There is something sporadic and a little witty about the Australian coastline. It’s as though it slaps you in the face at times and says, hey! Before continuing onto meander away. The air is crisp, the salt heavy and the sound like no other. There is something ancient and steadfast about the land in Australia and although it was only a couple of generations ago that my family moved here – it is most beautifully and hauntingly where I call my home.

I feel a strange push and pull when standing on the coast of Australia – it is a place of freedom, peace and chaos all entwined into a complicated and tumultuous network. It can be fun, with light waves that invite people for a refreshing swim under the glittering waves – or, on a different day, it can be complete chaos and havoc either under the suppressed ‘calm before the storm’ or during a monsoonal explosion. The coastline, for this reason, is where I find immense inspiration and a sense of repose. If the waves are chaos, any chaos within me can resonate with their flow and feel resolved in some way. Equally, when the ocean is calm I feel my breathing slow, deepen, and slow my heart-rate.

The ocean is one element of the earth that feels so eternal. Lands change their face by the forces of nature and also by how humans interact with them but the oceans… they are more. They are more powerful than humankind and the surface also feels like a face at times – a tangible point of interaction between the earth and whoever chooses to observe. It is a beautiful point of contact with the elements and one that always puts my soul at ease when I come into contact. Like meeting an old friend, the ocean is unchanged and uniquely itself. When the sky and ocean converse, there is truly magic in the air.

Mona Vale Beach; May 2017