Year - 2026 · Size - 42 x 29 cm / 16½ x 11½ in · Medium - Ink on paper

In all the years I have known the Sapphire Coast I had never been to Haycock Point, despite the lure of intrigue every time I drove past the sign on the highway. It was an easy pick for a painting hunt destination.

When I arrived the cold winter wind was blowing offshore straight from the mountains, the day mostly sunny with clouds rolling through. I wandered through the picnic area and followed a path through banksia woodland with glimpses of beach between the trees. Soon the scrub thickened and shrank in height and the path turned into stairs leading down to a huge open rock face.

The point was spectacular — layers of sandstone in different shades of brown and burgundy. To the south the sea was choppy, whipped up by the southwesterly, the gentle lines of swell surging through rock crevasses carved for the purpose. To the north the ocean was calm and wind-groomed. As I sat down a lone seal flopped around in the shallows, a series of fast surface movements suggested a school of fish feeding nearby, and a plane flew past performing a slow 180 degree turn in preparation for landing at Merimbula airport. Soon a fisherman in a tinny motored into the scene, trawling a couple of rods with lures out the back.

When I stood up to stretch, the wind picked up the painting and I had to chase it down the rock face to retrieve it.