Discover Thomas Raddall Provincial Park

Thomas Raddall Provincial Park

East Port L'Hebert, NS

Camper's Beach

Sept. 1, 2013

If you haven't discovered Thomas Raddall Provincial Park, you are missing out.  The staffer at the front gate summed it up well, "pretty much every trail leads to a beach".  She was not kidding!

A short stroll from the walk-in tent sites leads you to this pristine piece of paradise.  Looks like some windsurfers have figured it out!

The day use beach is gorgeous as well, we spotted piping plovers the last time we visited.

The park closes for the season October 14th, don't delay.  It's worth the drive to East Port L'Hebert!

Newfoundland: Stephenville Shack

Stephenville Crossing, NL

June 23, 2013

T'was a windy day to be at this beach, glad the wind helped unfurl the Newfoundland flag for this shot. ^_^

The haze in the sky that day looked like smog, not your usual summer haze.  As we drove South towards the ferry terminal in Port aux Basques, the brown colour in the sky became quite pronounced.  We wondered if we were driving in to a natural disaster...were we listening to the wrong radio station?!?  Turns out it was smoke from forest fires in Labrador, some of which are still burning today.  It's days like this that remind us we are all connected on this big blue marble of ours.

South Shore Beach Break - Off the Lip!

Somewhere on the South Shore

April 28, 2013

Local ripper gets a piece of a nice floater while the lobster boats set pots in the distance.  The sand bar is back at this local spot, providing a nice right from time to time...if you know where/when to look.  My lips are sealed.

Spring surfing, one of my favourite times of the year.  Empty lineups, lots of daylight hours in the evening.  Now if only that darn ocean would warm up.....it was ~ 6 C the day I shot this pic.

Hartling Bay, West Ironbound Island & Gaff Pt.

Upper Kingsburg, NS

March 9, 2013

It was a frothy day in the ocean earlier in March when I took this shot.  The shining sun and gorgeous clouds were a pleasant bonus.

Luskentyre, Scotland

Isle of Harris

Luskentyre, Scotland

June 25, 2013

Yet another gorgeous view from the Hebrides.  You gotta love that white quartz sand, it makes the water look all turquoise and almost tropical.  Almost.

The dunes surrounding the beach were peppered with hundreds of rabbit warrens and many footpaths leading to and from the beach.  Ah, Scotland...I left part of my heart on the Hebrides!

Just another gorgeous sunset at Hirtle's

Sometimes I have to remind myself I actually live ~5 minutes from this spot, what a gem.

The message might be getting lost

The sign says 'Please use walkways', though you might miss it. It's getting buried in the dune grass!

Zoom zoom zoom, kite buggy passes a porsche

Another video from a perfect day at Crescent Beach. I love the double take I did when I spotted the Porsche, had to turn around and pass it!

The early bird..

...gets the nice dawn shot.

My kingdom for a bracketed exposure!!!

The clouds were ominous...regretting not attempting bracketed exposures....this one is ripe for some tone mapping...oh well, next time.

Random beach find

Change the venue, and it's 'art'....here, it's just garbage that washed up on the beach.

Hmm, Hirtle's Beach Mixed Media: $1000. Any takers? Sale ends at high tide.

Take a walk down the path...

It leads to some big, honkin' waves...

Waves, and then some

First glimpse of the beach and the big, honkin waves that were rolling in on Monday.

More to follow...

Remains of the hole in the sky

Remember that hole in the sky last week?

Here's another shot from that night, I captured some neat reflections on the sand:

No waves, but a nice hole in the sky....

Even when there aren't waves to ride, it's worth a trip to the beach to take shots like this:

Nice night for an evening...

Some local wave enthusiasts out last night...enjoying the warm'ish waters and killer sunset...oh, and there were some clean sets too:


Berkeley catches some face..


Classic Chris style..


Every now and then the wave would peel...


He's airborne....'nuff said.


It was an amazing sunset, but I was preoccupied with capturing some sweet rides...

Hurricane Bill shots & planked halibut supper update

First, an update on the Conquerall Bank Fire Dept. Planked Halibut supper.

Not surprisingly, it was cancelled this past Sunday due to the weather. It has been rescheduled for:

Aug. 30th I can only assume for the same bat-time, same bat-channel...

Now, for a couple Hurricane Bill shots, taken at Cherry Hill beach, Sunday afternoon:


I tried to get people in the foreground to give a sense of scale...needless to say, the waves were bigguns!


Is that Mount Fuji in the distance?


....nope, just a big ass wave...

Someone call 911, the sky is on FIRE!

Shot last week....

I was scrambling to get these shots off before I lost the nice light....

My wetsuit was still on, dangerous salt water dripping off me, perilously close to my precious camera! Luckily, it escaped unscathed...

I tried bumping up the colour saturation in the vertical shot, what say you, readers?

Nothing like a good feed of clams

Digging for clams used to be an annual ritual for my family.

Every summer, my grandparents would secure their 'usual spot' at Little Risser's campground. Under the tutelage of my grandfather, we would extract the clams from the Petite Riviere clam flat, using a plunger of all things!

But, it's been ages since those days, that clam flat has been closed for a long time. It's a constant reminder of my past when I see people digging for clams and quahogs around the South Shore.

Here is a nice bucket full of soft shell clams spotted this past week at a local beach. Apparently it's a long hike to get to the clams, but well worth it once the clams are boiling in the pot!



Tools of the trade and the spoils

Turner takes flight!

Somebody was having a good day at Risser's Beach!

I can fly!!!!