It seems like weeks since we had a sunny day and no wind. The rain has been interminable. But yesterday I was awoken abruptly by yet another scam Amazon Prime phone call, but delighted to see a blue sky at last. We decided that it was time to have a beach walk, so we headed off to my favourite place: Gwithian and Godrevy, only to find the NT car-park was FULL!! What? In November? On a Monday? FULL? Obviously the whole of west Cornwall had been waiting for a sunny day too!
Turning around, muttering furiously under my breath I returned the way I had come looking for a space alongside the road and finally turning into the road to the Gwithian car park. Fortunately there were spaces in the free parking areas among the Towans (sand-dunes), unfortunately there were many deep puddles.
But what a day! Sun shining brightly as we made our way through the undulating Towans to the sea. Signs of many rabbits here so watch your feet! And views over the beach so I could concentrate on my favourite ‘ant people’ shots each and every one of them with a dog, so it seemed!
The Gwithian Towans afford wonderful views the full length of the beach from Hayle to Godrevy and over the bay to St Ives and Carbis Bay. Not to mention my former muse: Godrevy lighthouse.
And surfers, naturally.
St Gothian’s Nature Reserve is just behind the dunes and you can cut through to reach the Godrevy Café where we were in time for a spot of lunch before heading back to the car. We saw a couple of swans, some Brent geese and a lot of Mediterranean gulls on the reserve, but couldn’t get close enough to see anything else. I was rather taken by the patterns of the grasses growing in the mirror-like water with the reflections of the blue sky and the white clouds.
And as the sun began to dip behind the hills and the light took on a golden hue I was also intrigued by the many colours seen in the dense tufty spikes of Marram grass.
And I couldn’t leave without a shot into the setting sun of silhouetted people on the rock pools. With ‘my’ hill in the background.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #72 | Waiting
And I know Jo loves a beach walk so I’ll add a link to Jo’s Monday Walk
I’m sure Amy won’t mind.
Cornwall in Colours 
I especially like the grass reflections. We’ve had plenty of brightness this week but it’s been sub-zero too!
I actually wouldn’t mind the cold, it’s constant greyness and wet that gets me down.
Could do without the 20 minute car scrape though!
Mmm… yes that’s not fun.
I love the grasses and the grass reflections. Sorry about all your rain; I’m sure people were just dying to get outdoors and so were crowding the parking lot. We’ve had quite a gloomy stretch as well, and I encountered rain in Charleston, which put a damper on my trip. It feels like it’s going to be a long and drab winter, although there is sunshine today. 🙂
If I could have just one sunny day a week I would be happy! Only a month to the shortest day and the we’re on the up! I’m sure you had a lovely time with your daughter despite the weather.
Oh, one sunny day a week is too little for me. I seem to be more affected by gloomy weather these days. I don’t mind the cold at all if the sun is shining.
We did have a nice time together overall, with a few of the regular mother-daughter conflicts thrown in. Nothing is ever perfect, it seems!
I think as we get older and especially when we are not working, the gloom does seem to affect us more. I guess when you have a job to go to you are too busy to notice the weather that much!
I guess if I were going into an office every day, I wouldn’t care about the weather, Jude. Except then I’d really be depressed if the weekends were gloomy! 🙂
While I like all the grasses photos, two stand out for me. The first seems to have captured the reflection as an exact mirror creating a lovely leaf shape of its own. The third could be an abstract painting.
The first one is my favourite too.
Perfect symmetry.
I really enjoyed this walk in the sunshine. I needed it as relief from all the dull grey days we’ve been having.
I’m loving the photos of the grasses – both those mirrored in the water, and the golden clumps in the fading sun. Beautiful shots, Jude, especially the first one!
Thanks Jo, seems like a lot of us are fed up of the grey days. This walk proved to be a source of new photo opportunities.
The grasses and grass reflections are so beautiful Jude. I’m glad you’ve had a sunny day — you certainly made the most of it.
I really enjoyed these atmospheric shots and can see why the sun flushed everyone out.
These are so beautiful – there is hardly anything in the beach world more beautiful than grasses. You have captured them gloriously, Jude. And I love the silhouettes.
What a post, and what a beach. I love your ant people shots, and those surfers are superb. You made great use of the day. No wonder it’s your favourite beach.
I only wish it was as close to me as yours is to you!
Superb photos. Well done.
Thanks John.
Love the grass reflection photos Jude, obviously everyone was out making the most of a sunny day
We’ve waited long enough!