Wow! It’s been 5 months since I last posted … miss me?
I’ll make this a big one to make up 😀
What an adventure! Snakes if you remember, sickness, Christmas, house hunting, living with a mate and eventually moving from the forested foothills of kunanyi / Mt Wellington that I’ve called home for around 30 years, to the sleepy seaside suburb of … Carlton – in my new beach house, just 300m from the water’s edge!
I pinch myself every time I get on the beach, I can not believe I live here! This is from the dunes near my new home.
The question I asked myself last year while lying sick in bed was: “So where do I want to live when I retire?” With plenty of time to think without distraction, I decided the suburbs weren’t for me. Either the bush, or the beach with lots of privacy and storage as a priority.
Just as I sorted finance out, a house came up within my limited budget, a beach on it’s doorstep and only 5 more minutes travel time to work. It felt like the decision was made for me, it ticked every single box on my list of things I’d like in a new home. After a long year, the timing was perfect, pieces seemingly fell into place, and now, here I am!
I won’t go into my house much yet, I’ll save it for another post. It needs some mostly cosmetic work and has kept me busy since I moved in on March 4, but I am taking some time to enjoy the beach and slowly getting back into photography. I have a wedding to shoot next February, so figured I should dust the camera’s off and share some photos with my WordPress friends 😀
The night sky here is next level! On the first night, I went skinny-dipping with a friend at the beach to celebrate, with blue bio-luminescence glowing around our legs! I was lucky enough to catch this Aurora around midnight on March 28.
While it’s not always nice and summery, the beach is still enjoyable for a rugged up walk as it shows you it’s moody side. You can see kunanyi/Mt Wellington below with the top silhouetted with cloud. I’m about 47km by road from my old home in the foothills, about a 45 minute drive.
Below is the most “crowded” I have seen the beach, taken yesterday – Easter Sunday with a 75-300mm lens.
Both ends of the roughly 4km beach are very different and great for surfing. I live about half way where it’s not as busy. All of the daytime shots so-far look west towards the Dodges Ferry / Park Beach end, I just love the sea-mist when it rolls in – though it’s not good for swapping lenses!!
I used to surf here 30 odd years ago but stopped when I moved to South Hobart/ Luckily, I still have my 5 surfboards!! I haven’t got them wet yet though, it’s like riding a bike right? An old 70’s Malibu I had has become my coffee table 😀
I’m looking after Ralphie over Easter while my ex-wife and daughter visit my older daughter in Queensland.
He seems to be liking the beach life and has made some friends. I try to put myself out there too and talk to people on the beach, most people are really friendly. Having a dog does make it a little easier – sometimes!
The Eastern end is called “The Rivermouth”, which is the direction of the Aurora shots and the following images. The current can be really strong at this end and there is a Surf Lifesaving Club, as well as the best surf!
There’s a surprising amount of wildlife, birds, Soldier Crabs below can cover the entire beach at low tide, but I’ll share more of that later too. I’ve also found some fungi and frogs – which I didn’t expect.
Thanks for visiting my new sandy corner of the world. I will try to start posting more in between painting and renovations, and get back into the habit of using WordPress and visiting your blogs to see what you’ve been up to instead of being distracted at night by watching mind numbing “reels”.
Take care, choose happiness, have fun.
Music?
TasView 
Welcome back 😁. Sickness, quiet time, life changes can make for great new chapters never expected. Even there, done that 🤣. Enjoy the beach, dust off the kit.
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Thanks Ted, hopefully plenty of inspiration and time to get creative again, and maybe enjoy a surf … though we are headed into winter ;D
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Hello Tone! Welcome back! Truly stunning photos – and an aurora and Milky Way in one shot, I’ve never seen that before – it seems like you’ve found a paradise. And indeed, time has flown by and it looks like you’ve been through quite a bit in the meantime – but in the end, everything seems to have landed on its feet, and you finally caught a lucky break. As for work, no one has ever died from it, and a house always needs maintenance and repairs anyway. The most important thing is that the place feels right and that you’re happy there. Great to see you again… uh, read you 🙂 my dear friend!
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Thanks Marc, I have indeed ended up in a great spot, considering I still had no real plan 5 months ago. The biggest lesson learnt in the last year was patience. Things seem to happen for a reason, I need to learn to slow down and enjoy the ride more, and think less about the destination 😀
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Looks great!
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Thanks Louella, finally a place to settle into and call my own. It still all seems surreal after the last year.
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i’m really glad to see you here again! i’ve missed you, wondered about your new life-chapter. i always enjoy your photos, so look forward to a whole new ecosystem reveal! 👍🏼😊
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Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement 😀 This is quite a different space than what I am used to, I have much to learn and discover which I eagerly look forward to and hope to share more. Have an awesome day.
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Stunning set! Great!
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Thanks for the lovely comment, have a great day!
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Nice to see you here again, Tone. Your new place, modest or not, seems just right. I hope you’ll be happy there as you fix it up to suit you. Your post is beautiful. Looks like you’re getting your life on track one beautiful step at a time.
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Hi Anneli,
Good to be back and finally settling into my own space, I have plenty to do, but no rush. Plenty of time to enjoy life and look after myself first 😀 The house is much bigger than I need, I was originally considering building a container house or tiny home, now I have three bedrooms!
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I like having space, so it sounds good to me.
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Welcome back, Tone!! It’s great to see you again, your beach photos are fantastic. I wish you all the very best in your new digs and going forward. Be well, and see ya soon. 😎👍🏻🇦🇺🍻
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Hi John, great to hear from you!
Thanks for the friendly return welcome and your kind words. Hopefully I can get back into a routine of editing photos and blogging again 😀
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I hope so, you have a lot of people who really enjoy your photography!
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So good to see you, Tone! Just the other day I was wondering if you had found a new house.
You definitely found the perfect place to live! To be able to see and capture the beautiful beach and astounding night sky right outside your house is breathtaking. Absolutely stunning photos! 🙂
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Hi Morgaine,
Nice of you to think of me and thank you for your kind encouragement 😀 I hope to start blogging more regularly, but I won’t make any promises 😉
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Good to hear from you! Moving through new transitions in life are time consuming. I hope your return to surfing is better than my return to horse-riding two years ago! all the best with this new phase. Lynn
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Missed you!
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