Clouds in the valley...

Not far from the more popular camping havens of Nelson Bay and Myall Lakes lie the postcard perfect beach town of Seal Rocks, in the mid coast of New South Wales, and 275 km north of Sydney. Having camped at Myall Lakes the night before, we couldn't help bring ourselves to this beautiful gem of a place. Named apparently after a family of seals that perhaps lived here, Seal Rocks today is devoid of these furry critters, leaving the beach to practically yourself. The long expanse of the Lighthouse Beach The Seal Rocks beach or the Boat Beach as the locals call it, is a crescent shaped beach in gold that easily steals your heart from miles afar, when you realize quite easily why this place was included in your to-do list in the first place. Sitting on a low hill with well trimmed grass carpets, overlooking this crescent shaped beauty, I had practically had one of my best Sunday morning coffees ever! But before I could actually get down on those sands and hug the turquoi...

Unstoppable Force was very happy. He was, well, unstoppable. He won in every match and was literally undisputed. There was none who could beat him. Life was going great, until one day he heard renewed murmurs of an age old legend – Immovable Object. People started saying that if there ever was a match, the legendary Immovable Object would definitely win! This started bothering Unstoppable Force. His impression as the undisputed champion was at stake and he needed to prove to the world that he was the greatest. So Unstoppable Force packed his bags and began his journey to seek out Immovable Object and show the world the true champion he was. But alas, is quest was difficult. He moved on for days and days but never found immovable Object. He roamed all around the world but in vain. Much to his chagrin, everywhere he went, Unstoppable Force heard rumours that people had seen Immovable Object but he could never trace him. Slowly, he lost the vigour and enthusiasm of his journey an...

The next destination for the day was Culburra Beach – a sleepy yet rejuvenating hamlet, south east of Nowra, and just north of the Jervis Bay National Park. It is a quintessential watery paradise – to its north lies the Crookhaven River, to its south is Lake Woollumboola while its east is wrapped by the magnificent Pacific dotted with myriad sun and sea laden sandy stretches happily justifying the name of the place (Curbulla is aboriginal for sand) We first headed to the  Culburra Beach Mote l located at the heart of the town. I met Gail who runs the place along with her husband Grant – Gail was a very cheery lady who happily talked to me about her hometown. In my opinion, this is one of the best parts of travelling – catching up with the local folks and hearing them talk with pride about their world, its unknown history and those hidden nooks and bejewelled corners that are well hidden from the Lonely Planets and the Tripadvisors of the world. Gail and Grant had bo...

They say, if you really want to understand something – anything, a person, a place, or even an environment, you need to give it time. Time to observe, understand, introspect and then finally decide whether to love or hate the same. Without which, any judgement  becomes a flurry of an observation. I would say the same deeply of any traveler’s tales. He needs to spend some real time to feel the wind on the hill, hear the call of its denizens in the bush lands and smell the sea-breeze as the waves lash and crash on the isolation of the cliffs of chalk. If it is a good experience, he needs to live and relive it so much that his heart aches on his departure. Otherwise what’s the difference between the armchair traveler who flips through his glossy monthly magazine and the hasty traveler who just has megabytes of memories on his Nikon, but himself is bereft of any emotional attachment to the place he has been to? Sadly, when we are travelling, time becomes a luxury. It is such an i...