Thanks everyone for your further comments. No problem about it being an old post, always nice to communicate with people about design solutions/problems. Jilly, I posted some photos on 1st January 2016, they appear further up in the post. Garden Beet Pty Ltd, and Morel Construction Ltd, both of your solutions look great, but our problem still remains the western Queensland sun which is pretty vicious on anything that will either wilt, fade or break down. It was quite a difficult challenge to come up with something that was affordable, workable and durable. I would love to have had plants because I believe they soften large "hard" exterior areas, but we have decided that we will do that with pots around the pool area. Still have that to do, even after all this time. :) Thanks everyone for re-igniting this chat. Jilly, hope you find something that works for you.

I have! I love white, but I find that they show dirt a lot more than darker colours. Also, since the pool will be unheated, I would prefer to go darker for warmth.

Thanks for that, rach19. I a man no expert but it looks like both issues are happening. I think I detect efflorescence and the grout itself possibly blended poorly. Please call out whoever built your pool (not the tiler as he's not the builder) and complain and say it's not acceptable. There's no way this should be happening so soon.

Choosing a pool finish has been super stressful because once its done its done! Also, it is so hard to determine what a color will look like given the amount of light, depth of the pool, and surrounding landscape. I think I have finally narrowed the selections down to Ocean Blue Pebble Sheen and Midnight Blue Pebble Tech. Does anyone have experience with either of those? Does anyone have experience with any finishes that have the Shimmering Sea sparkling sea shell blend (does it make that much of a difference)? We really could go either way with the Tec or Sheen. It mainly comes down to color. Any advice and photos would be greatly appreciated!