Cottage stalwart, Nugent Welch, also spent much time painting at coastal spots around Wellington, Kapiti and the Wairarapa. Castlepoint was not commonly frequented by artists but Welch enjoyed expeditions to remote locations on the New Zealand coast searching out fresh painting spots. During the 1930s Welch moved away from Impressionism and began using modern blocks of pure colour to indicate forms such as the grass and sand dunes in this painting. The expansive sky dominating half the picture space is a characteristic Welch composition. His high viewpoint from a hill looks over the broad sweep of the landscape below and leads the eye towards the smooth blue horizon.