My photographic story of my visit to Hastings Point, a beautiful, sleepy, seaside town on the Tweed Coast began here yesterday, as I sat on the grassy hill overlooking the ocean and shared lunch with some very cheeky but rather cute seagulls!

We decided to return to Hastings Point the next morning, when the tide would be low and we could climb around the rocks below. I had also charged my camera battery, so could take more photos.

The roar of the waves, even at low tide, is at times almost deafening when you are right next to the ocean. The rocks which were hidden by the ocean the previous afternoon were now exposed, showing strange creatures attached to the rocks, and tiny shells in the rock pools.

I have no idea what kind of sea creatures (or rock inhabitants) these are, but they are rather interesting when you take a closer look…

Little seashells, dotted here and there among the attached creatures, look for all the world as if they are covered in honey, when you take a look at them side on.

The crevices between the rocks, filled with ocean the day before, had dried out in the morning sun, making our climb across the rocks both dry and enjoyable.

Although some of the rock surfaces were smooth and easy to get a footing on, other were jagged pillars of rock, like the volcanic rock formations at Fingal Head, just north of Hastings Point.

Being the beautiful morning that it was, I was quite happy to just sit in the sunlight, mind clear, ears filled with the roar of the ocean….

….looking out at the ocean, watching the waves crash against the rocks and weave their way like little rivers through the rocky crevices.

It felt as if I was existing in a world all of my own, with nature; the birds, the waves, the thundering and splashing, the peace and tranquility.

The beauty….

After a while…I have no idea how long I sat on the rocks, contemplating the sea…I noticed the water levels getting higher, the wave splashes rising higher, and thought I might head around to the other side of the rocks, where another beach lies, looking south of Hastings Point.

A lone fisherman stood on the rocks, amid the noise and the spray of the waves…

I couldn’t help but wonder if he too felt the magic of the ocean, heard the peace in the crashing waves and lost all track of time as he stood on the rocks amid the salty sea.

Hastings Point is a place that brings back some old childhood memories, of my younger days spent camping with my mum and dad in our little tent by the sea, but now I have made new memories.

And my new memories fill my heart and make my soul sing!

I’ll be back to visit Hastings Point, many more times….