Dundee Beach

Dundee Beach is about 125 km south west of Darwin in an otherwise remote part of the Northern Territory of Australia. There is a small settlement nearby and the area is a popular for fishing. These photographs are a study of the patterns left by tides as they recede.

South Island of New Zealand

These are a selection of photographs of parts of the a coastline of the South Island.

Bynoe Harbour

Bynoe Harbour is south west of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is relatively undisturbed and sparsely populated. At the southern end is a low key island resort (called Crab Claw). A pearl farm occupies a small part of the harbour and there are a few dwellings scattered along the shore line. It has tides up to 8 metres and large portions of the harbour are exposed at low tide. Mangroves line much of the coast line.

Moon over early morning light

Mangroves on the beach

Ancient survivor

Sculptured rock

Retreating tide

Ripples

Patterns

Crocodile slide

Waminari

Waminari is Aboriginal-owned land on the far north coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Sunrise

Sunrise sky

Waminari Creek

Tide lines

Shaped by the sea and the light

Mangrove Creek

Seascapes

I have had the privilege of visiting and enjoying the coastline in remote parts of northern Australia and New Zealand.

In northern Australia it is a harsh environment, ranging from long periods of no rain (in the Dry) to the violence of tropical cyclones in the Wet. But plant and animal life has adapted to these extremes and is prolific. For the Aboriginal people who live in this area the seasons provide an abundance of food. Walking through the bush and along the beach with them is a revelation as they explain what is available and when.

It is also a place of solitude, for reflection and for moments of inner peace.

The South Island of New Zealand can be serene, wild, rugged and windswept and there is always that feeling that you are close to the bottom of the Earth, with nothing but the Southern Ocean between you and Antarctica.

The photographs are chosen with these thoughts in mind.