As it approached midday I thought I’d look for some lunch. I was building an appetite, seeing as I got up so early and I’m not really big on breakfast. I turned off and headed toward San Remo. I thought about heading to Philip Island but as I approached and saw the bridge, I figured I’d been there a bunch of times already and could always come back for a day trip once I return.

There wasn’t a whole lot in San Remo. I stopped at the local servo and grabbed a snack to keep me going til I found somewhere decent. It was really starting to rain down quite heavy. I pulled into a car park looking out over the ocean toward Philip Island. It was quite a dramatic scene with the wind swept white tips of the waves set against the stormy sky. I tried to get some photos of it but it was just too wet and hazy.

A lot of people hate this sort of weather but I love it. There’s so much energy and passion in a storm. These are the times the Earth feels most alive. Parked up high, with no protection, the wind battered the rain against the car, while I was warm and cozy inside.

After some time of admiring the storm and taking in its energy, I hit the road again. As I approached the small town of Kilcunda, the rain had eased again and patches of blue sky were visible. This was turning into a real schizophrenic weather day. I thought it’d be a good idea to take advantage of the break in the rain and explore some of the beach areas.

Click Here To Purchase Image For such a small town, I was surprised to find that there were at least three different beaches. One of them even had a huge trestle bridge crossing it. A remnant from the old train days. However, it was the distant wind-farm that grabbed my attention. Giant, majestic windmills towering above the horizon, so tall and powerful. These massive, yet elegant, manmade constructions seemed totally alien against the rugged landscape. Yet somehow, at the same time, it felt like they were in perfect harmony, almost as if one could not exist without the other.

After a good hour of exploring, I got back on the road. It was getting on for two o’clock and I was really getting hungry. I made another pit-stop, this time in the popular tourist town of Inverloch and grabbed a burger from one of the local Fish n’ Chip shops. While waiting for the food to cook I downloaded the photos I’d taken so far, onto the laptop.

There were some OK shots but nothing really special. The gloomy overcast weather was really taking the life out of them, making it all appear flat and dull. I was a little disappointed for all of about thirty seconds, then the burger arrived. I packed the computer away and focused on enjoying the food, forgetting about the shots.

Once lunch was finished I decided not to stick around in Inverloch as again, I felt I could come back any time for a day trip. It wasn’t long before I hit the beginning of the long country roads with not much to do but drive. This is one of the reasons I wanted to do a road-trip, long roads where it’s just me, the car and my thoughts. I turned on the CD player and started to sing along loosing myself in the moment.

The day moved on and the Sun was getting lower in the sky. I really wanted to get a Sunset shot. In the early days of thinking about this trip, I had wanted to get a Sunrise and Sunset shot everyday. Considering this was my first day and I already missed out on capturing the Sunrise, I figured it probably wasn’t going to happen. I did want to get this Sunset though. The sky had cleared up quite a bit but there were still enough clouds to make it interesting. All I had to do was find an area free from the trees that had been obscuring my view for the last hour.

I could feel the adrenalin rising as I raced against the clock. The sky was starting to turn orange, signaling that time was nearly up. I raced along the road, scanning the area for a clearing. Suddenly, a driveway to a crop field. I slammed on the breaks and swung the car onto the track, stopping just short of the gate. I jumped out of the car with the camera and grabbed the tripod from the back. I clambered over the fence and ran into the field in order to clear the tree-line. I quickly setup the shot, fumbling to adjust the focus and exposure, then CLICK...

Click Here To Purchase Image A second later and it appeared on the LCD preview screen. I got it. The Sun itself wasn’t actually visible as it was covered by clouds. However there were some magnificent golden rays of light shining from behind it and reaching up to the heavens. I fired off a few more shots at various exposures just to make sure I got it, then just stood and watched, enjoying the moment, as this spectacular display slowly faded into darkness.

Of course, this marked the beginning of my new dilemma. Where was I going to spend the night?