The weather in Sydney this week has been schizo. 37C heat and wind on Tuesday for Melbourne Cup was not particularly pleasant, especially if you were a bloke trussed up in a suit and tie like me. Then the rest of the week was 15 degrees cooler, cloudy and wet.

But it’s all come good today to the relief of several thousand people as Sculpture By The Sea is back. If you haven’t been then you have a week remaining to head east and wander the coast from Bondi to Glamarama to view the ever interesting and unusual works of art.

The best time for photos is definitely early: read 5.30am. But for that you get the sunrise and clear shots of all the sculptures.

If you come over next weekend for the final days then bring your elbow pads and prepare for cluttered viewfinders!

Sunrise is getting ridiculously early these days. Too early even for me.

That’s a shame because I love getting down to the beach pre-dawn. For a lot of people setting the alarm for 5.30am to go and exercise is ok, but setting it that early to take photos has a touch of insanity to it, and dragging yourself out of a warm bed to head out into the chilly darkness doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either. Add the fact that you’re never guaranteed a spectacular sunrise and it’s quite reasonable to wonder whether I’m just extremely bored or an insomniac. However, the sky is now getting light from 5am, which is pushing my limits given that I don’t sleep until after midnight. So when is daylight savings kicking in?!

Once that comes around I’m sure I’ll resume my pre-dawn ritual. I actually like the lottery of heading out into the dark and guessing the best location to set up my tripod when I can’t even see if there are any clouds, let alone guess whether the next 30 minutes will bring my holy grail – a blanket of glowing pink covering the beach and the sea.

However, even if that doesn’t happen it’s still worth hanging around until the sun rises. By that time Bondi Beach is a hive of activity; the runners are pounding the promenade, the boot campers are doing their push ups, and the surfers are sitting out at the back waiting for their perfect break.

I love this town.