Rainbow Haven in winter.

Today the dogs and I headed to Rainbow Haven, that is after I checked the tide times.

Being on the Atlantic side it is not dangerous to get tide times wrong; it just means that you may be disappointed by the total lack of beach.  I learned that low tide was to be at 12:30 so I knew that by arriving at 1 ish there would be lots of beach, and I wasn't disappointed.

The beach is quite different in winter with blocks of ice that have been pushed up to the high tide mark.

Frozen in time the waves lie rigid on the shore.

 Not just bigger waves, but little ones were also stopped in their tracks too.

How remarkable is this ?   Frozen bubbles !

Of course I wasn't walking alone.    My best buds were with me.  I think Sooki looks particularly dignified in this photo; which isn't easy considering the crazy outfit she's wearing.

And of course they were glad to have a huge expanse of beach to run on. 

In a couple of hours this whole area would be under water.

In the summer we'd walk up the beach and then circle back down on the path that runs up the peninsula which juts into the harbour.

Compare the photo above with the one below.  Both images were taken at just about the same spot.

It would appear that even more of the land is being covered at high tide.  The land to the right of the path is covered by ice.

And in the foreground was an interesting ice formation with layered slivers of ice.  Of course I just had to taste a piece to confirm it contained salt.  And yep, it did.  

Wouldn't you ?

Are you kidding me ?

Lynne turned the tables on me today,  and took me to explore a new beach I'd never been to.  Cleveland Beach is in Queensland, along Margaret's Bay Road on the southern shore.

It was a lovely spot.  The beach curved around to a point, and doubled-back through a grove of trees.

Needless to say the dogs loved it there, barreling up and down the beach after their ball.

The trees on the point were draped in old man's beard, that waved in the chilly wind.

After passing the grove, we came to a lovely little beach, covered in the softest sand.  Even though the sand was soft, and sheltered from the on-shore winds, and the dogs were hot from their run, Trey's next move made no sense.

He waded chest deep into the frigid Atlantic Ocean, wearing his warm, pink coat, and lay down !

I think even think Wendy was shocked.

At the beach ...

Went to Cow Bay Beach today with my sister-in-law, Janet, who is visiting from Ontario.

Janet's plane had landed, and the rainy skies had promptly cleared.

A few short hours later we were strolling along the rocky beach at Cow Bay, watching the surfers who were trying to catch the fleeting waves,

and the mist that was rolling in on the far end of the beach.

The winds dropped.  The sun warmed the rocks.  We poked along picking up and comparing smooth rocks and unusual shells.

I found the broken bottom of a bottle, amongst the round beach rocks, and

couldn't resist holding it up in front of my camera's lens.

These images are the result.

Waddayathink ?

Raindrops on roses ...

One of my favourite things is having fun with friends. 

Karma, over at Karma's, When I Feel Like it Blog,  issued a photo challenge for April -- and just like in my old school days, I'm submitting my assignment at the very last minute.

Karma explained: "I have two objectives in this month’s assignment: 1) to give you a creative spark and 2) to find out more about you!".   

She asked us to photograph at least four of our favourite things, but "brown paper packages tied up with strings" were verboten.  


And so dear followers -- all 16 of you -- I humbly offer a few of my favourite things ...

Gardening.  Messing about in the dirt.

Doing things with my dogs, Wendy and Trey.

Wondering, thinking and pondering, about God.

Exploring and photographing the world, with my "dime-store" digital camera.

Exploring, exploring, exploring.

Kayaking, preferably with a friend.

Visiting different beaches.

... with a dog.

I realize now that I mentally added the words, "to do", in my interpretation of Karma's challenge.  Rather than showing you favourite things to see, I gave it more of a favourite things to do slant.  


Also, I think I was supposed to take NEW photos, and these aren't, and what's worse -- I didn't even take the first photograph.   Sigh ... 


Well Karma, I think you have learned something about me -- not only do I submit my assignments at the last moment, I fail to read the directions thoroughly.  


Hope I don't get another "D".