Calm before the storm.

Less than thirty seconds before the blackness of yesterday's picture, the river looked like this, the last visible rays of the sun are glistening on the river, although I've burnt out the sky to better show the menacing form of the cloud.

The calm before the storm.

Mooloolah River
Mountain Creek

Storm Front

A giant black curtain is drawn across the land.

Last Sunday evening we had a storm front pass through just on dusk. We didn't suffer the full brunt of it, unlike some parts of Brisbane which have been declared a disaster area, but this is what it looks like a few minutes before the wind and rain hits!

The last of the blue sky is still visible under the cloud for now, but in less than thirty seconds all sunlight is obliterated.


Mooloolah River
Mountain Creek

The Bluff

Alex is a great place to watch others after you've got back from a surf. On days when the surf is big, there's standing room only along the top of the bluff.

Alexandra Headland

Two Way Two

Another reflection in Two Way Creek, this time a more abstract picture, reflecting some safety mesh while there is work happening on a footbridge over it.

Caloundra

Two Way Creek

Two Way Creek is named presumably because it flows in two directions with the ebb and flow of the tide, although its mouth is often completely barred from the ocean with a build up of sand, so at times it more like "no way pond"!

I thought this picture was a nice reflective pun on the name.

Two Way Creek
Caloundra

Late in the afternoon, the UV rays are at their lowest and it's a great time for kids to paddle around relatively unprotected.

Kings Beach
Caloundra

Tinny

By far the largest type of small fishing boat is the aluminium runabout or dinghy, known as the "tinny" with allusions to the metal of that name!

Tinnies are robust, lightweight and need almost no maintenance, which suits pretty much every owner to a tee.

Caloundra

Port

Keep port to port going into port.

I think that's it, certainly the red buoy can't be missed near the mouth of the Pumicestone Passage.

Caloundra

Mossy Rocks

There's a spring of fresh water here near the mouth of the Pumicestone Passage, and the mosses obviously like the slightly less salty taste!

Pumicestone Passage
Caloundra

Desperate

Here's someone who needed to send an email urgently!

Maybe not, but if you have to spend your life on your computer, this isn't a bad place to do it.

Kings Beach
Caloundra

Kite Pilot

The pilot in yesterday's kite photo is a picture of concentration.

Kings Beach
Caloundra

Kite

Even though the breeze is quite light in the late afternoon, this is a monster kite and the pilot is having a struggle controlling it!

Kings Beach
Caloundra

Kings Beach Apartments

Kings Beach features an eclectic bunch of apartment buildings in uninspiring styles from the past decades. It is helped a bit by it's topography though, if it was all flat it could be a complete visual disaster!

Kings Beach
Caloundra

Facing West

If you buy an apartment facing west, even if it's a few metres away from the beach, you'll need to keep the blinds drawn all afternoon!

Kings Beach
Caloundra

Surfcraft

The wreck of the Dicky makes a nifty physical barrier between surfboards and other craft, and the area for bathers. It also creates a nice little gutter which forms its own little surf break in the right conditions.

Dicky Beach
Caloundra

More Dicky

After washing ashore, the steamer Dicky was pretty much in one piece, but while it was unrecoverable it was sitting bolt upright and level on the beach. It was used as a dance hall for many years until around the thirties (I think) when it was burnt out.

Dicky Beach
Caloundra

Dicky

I posted a shot with the wreck of the S.S.Dicky in the background a few months ago, and it elicited some excitement from a few former residents, so thought I'd return with some more.

The ship was wrecked in around 1900 and is variously buried by the sand or exposed depending on the state of the beach during the year. A few years ago it was completely exposed deliberately, and the steel treated with rust preventative in an attempt to slow the decaying process, as it is seen as a part of the identity of the neighbourhood which derived it's name from the wreck.

Dicky Beach
Caloundra

Crane View

The good thing about having a view of a crane boom like this, is that you know it's only temporary.

The bad thing about having a great view of a crane boom, is that once it goes there will be a building where it once was.

Caloundra

Common Crane

There are two kinds of common crane to be found on the Sunshine Coast, and the other is a type of bird!

With so much construction happening even in a relatively uncertain economic time, there's still no shortage of building cranes.

Caloundra

Book Shop

Faded titles at a market stall.

Cotton Tree Markets
Maroochydore

178 photo blogs are taking part in this months theme, "Books", click here to view thumbnails for all participants