As you walk down to the pathway to Dolphin Point it is impossible to miss the carefully constructed piles of rocks that are scattered on the beach.
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They are something you might expect to find on a deserted Balinese shoreline or scattered through a Japanese zen garden, not something you would ordinarily see on the shores of the Shoalhaven.
Some of them have been there a while and some will disappear with the high tide. There are tributes to lost loved ones, while others were built by children having fun with nature’s lego.
John Clatworthy started the trend 14 months ago after the unexpected death of his friend, Mark Galton in a work accident.
The pair used to surf together at Dolphin Point and after his Death, John wanted to pay tribute to him in a way that would not make an impact on the environment.
He started to use rock art as a meditative technique, carefully balancing impossibly shaped rocks on top of each other and making archways from the stones along the point.
“It is as much about letting go as it is about holding on,” John said.
“The sound of the water is meditative.
“While you are building, you forget about the washing up that needs to be done and work,” he said.
Originally he started building a wall, however it kept getting washed away or knocked down.
He decided to start building smaller projects that were never meant to last.
“If people get joy from knocking them down, I’m cool with that too,” John said.
He goes down to Dolphin Point at least once a week but sometimes more, to work on his structures.
“I like the beauty of them,” John said.
“It is about balance placement.
“As soon as you tell yourself you can’t do it, you can’t.
“It took a long time to psych myself into being able to do it,” he said.
Sometimes balancing just one rock on another can take up to half an hour.
Other people have been following in John’s footsteps and creating small projects of their own along the beach.
John has asked people to not stack the rocks too high in case a child accidentally knocks them over but is glad people are finding their own peace in rock meditation and art.
He likes that people are using all natural elements, and nature continually moves the structures around or knocks them down for people to start a new project.
“If that didn’t happen, there would be no rocks left for the next person,” John said.
