Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very Very Frightening

I had a pretty good idea that it was going to be an interesting sunset when I noticed the gap in the cloud on the horizon and the electrical storm spinning its way up the coast towards me. So I headed out early to Gerroa because that particular location is excellent for photographing both sunsets and storms and also because you can photograph in every compass direction. Sure enough, the sun got underneath the cloud and turned the world orange. Even better sunset coincided perfectly with the arrival of the storm.

I started off at the little reserve behind Crooked River, then moved down onto the beach. As the storm got closer the rain arrived and I took cover in the little shelter by the boat ramp. I was pleased that I had a roof over my head when the hail started coming down. As the storm passed overhead and began making its way out to sea I drove to Black Head and, now clear of the rain, photographed the retreating storm as it headed east. There were a couple of fairly close calls with the lightning – in one case a massive crawler lightning spread overhead and every hair on my head lifted outwards. All things being equal, it was a memorable sunset.