Rolling around the sand dunes – Lancelin Australia.
Slowly through the poorly lit bush and spiky spinifex grass I reach the open plain. It’s early, too early, and I miss my normal late weekend morning to chase the rising sun over the Lancelin sand dunes. Wind picking up, although not cold, blowing over the twilight hued peaks resembling industrial chimney stacks stirring the sand into clouds of smoke rising and settling. I think the 4:30am wake up call has brought out the bleary eyed poet in me.
The subtle light doesn’t last long, by 7 the sun has already burnt through the cloud, by 9 the now pure whites dunes were occupied by the sound of buzzing motors and swarming flies!
Lancelin until now was a quick stop off on the way further north, I really wanted to have a proper look at the sand dunes of the town, originally a small fishing community that slowly became a popular spot for motorized thrill seekers, sand boarders, and wind surfers, to the detriment of many locals.
By 10 the temperature was starting to climb into the mid 30’s with the reflection off the sand giving a double shot of heat, I approach a guy on a quad bike dressed head to toe in black leather for a photo, wondering if his extreme sport was in fact a deliberate wardrobe malfunction competing to see how dehydrated you could get before passing out. I was still envious of his mobility, scaling the dune only a handful of times left me in a state close to John Mills after cranking the big van up the hill in ‘Ice Cold in Alex’ in dire need of a nice cold beverage.
Turning to watch a supped up 4×4 thunder over the dunes, kicking up sand in its wake, now midday and the dunes are in full flow, a true highlight of Western Australia with its deluge of blue sky and white horizon filling a scene of blowing sand and wide smiles, one of the most fun-filled days I have had in Western Australia.
View more from Lancelin and Australia:
Lancelin sand dunes | Australian galleries | Instagram
To commission this or any of my work, please feel free to email me: philhill@philhillphotography.com
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