Saturday, July 10, 2010

Hell's Gates

I am back in Australia
for a few weeks
attending to chores...
it is wintry
but a good walk today
warmed me up...




Hell's Gates



My walk around the headland
each afternoon
takes me out to Hell's Gates
Here my friend says 
she has seen turtles
I think she confuses the black rocks
beneath the water
for turtle shells...



But wait
is that middle rock moving



Yes it is...
These turtles are Loggerheads
of which there are only 500 nesting females
in Australia



But here comes a set
of huge rolling waves



that crash through Hell's Gates



right up to the abyss


and another wave
rushes in



swirling the sand



and any little turtles



as I walk back
towards the shelter of the bay



The skies redden



and make me think



that on leaving Hell's Gates


I am passing through
Heaven's portals



*

22 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Magnificent sunset Delwyn - heaven sent for sure.

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  3. These are such beautiful photographs. I hope the turtles are able to lay eggs & the little turtles survive the roughness of the sea. I love your counter to Hell's Gates with Heaven's portals. Nice.

    Thank you for the nice comment on my blog this morning. Have a wonderful day.

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  4. Beautiful photos. How goes the house?

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  5. I love the heavenly sunset, but the waves crashing through Hell's Gates were magnificent too! I love the teal blue-green of the water.

    Earlier this morning I changed my blog, using darker shades of that color!

    ♥...Wanda

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  6. Now that's what I call a winter sunset! Always enjoy your photo tours--you really succeed in making landscapes magical.

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  7. Hmmmmmm. So that's the difference between heaven and hell. Who knew!
    Wonderful photos, Delwyn.

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  8. What a lovely walk. How nice to be back in such a beautiful place. It is so nice to see the turtles in nice clean water. I hope they nest happily, and many more little Loggerheads will be the result.

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  9. what a wonderful analogy-- leaving hell and returning the the beautiful 'heavenly' sky

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  10. wow. i felt like i wandered with you. but why is it called "hell's gate"? (sorry for my ignorance) it's scary but it a nature so beautiful.

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  11. I got to see the leatherback turtles come ashore and lay their eggs on a beach in Trinidad. They're massive (about 7 feet long) and carry on this timeless tradition against all the environmental odds.

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  12. Hi Delwyn,
    I told my D-i-L to visit you - she won't comment, though, I don't think. She'll love your poetic presentations. (As I do!) These photos make me hear the surf and breath in the beauty of the Heavens.

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  13. Such a beautiful place you've shared with us. I have to say, "Hell's Gates" seems quite heavenly to me.

    We have similar places here on the Northern California coast and I love to sit nearby and absorb the activity of the waves and winds.

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  14. How you suffer!

    I am green with envy.

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  15. Wow! I've missed visiting your blog, and now I remember why. Your images and poetic sensibility combine to make these scenes so tangible. I feel like I've had a little taste of the ocean.

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  16. Gorgeous photographs! I love the sequences and your narration. :) Thanks

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  17. Wow - you saw a loggerhead! I agree, it feels so good to see the photo of it swimming in clean water - heck just seeing the clean water feels as if there is hope.

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  18. The blue of that water is just lovely.

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  19. magnificent post, Delw






    Aloha from Hawaii, friend :)

    Comfort Spiral

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  20. A special hello and welcome to Luna and Psychelyn today.

    Psychelyn: it is often very rough and windswept at Hell's Gates so I imagine whoever named the outcrop thought it was a good metaphor. But like others I find it a beautiful wild place.

    Happy days

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  21. Your Hell is indeed Heaven. Have a nice visit home. As always, gorgeous photos. I especially loved the crashing waves. I'm off to take a dip in the waves myself soon as it is hot summer here in Maine.

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