, go for a surf, etc. But at the same time, we go out to mum & dad's, 40 minutes away & ride motorbikes & have bonfires too. They also spend time out west & go yabbying etc.

We live in a beautiful little coastal town a bit south of Coffs. Small community, but a holiday village, so there are people always coming & going. There so many things here for the kids to do. Nippers, athletics, surfing. During the christmas holidays the AOC (I think, we call them the God squad) come & set up a camp on the cricket oval for the whole 6 weeks & have a huge range of activities for all the kids to participate in. You don't have to be part of their camp, & its all free.

I'm so happy here. You have to be on your toes, because there are always strangers in town, due to it being a holiday town, but its also pretty close knit
West will always be home to me though. It is me iykwim.