Lake Tyrrell selfie moment for black and white community

 

On the endless mirrored flats of Lake Tyrrell, a young woman stood alone upon the narrow platform, dressed in dark yoga pants that traced clean lines against the luminous salt landscape. Around her, the shallow water lay perfectly still, transforming the lake into a vast sheet of polished glass where sky and earth dissolved into one another.

She lifted her phone for a selfie, yet the moment became more than a simple photograph. Her reflection floated beneath her in the water — soft, elongated, almost dreamlike — while the platform itself seemed suspended between two worlds, one real and one mirrored. The pale horizon faded into silver-blue distance, and the silence of the Mallee wrapped around her like open air in a cathedral of salt.

For an instant, she appeared multiplied by the lake: the woman above, the reflection below, and the surrounding sky holding both together in a single luminous frame. In that fleeting act of self-portraiture, modern ritual met ancient landscape — the glow of a phone screen against a terrain shaped by wind, salt, and geological time.

Sony A7RV

FE 70-200mm f4 G

Linking Black and White Community

Mount Cook New Zealand for Water H2O Thursday

 

The lake lay quiet beneath the pale breath of the sky, a wide, stony hush stretched to the horizon. No trees softened its edges, no green interrupted the austere rhythm—only rocks, countless and patient, scattered like the memory of an ancient landslide. Each one held a trace of frost, as if winter had brushed past and lingered lightly on their shoulders.

The water was still, almost reluctant to move, mirroring the sky with a quiet fidelity. Clouds drifted above and below at once, dissolving into the lake’s surface, their reflections trembling only where the cold air stirred the faintest ripple. The sun hovered behind a veil, diffused and distant, turning the entire scene into a muted glow—neither bright nor dim, but suspended somewhere in between.

There was a clarity in the emptiness, a kind of purity stripped of distraction. No rustle of leaves, no hum of life—only the subtle conversation between light, stone, and water. And in that simplicity, the air felt sharper, cleaner, as though each breath reached deeper, carrying the quiet vastness of the place within it.

It was not a landscape that demanded attention; it simply existed, immense and indifferent. Yet standing there, you could feel it settle into you—the stillness, the cold, the reflection—until the boundary between yourself and the lake seemed to blur, like clouds dissolving into water.

Linking Water H2O Thursday

Sierra Nevada Rock Mornington Peninsula for Water H2O Thursday

 

In the quiet concession to a body that falters, I turn back to my archive—those earlier pilgrimages where movement was effortless, and the land itself seemed to breathe in rhythm with my steps.

At Sierra Rock, morning unfolds with a kind of geological patience. The sandstone rises not in grandeur but in quiet assertion—weathered, fractured, shaped by millennia of salt-laden winds and the slow abrasion of tides that once reached further inland. These rocks are not merely formations; they are records, etched with the memory of an ancient shoreline when sea levels surged and retreated, leaving behind pockets that now cradle still water like fragments of sky.

The waterholes gather in the hollows, their surfaces untroubled at dawn. Here, reflection is not an aesthetic accident but a temporary alignment—light, stone, and stillness negotiating a brief truce. You find the horizon doubled, the sky drawn downward into the earth, as though the landscape is contemplating itself.

The Mornington Peninsula itself is a place shaped by restless forces—basalt flows from long-extinct volcanic activity underpin much of the region, while softer sedimentary layers erode into these intricate forms. What remains is a terrain that feels both ancient and provisional, always in the process of becoming something else.

At magic hour, the rock absorbs the last warmth of the sun, deepening into amber and rust. Shadows lengthen into the crevices, revealing textures invisible in harsher light. The pools darken, then briefly ignite—mirroring a sky that seems too vast for such contained spaces.

You stand there, not as an observer but as a transient presence—another passing element in a landscape that measures time in erosion, not in days.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Water H2O Thursday

Charlton town with Avoca River for Treasure Tuesday

 

The Avoca River has known both erasure and excess. There were years when its bed lay bare, a pale ribbon of stones and dust, the water reduced to memory and promise. At other times it has risen without restraint, spreading across paddocks and roads, reminding regional Victoria that absence is never permanent and that return can be forceful.

I had intended to stop in town, to step inside the renowned heritage general store where time is measured in ledgers and worn timber floors. Instead, the river detained me. Beneath the bridge, I paused, and there the Avoca offered something quieter. Trees leaned toward the water, their reflections drawn long and patient, doubling themselves in the slow current. Eucalypts, hardened by drought and fire, softened in the mirror below, leaves trembling between sky and stream.

This river is an old traveller. Rising in the Pyrenees, it winds north through box-ironbark country, sustaining red gums, reeds, and the careful lives of birds that wait for water as others wait for seasons. Long before bridges and stores, it shaped paths for people and animals alike, a corridor of nourishment in a land that demands resilience. Even now, its flow is uncertain, shaped by rain, heat, and the long human habit of taking more than is returned.

Standing there, camera lifted, I understood why the Avoca refuses to be merely useful. It dries, it floods, it pauses in reflective stillness. Under the bridge, with trees duplicated in its surface, the river held both its history and its warning: that survival here has always been an act of patience, and that beauty often appears when plans are gently undone.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Treasure Tuesday

Westgate Park Sunset with reflection for Water H2O Thursday

 

This was taken just before my locum assignment a month ago, when Joel and I returned for a second attempt—chasing the kind of light that makes a place feel briefly enchanted. The air was thick with rye grass, that familiar sting already prickling at Joel’s eyes and, soon enough, at mine. We became reluctant pilgrims, hiding in the car with the windows sealed, watching the world sway in golden dust until the sun softened enough for us to brave it.

When the sunset finally unfurled, it felt like an invitation. The sky melted into tones of peach and ember, and the bridge stood against it like a quiet sentinel. As the light dropped lower, its reflection stretched across the water—long, trembling strokes of fire—so that bridge and sky and river seemed to echo one another in a single, shimmering breath. The water caught every hue, turning the surface into a sheet of warm glass where the silhouette of the bridge repeated itself, darker, deeper, almost more true in its reflection.

For a moment, the allergies, the waiting, the whole month ahead vanished. It was just the two of us, the bridge, and a sunset sinking gently into water—an image worth every second of hiding and every breath held against the grass.

Sony A7RV

FE 70-200mm f4 G

Linking Water H2O Thursday

Stingray Bay Warrnambool sunset for Skywatch Friday

 

This small estuarine inlet adjoining Stingray Bay is a hidden gem, lying less than a kilometre from where I once stayed, with road access that remains remarkably convenient. The still waters below capture exquisite reflections of sky and vegetation, a mirror to the tranquility of the surrounding landscape.

Stingray Bay itself forms part of the sheltered mouth of the Merri River at Warrnambool, where freshwater mingles with the tides of the Southern Ocean. The area is renowned for its tidal flats and rock platforms, rich in marine life and bird activity — herons, cormorants, and sandpipers frequent the shallows, while stingrays glide silently over the sandy bottom from which the bay takes its name.

Along the inlet’s edge, the weathered wooden barrier now stands as more of an ornament than a necessity, its timbers softened by time and tide. Once built to define or protect, it now blends into the natural scene — a quiet relic of human purpose slowly yielding to nature’s rhythm.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Skywatch Friday

Flinders Blowhole Beach in Mornington Peninsula for Sky Watch Friday

 

This stretch of beach was where I often wandered in search of crabs hiding in the rock pools, timing my steps just before the sun began to sink low over the horizon. The tide left behind pockets of still water that mirrored the sky and, most strikingly, the cave nearby whose reflection shimmered with the changing light. It was a fleeting but beautiful moment, where the ordinary act of looking into shallow puddles revealed both life and landscape in harmony.

The cave and blowhole are part of the rugged coastline at Flinders, on the southern edge of the Mornington Peninsula, about an hour and a half from Melbourne. The region tells a story that stretches back millions of years, when volcanic activity left behind the dark basalt cliffs that now meet the sea. Over time, the powerful swells of the Bass Strait relentlessly carved into these rocks, hollowing out sea caves and forming the blowhole that today draws both visitors and locals. The air there often carries the salt spray of crashing waves, and on windy days the ocean surges with a force that reminds you of its timeless authority.

Flinders itself has long been appreciated for its natural beauty, with its cliffs, rock shelves, and tide pools offering endless opportunities for exploration. Beyond its geology, the area is steeped in human history too: the coastline was known and traversed by the Bunurong people, who relied on its waters for food and held deep connections to its land and sea. Later, it was named after the navigator Matthew Flinders, who charted much of Australia’s southern coast in the early 1800s.

Standing at the blowhole today, watching the sun lower across the horizon and catching glimpses of crabs in the pools, I felt the convergence of many timelines. The fleeting moment of a reflection in water was layered atop a landscape shaped by fire and ocean, and upon traditions that stretch back thousands of years. In that sense, the Flinders Blowhole is not only a place of natural drama but also one of quiet continuity, where the vastness of history meets the intimacy of memory.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Skywatch Friday

Magic Beach Cape Woolamai Phillip Island for Skywatch Friday

 

Magic Beach, revealed only at low tide along the sweeping shores of Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island, is a place where the natural and the personal converge in quiet wonder. When the ocean withdraws, the sea floor unveils a scatter of ancient rocks, their surfaces carved and smoothed over millennia by waves and wind. These formations are the remnants of a powerful volcanic past, for Cape Woolamai itself is born of basaltic flows and granite intrusions that date back millions of years, their rugged cliffs now standing sentinel over Bass Strait. Long before European arrival, this coastline formed part of the lands of the Bunurong people, who knew its rhythms of tide, bird, and season. Today, it remains both a sanctuary for migratory seabirds and a dramatic landscape that draws the eye and stirs the imagination.

It was here, during the pandemic year when Melbourne lay under lockdown, that I came alone with my newly acquired Sony A7RIV, predecessor of the A7RV, eager to explore its capabilities. Magic Beach seemed an apt stage for such an experiment. I found myself entranced by the interplay of light and shadow across tide pools and rocks, using HDR techniques I had never attempted with my earlier Panasonic or Canon cameras. The solitude of that moment—an island shore, a receding tide, the silence broken only by surf—transformed the practice of photography into something almost meditative. In that fleeting communion, I glimpsed both the deep history of Cape Woolamai and the personal magic of discovery, as if the land itself conspired with my lens to etch memory into image.

Sony A7RIV

FE 16-35mm f2.8 GM

Linking Skywatch Friday

Alfred Nicholas Garden in Mount Dandenong for Sunday Best

 

During the Easter period, I accompanied my mother on a stroll and light exercise in the garden. As is often the case, the grounds were bustling with activity. The foliage had not yet taken on its golden autumnal hues. I shall be away for the next fortnight, and thus may miss the opportunity to witness the full splendour of the season there. As the garden is open to the public without charge, it attracts a diverse array of visitors from various cultural backgrounds, many of whom gather for leisurely picnics.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Sunday Best

Joel and I reminisced about our former schoolmates from high school, reflecting on the many friends we have lost since those days. It proved to be an enjoyable exercise in reliving memories of that time.

Nyah West Murray River for Sunday Best and Scenic Sunday

 

In Nyah, Victoria, the Murray River often remains undisturbed by visitors. I relish the earthy aroma that permeates this serene part of inland Victoria.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Sunday Best and Scenic Sunday

Flinders Blowhole, Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne for Water H2O Thursday

 

For over fifteen years, Joel and I have been endeavouring to pinpoint the exact location of Flinders Blowhole. My initial discovery of this location was through a local photography club, in an era preceding the advent of the digital age. Our reliance on traditional maps often led us astray in the region, resulting in many fruitless excursions devoid of any photographic success.

Last weekend, we embarked on an exploration of a seldom-visited segment of the Mornington Peninsula. Utilising the marvel that is Google Maps, we managed to navigate our way into this region.

However, it was only upon our arrival that we realised we had ventured to an incorrect section of Flinders Blowhole. There exist two other similar tracks leading to different parts of the same shoreline.

Owing to my demanding travel schedule and work commitments in remote Victoria, I have been unable to process all the photographs. Nevertheless, I shall endeavour to share a few with you in due course.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Water H2O Thursday

Joel suggested to me that there will be two new Sony lenses coming out. 500-800mm zoom and 16mm f1.8. I want them badly too. 

Bolte Bridge Night for Sky Watch Friday

 

A classic location for boring Friday Night

Sony A7RV

FE 70-200mm f2.8 GM

Linking Skywatch Friday

Melbourne High Riser in CBD for Treasure Tuesday

 

I did not realise there were so many new tall buildings in city these days

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Treasure Tuesday

Kilcunda Trestle Bridge reflection for Treasure Tuesday

 

The reflection and the tone are what I am after

Sony A7RV

FE 14-24mm f2.8 

Linking Treasure Tuesday

Stingray Bay Warrnambool for Skywatch Friday

 

Stingray Bay is a good place to walk

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Skywatch Friday

Lake Pearson New Zealand for Skywatch Friday

 

The reflection is gorgeous.

Doing plenty of sit ups and push ups now. Feeling off not being able to move about

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Sky Watch Friday

Lake Pearson NZ for Water H2O Thursday

 

A lovely lake with reflection in early Winter from a while back

Sony A7RV

FE 70-200mm f4 G

Linking Water H2O Thursday

Sierra Nevada Rock, Mornington Peninsula for Treasure Tuesday

 

There were mines in the region. So the place is now permanently closed for visit. Damn, one less place to visit for my water photography

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Treasure Tuesday

Mural in Christchurch New Zealand for Mural Monday

 

Not sure it was a robot or a killer clown. 

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Linking Mural Monday

More Seagulls at Lake Tyrrell for Saturday Critter

 

It is winter here. I don't really get to photograph much about wildlife. Sea gulls are probably like more flying rats in urban land. 

Sony A7RV

FE 70-200mm f4 G

Linking Saturday Critter