Coastal life and creative inspiration intersect for the book “Where the Light Plays”

Welcome to my world. I live in Victoria in a small seaside town, on the edge of 240 kms of awe-inspiring coastline called the Great Ocean Road. With its diverse coastal landscape of gorgeous golden beaches and towering limestone cliffs, lush ancient rainforests and national parks, it is the home of kangaroos, echidnas, koalas and the most amazing variety of bird life.

I live and breathe this landscape everyday; it provided a perfect backdrop for my first novel Where the Light Plays.

“Andi ran along the beach. The sand was firm, still free of footprints, and the tide had ebbed, leaving the clean beach hard but forgiving enough to protect her knees. She paused to gather her breath and looked at the stark expanse of vertical rock above her, the interplay of light and shadow, rich tones and subtle hues. Inspiration.”

“Caitlin stood on the platform directly above Gull Rock, just after five thirty. She checked the waves all the way to Bells Beach in the West and used the long-range lens on her camera to scan the surfers out beyond the rock. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust before she found the grace, style, and rhythm of Andi’s unmistakable feminine form. Damn. She was glorious.”

“Caitlin scrolled through the photographs she’d taken on their day at Sheoak Falls. She’d shot a lot of images. In some of the pictures, rays of light beamed through the rainforest. The filtered light, especially near the waterfall, had created almost surreal effects. But the photograph that captured her attention now was of Andi standing in front of the falls, gazing upward to the tree canopy.”

“Caitlin seemed to be lost in the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The road wound along the cliff-tops, down onto the edge of pale gold sandy beaches, with views of the turquoise sea and crashing waves. It then rose towards a lookout, across river estuaries, and through lush rain forests. Caitlin reached for her camera and pleaded with Andi to pull over on the roadside.”

“Andi walked along her beach at twilight. Pale oranges and pinks still touched the clouds, and the rocky outcrops were silhouetted against the ambient sky. The glow of the setting sun had dimmed, and a faint band of zodiacal light stretched up from the horizon, illuminating the sky.”

All images are copyright: C. Fonseca & J. Guthrey

C. Fonseca is an expressionist landscape painter and can often be found at a cliff-top platform overlooking the Southern Ocean, daydreaming, plotting and planning her creative adventures. She has just published her debut book “Where the Light Plays”.