Before I zoomed off to the Philippines, I spent a week up in Agnes Water with two of my best friends, Ellie and Claire. For me, it was a week off. Usually, when I travel I’m doing it for work, so I’m busy the whole time. This trip was different, it was a week off, a week away from my usual home/work routine and some time to get back to the beach, chill out with my friends and reconnect with myself.
We had an amazing week away and I took my camera to get some photos of it all. Today I wanted to share with you my favourite photos from our girl’s trip. If you haven’t heard of Agnes Water before, you can read about it here in a post I wrote a while ago. It’s a place I go back to a few times a year and is a second, spiritual home for me. I love it.
It takes around 5 1/2 to 6 hours to get to Agnes Water from Brisbane. By the time we got there, we were really tired. We made it just in time for sunset, so we scooted up to the bottle shop and bought some beers then headed out to 1770 to watch the sunset. I had brought my tripod with me so I could get a few photos of the three of us together, I set the camera up while Ellie (on the left) held my beer. I set the timer to 10 seconds then clambered back over the rocks, got into position and casually sipped my beer. It turned out better than I thought it ever could!
The Paperbark Forest is a really magical place near Agnes Water. The trail starts off as just a normal bush walk, but then it gives way to stepping stones and a break in the forest, a space full of bright green ferns and climbing plants, then a wall of paperbark trees. It’s such a beautiful spot and I love this photo of Ellie and Claire walking off into it. The light through the trees is gorgeous.
We went down to the beach on the second last day we were there. The sky was bright blue and two little kids were flying kites. I snapped this photo and absolutely loved it because of the bright colours of the kite against the crazy clouds and brilliant blue sky. I especially love the tail of the kite, the pops of red and yellow against the clouds, it looks like it’s having a great time up here.
Claire and Ellie can legitimately actually skate. I cannot. I’m like a plate of jelly precariously balancing on a ball. I setup the tripod with the 10-second timer, jumped on my board and barely moved. The first few shots we took were awful. Finally, we decided that I was too uncoordinated to be in charge of setting the timer, so Ellie did it. The girls are further back than I am in this photo because I move so slow that they were catching me every time…. so I got a head start on them. It worked in the end. I love this shot. Ellie’s skirt is gorgeous.
I really, really like this photo of Ellie. The bright blue water, the horizon and the little bit of tree peeking out on the right. What you don’t know about this shot is that she’s stuck!! She climbed up there but couldn’t get back down because it’s pretty high and Ellie’s petite, so her legs couldn’t reach the ground. I climbed up on a bench and took this photo of her, stuck, making it look like she’s having a great time staring at the horizon. Afterwards, I climbed down and scooped her up like a baby to lift her back down. It was hilarious and I was thankful I had been at the gym and was strong enough to rescue a damsel in distress.
This photo was taken on our second last day, we went down to the beach late in the afternoon to take a stroll and collect pieces of driftwood and shells. I love this photo because of the reflection of Claire (left) and Ellie (right). I also love the weird shape of the clouds and how they just stop abruptly, giving way to an electric blue sky.
I just love this photo because it sums up summer and takes me back to being a kid. Out on the quiet street with your friends, playing around and laughing, way back before there was internet or mobile phones that fit in your pocket.
This is Agnes Water Beach and I really like this photo because this is what it looks like when you arrive at the beach. It just looks this gorgeous all the time, every time. I feel like I’m standing there looking out over it. It’s just so beautiful.
I took the girls to the more secluded beach, Chinaman’s Beach. We had the place to ourselves. Ellie saw this photo idea and asked me to take it, it was really cool to have someone spot a great photo angle and have me take it, usually, I have to look for them myself and I’m sure I miss some good ones. Ellie has an awesome eye for this sort of thing and I reckon she could be a great photographer. If you look close you can see her footprints in the sand. This is really her shot, not mine.
While we were there, the weather got into a routine of bringing a storm in every afternoon. If you live in Queensland, you’ll know this is normal. If you don’t live in Queensland, you have no idea how much we love this summer routine. It’s stinking hot all day, humid as heck, then in the afternoon the air swells with deep, dark clouds, a low rumbling from the thunder, then a downpour of rain. It usually only lasts a short while, then it clears off and the rest of the afternoon is cool and clear. This photo was taken at sunset, just as the storm was rolling away, leaving a mix of deep blue and bright orange behind it. It captures summer for me.
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