Josephine Cafagna is grateful to be among the throng heading back to Lorne.
Seven summers ago I proudly declared in The Age that I had finally learnt to swim. A bit embarrassed that it wasn't until my 40s that I had found the courage to challenge my lifelong fear of deep water and taken the plunge. There was also a deep regret that I had lost so many great Australian summers, unable to do what one should do on the beach.
I learnt to swim at my local 25-metre pool, and on brief occasions braved open water. Back then I set myself the goal of swimming point to point at my local bay beach. 
I'm happy to report that I met that point-to-point challenge. It was on Australia Day a few years back, in the Williamstown Swimming & Life Saving Club's one-kilometre challenge.
The day I did it, it was rough. I recall swimming in a zigzag much of the time to avoid the swarms of jellyfish. I didn't avoid their sting, and the record will show I came in somewhere at the back of the other competitors. All the other competitors.
I swam in a few other ocean swims, including that famous summer water bash, the Lorne Pier to Pub. But please don't look up my times; as I like to say, it's not about the time, it's about finishing.
Our summer ritual now is to go to Lorne with extended family for the Pier to Pub, not for me but for my avid swimmer son who's pretty fast in the water.
I pulled out a few years back when they decided to increase the number of swimmers taking part in the event to 5000. You see, the event is run in "waves" of categories of swimmers, each starting five minutes after the previous category.
Due to the fact that I am not so swift in the water, some swimmers in the "veteran men's" wave catch up to me, and while many of them I'm sure are polite gentlemen on land, in the ocean there's not a second thought given to swimming over the top of someone like me.
I can tell you, that's scary. It's the equivalent of having people walk over the top of you if you happen to fall over - only you're under water and struggling to breathe.
So now, alongside thousands of other spectators, I happily confine myself to the beach, cheering on the 5000 or so brave souls who take on the challenge (been there done that) and searching for my son among the wet-suited bodies that emerge from the pounding waves as they prepare for that final sprint up the beach to the finish line. Do you know how hard it is to identify one person among a sea of black wetsuits?
This year there's added purpose to heading to the surf coast - to support the local businesses who've taken a hit from the Christmas Day fires. Not that I need another excuse to shop in those lovely coastal boutiques or to eat out every day.
We know that living amid such beautiful coastal bushland, within earshot of kookaburras and seagulls and ocean waves, can be treacherous on those oven-like summer days, but it is a beauty just too irresistible. I hope the throng in thongs this weekend will help alleviate some of the pain caused by the fires.
I love feeling part of the holiday coastal community for a short time each year. It doesn't matter if you're a local, a regular or a day tripper. We're all there for the same reason. To enjoy the beautiful beaches, bush coastline and summer weather that Victoria has to offer as time away from the daily routine of working life.
It's also another gift that learning to swim has given me: a great excuse to head to the coast, throw on the bathers and play in the deep water. No fear. And I am still making up for my lost Australian summers.