Climbing the mountain, twice. Pt. 2

Always good to have a refreshing restart when the minds getting a bit computer foggy.

When I left off the day before I had just visited the bunkers. The walk down was mostly uneventful besides seeing some delicious looking colored berries that most likely tasted nothing like how good they looked.
 

Didnt try one I swear, I dont eat strange berries

Now it was time for some beach. Walking up the path to the water the thing I though most about was how vivid everything looks in Australia. The skies are always dramatic, storms look worse then they are and in general the clouds just always seem to have character. Not to mention of course the bright blue waters of the beaches here in NSW as well.

There was a dude surfing and a couple of loungers in the sand, all together maybe 9 people and it was mid afternoon at this point. I stayed for a bit enjoying the scenery then walked along a path leading to a lighthouse I had seen in the distance and was desperate to find.

Speck at the end of the Island on the left

3rd oldest lighthouse in Australia from what I read somewhere. I traveled through the trees walking past the next georgeous beach decievingly far away as the trail looped in bizarre ways around the hill. No way to get there by car it was almost empty except for the backpackers on a tour walking close behind me discussing language differences. Feeling a bit anti social, but happy and wanting to be alone I took a photo and moved on the the next beach which was unfortunently a public car access beach and much more crowded. Not feeling it, I skipped it.

 Have you ever climbed a sand hill? It sucks majorly. Every step is a half forward and a half backwards, sometimes full slip it takes twice as long and can be frustrating as hell. At the top of a sand hill however you know that very likely something incredible will be waiting for your eyes so you press on as hard as you can for that scene.

Oh yeah

Unfortunately due to my poor planning skills I hadn't realized to get to the lighthouse you had to cross a rather treacherous sand bar. It was high tide so according to the signs that pretty much meant death. I had no waterproof case for my electronics and i didn't feel like drowning so I decided that it wouldn't be happening today, low tide was still too far away and shocker I had no water. I could see a town about a mile away and decided to take a quick swim and walk there for some food and drink.

I forgot my water as well, sucks for us

I got to town, nothing much there but rental houses and small fast food take out joints. I bought a large bottle of water and jumped on a bus back to Shoal Bay to find a cafe. I sat across the street from the water waiting for my food as I turned on my iPods wifi. Messages long ones from my dad poured in. He had downloaded a photo to use and found the resolution on my pictures was about half of what it has the capability to be. 

Dafuck? How had I never bothered to check any of this, how did I not know it existed and who has their camera at half its potential?! I thought this over, all of my pictures to this date were only half of what they could have been was my first though. How big could they be printed without pixels showing? My mind jumped to a fuck this shit reaction and I was dismayed almost thinking I was done with this running around taking useless photos. But really I cant be done with this shit, I love this shit and I can say right now I live for this shit. So upset with myself I looked through the menu switched some settings around whilst screaming profanities in my head. I decided at that moment I had to re climb the hill and take all the photos I could again because if I can get better well, I need the better.

I missed the dinner that night retaking photos but it was so worth it, plus I'm the Au-pair and am still very conscience of the fact that I'm not part of the family so at those functions I feel a little uncomfortable. Despite the fact you are welcomed, I like my independence and am not looking to impose on family gatherings. 

Because of my disappointment with the photos I could not retake and may not have been able to use depending on the print sizes, I got up the next day for sunrise hoping I could make up for lost shots. Someone was looking out for me because off shore was a storm, I love photographing lightening. I stood on mosquito beach getting eaten alive tying to capture bolts as the sun rose in spite of the clouds.

Had I been within the range of accessible public transportation I would have stayed another day and gone to the lighthouse but this time I was not as lucky. It was however a great weekend and beyond beautiful. I learned a lot and had my first real photography frustration, I think I came out okay from it. Now I know just a bit more after all. 

Got a new lens on Tuesday so pics should be even clearer I hope, got my nose pierced as well, it hurts. I'm planning on a Sydney weekend, ghost hunting at Manly Quarantine, Sydney harbor at night non-iPod shots and an International pub crawl all in the opposite order. I hope to god I don't lose my camera, it'll be a responsible pub crawl?
Until next post, adieu.