Wild weather

It's very hard to believe that this is the same beach I photographed before, isn't it?

To say that it was an extremely windy morning would be an understatement. It was actually hard to walk in a straight line, and wind whipped up the sand and flung it into my face as the rain bucketed down. But this did not stop me from taking photographs, because I simply had to show all of you how my beach looks on such a blustery day.

To my surprise, there was one other person at the beach this morning:

She was obviously training for the Berlin Marathon.

Sunset

FRIDAY EVENING

Miss Commentbox and I just returned from an evening stroll and thought you should really see a picture of our beach at sunset. This is the southern end of the beach, and the pool is filled and emptied by the changing tide. There was one lone swimmer doing laps, and a very long and beautiful horizon.

Good night everyone.

Between the flags

FRIDAY MORNING

What a difference a day makes. Bright sunshine, clear sky, still quite chilly but in an invigorating and optimistic way. In answer to Julia's question, yesterday's swell was not really that high at all, and the ocean can get much rougher than that here. I should also point out that this little beach is not visited by many surfers because the surf here is considered to be quite tame. The beaches to the north and south of us are surfing destinations, and I might wander down there next week and take some photos of them as well.

Here is a close-up of the bright blue of the ocean, for Beth, with love.

The water is actually at its warmest now, it felt really good on my feet...but that's as far as I got.

Between the flags

THURSDAY MORNING

It's pouring with rain this morning, but not quite as chilly as yesterday...or maybe that's just because it's not as early. There is almost nobody around, although the flags are up. I walk slowly under my big red umbrella, noticing one of the regular swimmers walking along the beach with her friend. She is probably in her late 60s (if not 70s) and I see her almost every day going off for her ocean swim with her swim-cap and snorkel.

The two of them walked down to the north side of the beach, she took off her fleece, handed it to her friend together with the umbrella, and slipped into the water.

Unflagged

WEDNESDAY MORNING

It was going to be a busy day for me, so I had to get down to the beach very early. A dark grey morning, very cold (in Aussie terms) but not too blustery. The sun was just rising behind the clouds. So early that even the lifesavers were still snuggled up in their warm beds, so the beach was completely unflagged - wild and free.

P.S. Some answers to your questions: The flags show where it is safe to swim. I shall try to capture some close-up vibrant blue when I see it, with pleasure. And yes I do indeed walk with Blue who loves the sand and waves (but is not allowed on the beach), will gladly swim in the coldest weather, but detests (with a passion) all skateboarders and cyclists who pass us by (there's a cement walkway along the sand).

Between the flags

TUESDAY MORNING

Not quite as cold this morning as it was yesterday, and much less windy. The beach didn't have quite the same brightness about it, perhaps because a few light grey clouds were slowly passing by. There were quite a few small waves, making it hard to remember yesterday's smooth, mirror-like ocean.

Between the flags

MONDAY MORNING

I have decided that I will take a picture of the beach every morning this week. This is today's photo, and as you can see the ocean is completely calm due to a westerly wind. It was a cool, crisp morning...a great way to start the week.