A pleasant change of scenery

1 image only, check the hole in the cloud where the rain and lightning is coming out of...! f/4 0.6sec ISO100 17mm

  A bit of a change of scenery for me these last few months, chasing work I've ended up in Nambucca Heads, NSW building a bridge as part of the new highway to replace the death road. When I say death road that's exactly what I mean, so many people have been killed on this part of the highway and I was so close to becoming one of them but that's a story for another day, pretty stoked to be part of this helping saving lives.

  Anyway my expectation of the area wasn't great but once I toured around a bit on me days off I discovered it's one of the most beautiful places I have seen, white sand beaches broken up by rocky headlands creating long point breaks, waterways that wind themselves around the bush lands heading to the great ocean. A lot of it is very accessible and as you can see from the image above they have awesome lightning storms which makes me very happy. The surf isn't big and pretty inconsistent but with beautiful point breaks like Crescent Head it reminds of the old days when I was surfing at the likes of Te Awanga in Napier, NZ. Might be time to try get back in the water again...

  So here are a few of the shots I have taken in the last 4 months of being here and I've been pleasantly surprised by it all. Hopefully in the coming months there'll be a few cyclones send some glorious clean lines down so I can explore a bit more and see the real potential of the coastline.

  Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all especially to everyone in Ireland that I miss so much.

Sawtell doing it's thing

It went off for about an hr and it was stunning to watch with the sun shinning thru

And yup they drop in on everyone down here too, bloody muppet!

My new home for a while, Nambucca Heads 

This one's for Dad, Merry Xmas

Me mate Scotty checking it out

Heathe Joske on a damn shallow wave

The Living Dead

The bridge we're replacing

A local artist and his canvas

Bananas everywhere

I luv this shot, absolute classic

No beer, whaaaatttt. Yeah right...

Got home a few days ago for Xmas and Mum wanted me to capture a photo
for her, I hope I done it justice Mum and this is what you were thinking of
Merry Xmas

This is the last photo I took before leaving Surfers Paradise, cheers Steve for giving me a hand again

Thank you Gold Coast - A few shots from my stay

   Wow 18 months on the Goldie was a treat but now I have moved on to south of the border. I'll miss it in many ways like the reason it's called the Gold Coast, golden sand beaches and golden sunrises. The whales, the point breaks and the weird shit that happens when Surfers Paradise by night comes alive with the twisted antics of the young out to have fun. My view, ohhh my view from my apartment never got old, getting up every morning at the crack of dawn was a daily ritual for that golden sunrise over the ocean. Kitty O'Shea's was my little place for a chilled out pint meeting a few randoms on the way and sharing stories of travel and surf.

   Sooo anyway here's a few of the best bits from my time on the Goldie, thanks to all that made me welcome and my stay that much more enjoyable.

Took me the whole 18 months of my stay to finally get this shot, Surfers Paradise by moonlight

The beautiful Amanda King with a voice of an angel, Amanda has an amazing voice and kept me entertained on the quite nights

When the surf did turn on in Surfers Paradise with Sth swells it's a vast playground for natural footers

My balcony view the morning after Anzac day, just luv this shot

Experimenting with ideas for photos taught me a lot and opened my mind past surfing, it's always a bonus when you have a down to earth beautiful subject to work with. Thanks Krystal for your time and patience

Taking photos of people you meet learning to surf, their smiles says it all. Steph pure stoked

Meeting these 2 girls was such good fun, Danielle enjoying her first surf

This shot turned out beyond my wildest dreams, this is taken in one shot and it wouldn't have been possible without me mate Steve, cheers mate

That's me in their and Steve acting the drunk, my first attempt at doing this and I'm stoked to say least

The "Twin orb" as I call it, thanks to my Mum and Dad for keeping an eye out for me camera with this one when they came to visit

Photographing this man is a treat for anyone and should never be taken for granted, thee greatest surfer to ever grace our oceans, respect

Another multiple world champ I had the honor to photograph, Steph Gilmore's one amazing person

Heaven and hell...

Perfection

The biggest I got to see Snapper, this was a crazy day of shooting these nutters taking off behind the rocks while I was sipping on cold beers from the Rainbow bay surf club balcony!

Barrel time Kirra style I

Kirra barrel II

Kirra barrel III

This one's gotta hurt

Superman impression

Kirra barrel IV

Simply the best thing I saw on the Goldie

If you don't do a whale watch boat trip while here you're nuts, this was hands down the highlight by a mile for me

Bit of fun at Waterworld when me bro and the family came to visit

I've always wanted a shot of lightning hitting a building, Q1 getting zapped. This storm was super intense and I came close to getting hit myself, 2m above my head, maybe a bit too close!

One of my favourite subjects, full moon rising

Sunrise, this is the Gold Coast's magic time of day

a few good nights had in Kitty's

My "Liquid Storm" name printed on Guinnes pints along with my favourite big wave breaks in Ireland, stoked. Thanks Kitty O'Shea's