St Kilda Pier revisited

Managed to head down to St Kilda pier for a while yesterday to capture that great evening sunlight. The sun only sets at 8pm nowadays, so there's ample of time to get ready my gear and head down to the location.

St Kilda beach is a hive of activity in summer. Here you can see some surfers  with their parachute like equipment surfing through the seas.

The city in a distance with a gold ray of light reflecting off the crown of the Eureka Tower.

There were also heaps of folks at the pier doing various activities: Fishing, jogging, checking out the little penguins, or just enjoying the scene.

The pier is a very famous Melbourne icon and has been around since the early 1900s I reckon.

I guess its a little weird for me to find balustrades located only on the left side of the pier. It works to some extent of preventing people from jumping off it, I guess.

At the end of the pier is a cafe which also doubles up as a space for weddings and parties.

Coincidentally, there was a wedding ceremony being held at the cafe. The photographer must be overjoyed to be blessed with such great light.

To the right of the cafe are the boat enclosures.

Of course, the walkways to the boats are off access to the public as they are exclusively for their owners.

The sailboat masts point up bravely to the skies like numerous matchsticks.

This is a favourite spot for fishermen, and among the catch of the day I witnessed were some little stingrays.

I had to reach for my telephoto lens to capture the Spirit of Tasmania ferry setting out from Port Melbourne to Tasmania. Of course, flying to Launceston or Hobart can be cheaper (and faster), but if you've got a family car to bring over, this may well be your best bet.

The sun slowly sets over the Melbourne skyline.

Tourists gather here to wait for the little penguins to appear from their homes among the rocks. You can actually hear their squeals if you pay careful attention. Of course, a no flash photography policy applies for the general public.

It gets really hard to stabilise the camera when there's a moderate amount of wind, even when you have a substantially sized tripod. Perhaps I shall find some other ways to solve this problem in the near future.

So there you have it folks: St Kilda Pier. Hope you've enjoyed this series of great summer photos from Melbourne.

cheers.