Batehaven – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Tranquil shoreline view with distant islands — A tranquil sandy Surf beach stretches toward turquoise waves, distant islands, and a bright blue sky.

After visiting the mountains, it was time to check out some beaches nearby and soak up some rays. We basically had a lazy afternoon at Surf Beach. What’s not to like: lovely views and the relaxing sound of the waves. There were not many people around, as it was not the locals’ vacation time. Ritva sat on the beach taking photographs of seagulls and the waves, while I took a leisurely stroll along the seashore. I couldn’t help myself and collected seashells again. Sea urchin shells are so delicate, but I still managed to transport them to Finland intact. The waves on the beach were quite heavy for my liking, but I managed to swim anyway. The water of the Pacific Ocean felt cool at first, but after getting used to it, it was easy to stay in for a long time.

The following morning Ritva took portraits of Heli, Rod and Baxter the dog (I think they came out rather nice). After the photoshoot the destination was Ulladulla and Mollymook Beach, where we had lunch with Denise and Tracy, who live just before Ulladulla. Denise and Tracy are Heli’s friends whom we had met a couple of times before; they are so much fun—once in Finland and the other time at Caseys Beach. We can highly recommend Mollymook Beach for the scenery and most likely for swimming and surfing as well, although we didn’t try those last two. By the way, if you haven’t driven through places like Lillipilli, Ulladulla, Tumbarumba and Tilba Tilba, at least once in a lifetime, you haven’t really lived.

Friends relaxing beside a sunny beach — Heli and I relax at a seaside bench overlooking a sunny beach, rolling turquoise waves at Mollymook Beach and a tree-lined coastal neighborhood .

Heli and Rod are wonderful hosts and letting us stay there all that time is something we’re very appreciative of.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — It was so nice to have morning coffee with this view.

It’s easy to talk to Rod, for example, about politics. He is a timid and quiet ex-civil servant with hardly any opinions of his own. NOT! He’s a very loud person joking, laughing and swearing all the time. And he’s not afraid to speak his mind. However, we didn’t get into arguments or fistfights about anything. We basically agreed on most things political, at least. Rod is from a small community in Victoria, where his parents scraped by farming the land. It’s easy to understand he talked quite a bit for the rural communities and that way of living. On top of that Rod spent part of his career fighting for health services for the remote areas. Great bloke!
I didn’t talk to Heli that much. Us guys had our own discussions, and the girls talked about soap operas and crocheting, I think. (I will let you keep thinking that) Actually, Heli was constantly giving us ideas about what to see and where to go. We talked a lot about families, of course. And she kept us fed with beautiful meals from morning till dinnertime. After dinner the old fogies retired to their room and went to sleep. Caseys Beach was beautiful. Our hosts’ home is only about 30 meters from the sea, and you could see dolphin just about every other day. And waves hitting the shore was so relaxing. It was easy falling to sleep listening their hypnotic rhythm our bedroom window open.

Text Mara Sillanmäki

I have posted several posts about the first half of our trip, I will add the links to them if you wish to have a look, they are in the order I posted them Sydney – Adelaide – South Australia – Victoria -NSW

I took my lead from Leanne Monochrome Madness; I am showing photos from the Australian coastline, which are truly breathtaking and capture the essence of this stunning region. I stayed with my cousin at Casey’s Beach in NSW last February. Thanks to her hospitality we were able to stay in this beautiful place for a couple of weeks.

Casey’s Beach is a calm and east-facing beach located in Batehaven. Snapper Island can be seen from her house from a slightly different angle than these shots, adding a unique charm to the picturesque view. We drove to the Observation Point, located at the northern end of Casey’s Beach , this lookout provides elevated views over the 1 km stretch of beach, perfect for a great vantage point in both directions, allowing us to soak in the beauty of the coastline as the waves gently lapped at the shore. I have even painted it at one point, and it now hangs in her house, So I have been inspired by it before, and I hope to return again to experience its magic all over.