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04:17 - Returning to Sunshine Beach soon after the last quarter moonrise as the altostratus cloud cover that had formed in the night quickly clears.

04:22 - Looking down the beach towards Mount Coolum, with the glow of the lights of the lower Sunshine Coast and Brisbane rising into the sky.

04:51 - A stream at the end of Sunshine Beach about half an hour before first light. The next beach is Sunrise Beach. I make the decision to watch the sunrise from here. After all I did miss seeing any sunshine on Sunshine Beach.

05:10 - A nice stream flows into Sunrise Beach. I thought this would make the perfect backdrop for this almost cloudless sunrise, the first I've seen since perched up on Double Island Point. A bank of cloud looms over the horizon along the edge of the continental shelf.

05:27 - I'm not the only one who has the idea of photographing the sunrise here. A lot of photographers come out along the coast at first light to capture the spectacular colours of the early morning.

05:29 - Mist rises from the breaking purple dawn waves as the sky begins to lighten. The sea is at its coolest at around this time of year being around 21 degrees, but already starting to warm up with the approach of summer. Distant clouds hang over the edge of the continental shelf. For much of the year it is like this, cloud a long way offshore and perfectly fine over the coast and inland. This must have something to do with the water temperature changing once the water hits the continental shelf.

05:37 - A tight bend in the stream coming out of the sand hills separating the beach from Lake Weyba. This is a miniature version of the Cooloola Sandmass running along the northern half of the Sunshine Coast. After this bend, the stream runs further along the beach before turning another tight bed to come back past here before turning out to sea. The waves push the sand into this meandering pattern.

05:46 - Early morning walkers rugged up. Although it is officially early spring, the clear mornings are still cold, sometimes dropping to single figures.

05:55 - The sun rises behind the distant clouds. This is the coldest part of the night. Seeing the sun sliding over the clouds means the air is going to quickly warm to an ideal walking temperature for the entire day.

05:57 - Looking upstream towards Mount Coolum and Point Arkwright. Cloud to the south is purple in the low sun angle.

06:03 - I head along the soft sunlit sand bank above the stream, lookng back towards Noosa Heads.

06:07 - A sailor takes a yacht northward as the sun brightly colours the mist of the still air hovering around the breaking waves.

07:04 - Zooming into an early morning surfer looking for a rip to carry him out into the waves. Although the air is crisp, a lot of local surfers come out onto the beach in the early morning to catch the breaking waves.

07:46 - More early morning walkers along the beach as the sun continues to rise in the sky. Beach walking is very popular along the coast, though I imagine few people would do an extreme beach hike as I'm currently doing.

08:35 - I stop in the white dunes for second breakfast then turn to see thick billowing smoke rising in the sky in front of the cloud further to the south. There must be a controlled burnoff making the most of the calm spring conditions.

08:55 - The smoke continues rising and thickening as it approaches. Bushfires are very common here, and they are burnt off in a controlled manner whilst there is no wind. This would protect surrounding residential areas should a bushfire start on a windy day when it wouldn't be controllable.

09:06 - The thick smoke covers the beach filling the air with the strong acrid smell of burnt eucalypt. Looking behind me Noosa Heads is now completely invisble in the dirty haze.

09:23 - Fortunately the smoke does lift. It is hard to tell where it is coming from, and by now thinking I may need to abort today's short short and wait for the fire to burn itself out before starting again tomorrow.

09:32 - The smoke continues to lift and now I see it is coming from somewhere on the other side of Mount Coolum. I won't be passing that area until tomorrow, so I'm now back on track to get to Point Arkright for today's sunset.

09:46 - Over the following hour, the wind shifts blowing gently from the west. It is a little cool, but nowhere near as cold as the westerlies we had a few weeks ago. This wide angle shot shows the worst of the smoke now above the sea.

10:25 - Another photographer on the beach is nicely set up photographing two surfers. I wonder how much of an effect the thick smoke is having on his shots.

11:20 - A small sandblow along the dune hills of this part of the coast. The dunes are low along this part of the coast - nothing like the dramatic sand formations I had crossed on the Cooloola Great Walk.

12:03 - Some exposed coffee rock deposited by a past swamp over this area at a time when the coast was several hundred metres further out from where it is now. Building suburbs on sandhills I think is a bad idea due to the constantly shifting sands. The tides have nibbled around the edges of the coffee rock turning what had been a large area into two large boulders.

12:29 - The source of the bushfire goes quite a way inland, but the worst seems to be over with all the bushland burnt and now the embers are dying down. In most other countries a bushfire would kill a forest. Although some trees will die in this fire, the burnt vegetation provides quite a lot of nutrients for the trees that do survive, and the seeds that have lain dormant for years are now able to germinate. Some varieties can only germinate after being burnt.

12:33 - Outlet of a big lagoon at the end of Summer Creek. The lagoon stretches behind the dunes I have been following for a couple of kilometres. The tides have created a large sand bank blocking the outlet of Summer Creek, making it an almost permanent body of deep water ochre stained from the surrounding heathlands.

12:47 - With the smoke starting to clear, the beach is now becoming quite busy again. This is one of those beaches where dogs are allowed. By now the beach is starting to sweep around towards the headlands of Point Arkwright allowing better views back to the Noosa Headlands.

13:01 - Approaching Coolum Beach. The forest fire has gradually eased off now leaving a mostly clear view. Point Arkwright is getting closer now. I'll definitely be able to make it before sunset.

13:40 - The start of the boardwalk at Coolum heading up to the headlands. Some smoke lingers in the sky, but it is now quickly dissolving away.

13:51 - View down to the beach from the boardwalk. The waves break over the golden sand as the clouds of smoke quickly head out to sea.

14:03 - A surfer making the most of a good swell breaking into Coolum.

14:09 - View back up to Noosa Heads now looking quite distant beyond the crowds filling Coolum Beach. Some smoke haze still lingers in the distant sky but it is mostly clear now. A couple of hours ago I wouldn't have been able to see very far at all.

14:17 - This is a very good boardwalk following the rugged volcanic headlands of a series of dykes extending north eastward from the base of Mount Coolum.

14:23 - The smoke is now quickly heading across to the horizon now blown by quite a strong wind at altitude. The air here just above sea level is very calm though. The winter westerlies are now a long forgotten memory.

14:29 - With plenty of time to spare I watch the waves break mercilessly over the rocks.

14:37 - The view from First Point looking across the rocky beach towards Point Arkwright.

14:43 - Zoomed into Point Arkwright. I can just make out the viewing platform from where I'll be observing tonight's sunset.

14:49 - Noosa heads is now a long way away. This time yesterday I was at the top of the distant point looking down this way. I've made some good progress. Today has been the first day I've been able to see my progress since Double Island Point.

15:08 - The nice boardwalk suddenly ends and a rough undulating track passes through the reserve heading towards the beach. I stop along here for an early dinner so I can catch the sunset just as I reach the lookout.

15:36 - Through a gap in the bush I reach a small lookout. A man is fishing from the rocks below the lookout. It does look treacherous down there with the swiftly breaking waves cascading over the rocks as they break.

15:56 - A few plaques at the lookout indicate where the ashes of dead locals have been scattered. I'll later find these plaques on almost every lookout over rocky points along the coast. Obviously people who have lived along the coast want to depart from here.

16:25 - Spring flowers out in full bloom in the scrubby headland forest.

16:48 - I reach the main lookout. The sun is now behind the hills overlooking this point, but still shines on the Noosa Heads and the sandhills above the beach I have hiked along today.

17:16 - The waves break over giant slabs of rock as they eat away at the rocky headland.

17:31 - The sun sets. Thanks to the residues of the acrid smoke still lingering in the air, the sky turns a bright orange colour. This is very common at this time of year with all the bushfire activity happening all over Australia before the hot summer sets in.

17:53 - The blue shadow of the earth rises from the eastern horizon as the sun sets to the west. The water here is crystal clear with the white sand clearly visible around the boulders.

17:57 - The sea and sky brilliant colours thanks to the smoke haze.

18:29 - The sky darkens and the lights of the towns come on. The waves are blurred in this long exposure shot. Bright lights come on in a sports stadium in Coolum, and in the distance, I can see the lights of Sunrise and Sunshine Beaches in front of the Noosa Heads. To think I had started way up there this morning.

18:52 - Darkness falls and the stars come out. There is some smoke haze diffusing the light pollution, but otherwise this is a very clear night.

19:13 - The centre of the galaxy is already quite high in the sky. It isn't as clear as it had been up on Double Island Point, but still looking impressive due to the smoke and light pollution. Well it did look impressive 25,000 years ago when the light I see tonight left the galactic centre point.

19:24 - Some cloud is now visible in the distance, and the lights of a fishing boat shine brightly on the horizon off the Noosa Headlands. The white foam of the breaking waves is visible highlighting the rocks as they break at the bottom of this cliff.

19:26 - Zooming in closer, I capture the blue light of phosphorescence - a very difficult phenomenon to photograph, but somehow I succeed at capturing the mysterious blue glow on a 30 second shot.

19:33 - The arm of the galaxy swings around the sky above the fishing boat.

19:37 - The galactic centre hovering above the vegetation of the lookout. The vegetation blocks out most of the light pollution from the other side of the point towards where I'll be heading tomorrow.

19:42 - From the lookout, I head through the scrubby bush towards the main Point Arkwright lookout, It is a very dark night but fortunately have a good head torch.

19:45 - Looking eastward from the main lookout at the top of the cliff. The rocky headland jutting out into the sea captures the bright waves, pointing to another fishing boat off the coast. The centre of the galaxy sweeps almost directly overhead as I turn in for the night.

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