Churches and beaches

In order to make sure I had at least a bit of a proper holiday over summer I booked a few days away with Mum and Dad, like we had done last summer to the north-west coast but this time to the east and north-east of Tassie. We headed across the Fingal valley, where we stopped to photograph a couple of churches in the country towns. The first is St Thomas’ Anglican church at Avoca, and there was an old inn opposite with interesting stonework and an old wooden fence.

The second church was St Peter’s Anglican church in Fingal, where we were able to go inside after we’d tracked down the custodian to borrow the key. He was an 86-year-old gentleman, whose labours in maintaining the building and his attendance as 20% of the monthly congregation ensure its ongoing use.

We also passed the ruins of the old lock-up in Fingal, although there seems to have been a security breach.

After a few other detours we arrived at our destination on the Bay of Fires. We stayed near Sloop Lagoon, which is just behind this long white beach.

The waves were rolling in against the granite coastline, but the sea and sky were glorious blues.

We did a bit of exploring in the afternoon, finding more beaches and granite headlands, and taking lots of photos which would have turned out a whole lot better if I hadn’t managed to smudge sunscreen on my polarising filter!

In the evening after dinner, with it having been a warm and muggy day and with the forecast for the rest of the week being rather more gloomy, I took my kayak for a trip out on the lagoon as the sun set. There were fish jumping in the lagoon, and light effects were quite lovely.

I do love the abstract quicksilver effect that you can sometimes get on water when the waves and light angle are just right.

The sunset wasn’t quite as spectacular as I’d hoped but it was a lovely evening, and it was nice to give the kayak a bit of an excursion.