When you visit a place, do you explore a place or do you just pass through?
One of the beaches I often surf at, or walk along, often has vanlifers parked in the carpark. They come, stay the night, have a swim and some breakfast, and off they go. It amazes me that they don't wander around the corner and up the beach a little, to where the real magic is. Knowing this, I tend to make sure I explore at any spot I visit, assuming there are delights around the corner I might just miss.
Some of you might have seen a few sunrises I posted on Threads this week. That's where I'll begin - with sunrise, at a beach on the Great Ocean Road. I've marked it on Pinmapple, but not exactly - to find the exact spot, you'll need to use your curiousity. To be honest, I had lived on this coast for years without knowing this place existed, because I was just as guilty of not going around the corner as anyone else, choosing to surf and go home instead. Admittedly, this is tide dependant too - the safest and best times to walk along Great Ocean Road beaches is at low tide, so keep that in mind if you go exploring.
The Great Ocean Road has some pretty awesome coastline you can't see from the carparks, or the roads. If you're just driving and pulling in for a quick look, you're going to miss a LOT.
On this particular morning, the easterlies had brought up a lot of seaweed, particuarly the pink and white stuff, clinging to rocks. With the morning light, it made for a really pretty sight indeed. I spent a lot of time looking at the tendrils of kelp and being amazed by it. There were a lot of rocks and shells too, that the seaweed had anchored too.
I was pretty stoked to happen across this little guy. I think he's a nankeen kestrel, quite common here. I wondered if he was sick as he let me get quite close.
The cliffs glow at the best of times - but sunrise and sunset are particularly beautiful. They just glow, the layers of clay and rock creating beautiful patterns. There's been a lot of landslides or cliff falls of late, but no danger as yet here, though the soft clay does wear away across time.
I love the relative solitude of this beach. Whereas Torquay can be hella busy even at sunrise, it's quieter here - I saw six walkers, which was more than I'd see in the old days, but I felt a little more peaceful with no one around. In summer, of course, it's a lot busier. I was headed to a beach that's actually in the next town over from Angelsea, quite a hidden beach really as you have to get down a side road to get there. On one end is a tunnel that goes through a cave, which is super cool. You kinda walk over the top of it, which I do here, dangling my feet into the tunnel below.
)
But some of you have seen all this before - it's my favourite walk at the moment so I may have shared it once or twice, though every aspect and every day is kinda different, where you spot a new angle or a new view. I like places that bring something new each time, and I'm definitely not sick of this walk yet.
Today was something super amazing, that I'd never seen before - a shield limpet! Honestly, I'd seen the shells hundreds of times, but I had no idea what creature they belonged to. The poor guy had been washed up with the seaweed and was warming up in the sunshine. He's kinda gross but really cool at the same time. I had to flip him over and google Lens him to find out what he was. His flesh was so black, like he was a real creature of the night, not a rock pool dweller - it was inky black, midnight black.
AFter a while I thought I'd better get him into a rock pool, and that's when the true coolness happened - he came alive, moving his snail like feelers around and happily moving through the water, cooling down from the morning sun. I don't know why he couldn't move across the wet sand but boy he seemed happy to get back in the water again. I reckon I spent fifteen minutes just amazed at him.
But the real treat for me is swimming in the natural rock pool. It's deep enough and long enough to do laps in, and I can never understand how people walk past and DON'T go in. Even if the air is a little cool the water is warm at this time of year. Another guy was swimming there too - he had run up the beach in his swimmers to do laps and must do it intentionally. The early morning low tide is just perfect for it.
After a few laps I walked back up the beach, being like a kid looking at all the debris washed up. There was certainly a huge pile of seaweed - I did think about collecting some for the garden but there was too many people around and I was feeling a bit knackered after my walk!
There was certainly enough to entertain me - bits of coral, shells with creatures still in them (some of which I tossed back into the sea), rocks with all kinds of kelp clinging to them, and even the different kelp in general. I did nibble on some sea lettuce in the rock pools, and now I thought I should have taken some home to dry for nourishing broths, but I didn't think of it at the time.
Maybe tomorrow.
With Love,
Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
The sunrise snaps look "fantabulous!" Makes me really wanna see how the sunset looks over there because for me sunset has an unmatched appeal that no other moment of the day can emulate!
Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful too!
I'm sooo more into sunrises than sunsets!!!!! Funny huh. Sunrises are sooo full of wonder and hope.
These all photographys are sooo amazing 🤩
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @nishani9 ) sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
wounderfull photography ,thanks for sahring these images ..
https://reddit.com/r/travel/comments/11fx8lb/when_you_visit_a_place_do_you_explore_a_place_or/
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the people( @mowgl1ph ) sharing the post on Reddit as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Wow so amazing , nature is really beautiful
Whenever I visit somewhere new, I always make sure I explore the area very well.
Atleast to know the tourist areas around that place. It is really a great thing seeing beauties that nature has laid for us to thread on.
Great pictures man
You gotta explore!!!
It's more fun that way😂
Phenomenal photographs along Great Ocean beach. If I had a gorgeous place like this near me I would visit daily....
Hopefully the nankeen kestral is a kindred spirit admiring the scenery while looking for a seafood snack to wash ashore and not sick.
Your kindness to the shield limpet made my heart smile.
Thank you! @riverflows🐌❤🤗💦
Aw, thankyou - I was so excited about the little guy! He's also called an elephant snail. I wish I could go every day - sometimes I have to work, or I've got too much to do at home, but I can go a lot so I'm very lucky!
Sooooo beautiful. Love the rock formations. The views are stunning. And the tidal pools, a joy to explore and be in.
Maybe he was caught up in the water and was resting, as normally they will fly away. Or sick…
Thanks for sharing 👋🏻😊 have a great day.
Aw, thanks sweetheart. Yes, maybe he was half asleep!
You are welcome 👋🏻😊
Blessings, someone said that we are like a journey, I love to know and visit new landscapes to contemplate the beauty of nature, your pictures are beautiful, the landscapes you show us are very beautiful, the bird posed very well for the cameras looks great.
Greetings and best of success, abundant peace and prosperity.
Greetings from Venezuela.
Thats a ton of seaweed, I use to be the same when I was a kid, going the beach and start wondering around and always get cut, stuck somewhere or in some trouble because I was too curious, its about discovering and details on things that make it special, you never know what you can find walking down a beach
It's endlessly fascinating - I never get sick of nature!
WOW!!!! Amazing place and the photos are so vibrant and stunning!
Thanks for sharing.
!PIZZA
Woooow, es indudablemente hermoso tu trabajo. Me encantó todas las fotos, especialmente cuando muestras tus pies
Absolutely stunning!
Yes, I sometimes wonder about this for my surfing posts... should I show a bit more about the landscape. Do I even worry about giving away too many clues about where the surf-spot is? The number of South African surfers on HIVE seems to be 1... so far! This is not Facebook... yet! So maybe I will show a little bit more without giving the whole game away!!!
AH, the problem of secret spots...fkn influencers. I think you'd be safe on HIVE! I don't always pinmapple it in the exact spot and if it WAS a killer secret break then I wouldn't pinmapple it at all...!
That's some amazing nature! Such rugged landscape. The bird and the limpet are really cool. The kestrel looks like he's posing or maybe sun-bathing. Even your seaweed looks excellent.
Absolutely blessed!
Wonderful photos! In my heart I am an explorer but in my busy life, I often rush by 😳
One of my favorite childhood memories was of walking up to the back of a beaver dam, carefully peering over the top and seeing a beaver swim a lazy circle until he saw me. He rose up, slapped a warning on the water with his tail and dove to safety. Many years later, I visited that small creek high in the Rockies and there was a golf course and the creek was a managed concrete drainage ditch 🤦♂️
Oh way to destroy a childhood landscape!!! It makes me wildly upset and angry....
What a cool sunrise view. Walking along the seashore is the best pastime in the morning. That's so refreshing to read. I'm happy you help a snail friend get back to the water. I'm sure he's so thankful after that assistance. 😅
Congratulations @riverflows! You received a personal badge!
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
Check out our last posts:
5 years, @riverflows!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Happy Hive Birthday @consciouscat
🎉🎈🎂🎉🎈
Oh, actually it's Riverflows Hive Birthday 🎉 She's been on here 5 years!! Cool, hey?
If you (somehow) haven't met yet: Dedicated, kind Arcange (from France?) meet persistent, creative Riverflows (from Australia).
🙌❤️🌏
Damn, I messed up with my reply 😖
Thank you for pointing it
Oh well. I guess you're human after all ;)
Amazing! Now I'm even more invested in making time for a (proper) trip down there! !ALIVE
Hermoso lugar, para hacer una película
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #1806.
Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community:
What a beautiful place!
Looking at that creature, I was also amazed but then when I saw it moving in your next photos, I had goosebumps 😅
This is so mesmerizing to see. The sunrise and the sunset is so beautiful. One of nature's gifts to humanity.
The little weird creature is so cute, resembles a snail but with a smaller shell.
These type of walks would be perfect to go on with a spouse or by yourself, to clear your head and appreciate nature. I'm definitely doing this when I have the chance to.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful snippets of nature. Do you use a camera or your phone?
Amazing pics & stories
Happy Hive Birthday @riverflows
🎉🎈🎂🎉🎈