Blue skies and a crystal-clear bay have left one visitor to South West Rocks describing it as, quite literally, picture-perfect.
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Painter on the road Colin Parry, timed his four-day trip perfectly, setting up a canvas and whipping out his oil paints to capture the view of Horseshoe Bay as a souvenir of his stay.
Born in the United Kingdom, Mr Parry now lives in Aubery, Victoria. As an inland painter he was thrilled to capture the coastline while still being drawn to the trees; a subject with which he is most comfortable.
"I wanted to paint the mountain range and started at Trial Bay, but it was a boring outlook with no interesting foreground. This headland is much better with the trees forming more depth," Mr Parry said.
He only picked up the paintbrush at 34-years-old, making up for lost time as a creative person who wasn't encouraged to create.
"I went to a Grammar school in Wales, and in those days back in the '50s and '60s, they chose our subjects. They moved me into mathematics, science, Latin and French, all the stuff they deemed important, and they kicked me out of all the art, craft, woodwork and music; all the things I was passionate about.
"I was disappointed at losing craft and woodwork, but not art. I had no interest in art at the time."
Mr Parry taught at a high school for 17 years and was pleased that the children had to spend half a day per week in the art and craft block, even if you were an advanced academic student.
"Nobody was excluded from creative pursuits, which was very nice. I just wished they'd done that in my day."
The teacher turned painter "restored his sanity" working for a further 21 years in a primary school, before retiring in 2005.
"Before I retired I was selling quite well and won some awards. I thought, 'great, I've got time to indulge', but when you're retired, you can't be bothered with all the hassle. It's just nice to paint, and sell a few works.
Mr Parry says he learnt from Australian painters.
Lance McNiell taught him technique while his mentor John Wilson, one of Australia's leading oil painters, showed him the art of light, shadows and colour.
Mr Parry was an Artist in Residence at an Australian winery three years ago, and has taken numerous courses with Mr Wilson over the past few years, but when he started to paint "just like him", he went his own way.
"[John] has given me everything he could," Mr Parry said.
He now paints in "all media" from watercolours to oils, and enjoys sketching, too.
As a trained artist, Mr Parry doesn't copy from photographs or calendars, and instead prefers to sit and see the landscapes with the naked eye in order to capture the differences in light and shadows, and decipher which details to include.
"The camera is not the human brain", he said.
Mr Parry and his wife Sandra began taking road trips in 2011, seeing more of Australia via their caravan, one town at a time.
They visited South West Rocks for the first time "years ago" and enjoyed staying again at Horseshoe Bay caravan park, despite the noise from Saturday night's pub band at The Seabreeze.
Mr Parry is passionate about young people getting off their screens and staying creative.
"When people say they aren't creative, well that's a load of nonsense. Everyone is a creative person, they just need to get out and make something," he said.
The couple are continuing their travels North, and Mr Parry will continue to pull the easel out along the route.
Next stop, Evans Head.