A forecast of some surf arriving took us out to the beach today. Although the waves weren’t due until the late afternoon, we headed over a little earlier to enjoy the winter sunshine and spent a bit of time mucking about and experimenting with capturing some reflection photos as the light was good and the air calm.

The morning has started off well, but we both had a few errands to run and jobs to do that kept us busy until lunch. It was bitterly cold and the tops had had a fresh dusting of hail over night.

It was also cold at the beach, but the low sun and calm conditions made for an atmospheric walk.

The clarity in the air was superb and the cold air seemed to make everything feel so crisp – including the reflections as we jumped between streams and pools on the beach.

It took quite a lot of attempts to get the photo I was looking for, with complete reflection.

This one was my favourite of the day.

If you look closely at the photo above, you’ll notice that it’s been flipped upside down, but somehow the slight ripple on the water made it look like clouds in the sky. Before it actually got dark, but less than an hour before sunset, the waves arrived! We got changed and headed out in to a surprisingly warm sea (well, warm for late November, while decked head to toe in neoprene!).

The surf was fantastic! Just four of us in the water, a spectacular sunset, sea birds returning home, steady sets of waves and some incredible rides along green waves. As we paddled in to catch the last waves, it felt like it went dark as the wall of water reared up before breaking – then once you’d stood up, it became light again! It was 2 degrees when we got back to the van, and still just about light. Buzzing from the rides as much as the ambience, we got changed quickly before it got too cold to function! An absolutely amazing evening…