Caves Beach and Pelican

August 20, 2018

Caves Beach and Pelican

Both of these locations are in the beautiful city of Lake Macquarie. North of Sydney in NSW and just south of Newcastle, there are some great beaches and, of course, the lovely lake itself.

I have written about the lake before but, for those who came in late, here is a little bit of information for you.

Lake Macquarie is Australia's largest coastal salt water lagoon. It's a decent size covering 110 square kilometers (42.5 square miles). It is twice the size of Sydney Harbour and is one of the largest salt water lagoons in the southern hemisphere. The lake is connected to the Tasman Sea via a channel through Pelican, Swansea and, Swansea Heads.

Caves Beach is located on the Swansea Peninsula just south of where Lake Macquarie runs into the sea. It is named for the caves which are accessible during low tide. It's beach is a well known surfing beach and the location is also popular for spearfishing.

Pelican is on the eastern foreshore of Lake Macquarie on the channel that runs out to the Tasman Sea. It is popular with fisherman and boating enthusiasts, whether that be for skiing, sailing or, just hanging around in a small tinny catching dinner. Pelican has some lovely parkland on the foreshore with electric BBQs and lots of picnic spots. It is also a great area for swimming in the quiet waters of the lake.

Kim and I had decided to go down to Caves Beach for the afternoon to get out and explore the rock pools there. Of course, I took my camera! I also took my Tamron 10-24mm lens to get in with some wide angle shots!

The sunsets early over Caves Beach thanks to the high rock bluffs at the southern end of the beach. Of course, within this bluff and cliff area are the amazing sea caves. The tide and light was against us so we didn't venture into the caves. Rather, I concentrated on the light reflecting off the rock pools as the sunlight faded.

Once we lost the light we decided to head home but, travelling north on the highway through Swansea, I realised that I would be able to catch the last of the light over the lake at Pelican. We took a detour and arrived just as the Sun was sitting on the horizon and casting a lovely warm glow in the sky that reflected perfectly off the water of the lake. Got a couple of nice photos before deciding to do some experimenting with silhouettes; as you will see!

Arriving home we toasted our lovely afternoon with a glass of red wine and contemplated how good life is!