We check out the surf

We had such a coolish summer this year that we rarely went to the beach. I think the last time was mid-February. But today the sun was shining, the temperature was hovering in the high 20s and, best of all, there was no wind. Perfect for a trip to Parsons Beach, the best surfing spot on the southern coast - for a walk, I hasten to add (in case you think I had donned a wetsuit and grabbed a board).  It's only a 20-minute drive from home. We've been there before but I forgot that the car park is high on a cliff and there's a steep rocky path down to the beach. We'd taken our cameras: Steve to test an old lens he found and me to get used again to my old camera that was broken but is now fixed. 

The view of the coast is calming. I love the smooth stretch of sand, the hills in the distance and the waves endlessly washing ashore.  I couldn't wait to get down to it all.

The car park was full of surfers. Here are some of them checking out the conditions.

Looking closely, you can see half a dozen surfers out there, though the surf is definitely nothing to get excited about. I guess it's because there's no wind.

Here's the start of the track. It goes straight downhill. I wouldn't be wanting to carry a surfboard.

For a while it's a hard, sandy track, then becomes very rocky. At every turn we were getting nearer though, so pressed on.

The surf looked rather choppy to my eagle eye, but when we were coming back up the track we chatted to a guy and I asked him how the surf was: 'It was great', he said, 'and I had quite a few good tubes' .  I nodded knowingly at this surfer talk. Here's one of the few action shots I got.

We walked on. No-one else about. How peaceful is this?

... took some photos ...

.

... then rested for a while.

This gave me an opportunity to see if I could capture any 'birds in flight' shots and test my camera.

Here's what I managed to get.

I manipulated this photo when I got home for this effect which I rather like.

I also felt satisfied with this photo of a lone surfer coming onto the beach.

Perhaps contemplating his day.

And I really liked this one that Steve took.

We were now ready to leave. Steve contemplates the climb ahead. 

And a final look at that view.

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