Thala Beach in Australia offered an intimate hike on the Fringing Reef.

While Terry went birding with an experienced guide in Thalia, Australia I took a hike down to the beach for a quick second sketch. As the trail opened up to the beach, I discovered a bee hive in a branch that crossed the trail. There were far more rocky outcrops than there was beach.

Being a pale white vampire, I decided that I needed to find shade before I started any attempt at putting the jagged landscape on paper. I found this narrow alleyway of sand between the rocks and I scrunched down and sat in the shade which was quickly disappearing as the sun rose in the sky. This sketch was done quickly and almost flippantly because I was racing the sun. When the sun crept onto the page, I was blinded by it’s whiteness. I darkened the page with washes to darken it up a bit. I got a text from Terry letting me know that she Was done with her birding for the day. I decided the sketch was done and I scrambled up on the rocks again to find my way back to the hotel. I love looking in the tide pools to see what life has been stranded as the ocean receded. Blue craps hid from my sight and tiny fish swam for what little cover they could find.

Terry and I drove up the coast to explore more rain forests and beach side resorts. It was a scenic and relaxing day with very little traffic on the road. We hiked up a gorge and got lost along the way. When it got too hot, we stripped down to our skivvies and waded into the freezing cold river. We didn’t actually get lost, but the trail went much further than we expected. We got more than our share of nature for one day.