First days of the Australian winter find me in Sydney, where I need to run a few errands whilst being based in a small caravan park (surprisingly close to the CBD). It's nice to catch up with Maisie again, and with Ganna we hatch a plan to camp at the Snowy Mountains a couple of weeks later. To that end, I purchase an annual park pass that should cover all the expenses, and it's interesting that New South Wales is the only state where you can't just download the pass and print it out: you actually have to go and buy one in person in one of the offices. Talk about digital age!

Rural NSW.

With that out of the way, I leave the big smoke once more and head off to the Eurobodalla National Park. Never heard of it? Me neither. It's very small, and out here a small Lake Brou comes very close to the Pacific Ocean, with the campground situated on a strip of forested ground in between. The local trees look rather fetching and peculiar, and both the lake and the ocean have plenty to offer in terms of natural beauty.

Lake Brou.

A fair bit of people at the campground, too, because it's the weekend. A group of them is, in fact, is about to have a small party, and one of the women comes over to apologise for the noise in advance. Very kind of her. Luckily, they aren't that noisy in the end, and my trailer blocks most of that out anyway.

By Monday, most of the campers disappear, and I venture out to explore the surroundings with my camera ready. Beautiful place indeed! Weather is nice, too, and it's helping me out as much as it possibly can while I'm hunting for compositions and light.

Pacific Ocean.

A very cool halo on the beach.

As I mentioned earlier, the surrounding forest looks quite interesting. The branches are all tangled up in the most intricate ways, and most of them are blackened out after some bushfire that must have happened months ago. I'm not interrupted by anyone while I'm walking around, and the local wildlife stays well out of my way: clearly, it knows full well what being around other people can mean to them.

Arboreal entanglement.

A shy local.

Almost every day since I have something to marvel at and to work with in the park. The scenery is very diverse, the weather continues to be great, and the fantastic sunsets are aplenty. Too bad I'm only staying here for one week! On the other hand, the phone signal is a bit shaky here, especially by Optus (despite showing me two full bars of 4G), so making this spot a more permanent camping base isn't going to be super convenient in that regard.

The lake and the sea.

In the evening.

Peculiar gums.

On my own.

Some pelican cuteness.

On his own.

Fire in the sky.

On the banks of the lake.

Trees and branches.

Lines leading you away.

The week ends eventually, and I'm heading off to the Snowy Mountains now: to meet Ganna there, and to see what the Kosciuszko National Park has to offer at this time of the year. I have only been there once, around Christmas 2018; this time it should definitely look and feel very, very different!