I’ve never been one for crowds. Not that I have anything against them. There’s no deep rooted trauma this time. It wasn’t as if I was almost crushed by a crowd or been injured in a fray. I’m simply the kind of person to take the path less travelled.
I prefer to wander on my own through locations void of people, to allow my senses to expand beyond myself and explore without the noise and confusion of another’s voice. While at home, I can accept the necessity of others, but whilst I travel I always prefer to do so solo. The problem there lies in finding times and destinations for where I feel I won’t be disturbed by other tourists. In all my time travelling and taking photographs, the best way I’ve found to avoid tourists is to go off season, and as I don’t work regular hours, this is never too difficult.
Even though it’s heading into winter at the moment, I’ve decided to take this opportunity and head down to the surf coast to Lorne for a week or two. I haven’t really booked too much along the way, I generally prefer to go where the wind takes me on these type of adventures. Considering how cold it’s going to be in winter, I’ve made sure to book a Lorne hotel. Accommodation in Lorne can get really competitive in peak season. I’ve decided I’m better off not to take any chances even though it should be much quieter. My mum used to holiday down the great ocean road all the time when she was my age, but I’ve never quite made it to Lorne before. I’ve even decided to stay in the Lorne beach apartments where my mother and her friends used to stay. I want to try and capture a bit of the magic in her voice when she speaks about it. That’s all I want to do, really. Capture the magic of a place.