Sunrise view from Brokers Nose over Wollongong
We all like blue sky days, such days are usually pleasant and undramatic allowing escape from chaotic life. But photographically, they dont really fit the description of wild. So one August morning I found myself upon Brokers Nose, that blunt rocky battlement that towers over North Wollongong Suburbia. Albeit this time it wasnt a blue sky day, quite the opposite. Orange and Oberon were under snow, The great Western HIghway West from Katoomba was closed due to sow and ice, and Wollongong, well, they don't call it windy Wollongong for nothing. I left home at 5am in strong winds, by the time I'm on top its practically storm force, I'm battling to stay upright. Alto Stratus is moving in from the West, a long thin smudge of grey streaming to the horizon. The colour is fantastic as the grey turns from pink to red to orange as the Sun nears. I find that fang of rock that I know well, and in these conditions I understand the meaning of wind sculptured. A gust almost knocks me over as I start unfolding the tripod, I'm wondering how the wind is going to affect stability, I'm going to have to stand up and take the full brunt so I dont get camera shake, things you put up with for photography. Down there its a wind chill of 4 degrees, up here I dont want to guess but I've got 3 layers with a hood and a wind stopper jacket, my nose is dripping, ears aching and I'm losing feeling in my gloved hands as I wait for the sun. With its towers and transmission lines, not to mention all that romantic history scribed in the rocks, you'd be forgiven for thinking the area around Brokers Nose is not really wild. But if you look at it differently, it sinks in. The rock forms are amazing, the view is one of the best I've encoutered, and the vegetation well that's always wild. Its still part of a wild escarpment, not in the conservation area, its more a recreation area. Walking to the top either from sea level or upon one of the many tracks on the escarpment there is an astounding diversity of
Size: 4672px × 6086px
Photo credit: © Matt Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: australia, bellambi, brokers, clouds, corrimal, escarpment, illawarra, nose, nsw, ocean, rock, sea, sunrise, tasman, twilight, view, wollongong
