Sunday 10 July 2022. On the final morning of our holiday, while the ocean swimmers were braving the cold water, I walked from Cosy Corner in Torquay to the far side of Rocky Point in Jan Juc, setting out just as dawn was breaking.

As the tide was in, I couldn’t walk around Point Danger, which separates Cosy Corner from Surf Beach, so I took the path across it instead. When I reached Surf Beach it was glowing in the early morning light.

I walked partly on the sand and partly on the foreshore, since the tide had in places reached the top of the beach. I passed the Torquay Surf Life Saving Club and came to the broad stretch of sand on the northern side of Rocky Point where Spring Creek enters the ocean. The creek was a narrow channel this morning so I jumped over it and came to the sandy path that crosses the point. I walked south towards the Rocky Point Lookout, hoping to arrive in time for sunrise.

The sun came up just as I reached the lookout, and I stayed for a while.

Others were watching the sunrise too.

From the lookout I headed west along the sandy path towards Jan Juc Surf Life Saving Club. At a certain point I took some stairs down to the beach and walked along the sand, dodging the waves lapping at my feet. I soon reached the life saving club. Then I doubled back towards Surf Beach, this time taking a more northerly path across Rocky Point, one that runs alongside the southern boundary of the Torquay Golf Club. At times the coastal scrub forms a tunnel of branches.

To the north of the golf course lies the RACV Torquay Resort, resplendent this morning in the golden light.

I regained Surf Beach, crossing over Spring Creek, and walked towards Point Danger and beyond, to Cosy Corner. The tide was beginning to ebb. Seagulls were busily poking about.

I arrived back at Cosy Corner just as the last of the ocean swimmers were finishing their swim.