A Seal-Rock Sunday!
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.
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| 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 turquoise waters, there was one more thing to check - the Seal
Rocks Lighthouse or the Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse. For those insane record-keepers,
it is Australia's second most easterly lighthouse after the legendary one at
Byron Bay. And boy, was I glad to tick it off!
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| ‘Oh Lord – you are so large and I am so small!’ – A lone fisherman on the Lighthouse beach |
The Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse
Yes, another pretty awesome feature that I keep finding
along the marvelous coastline of Australia is its string of old lighthouses,
still freshly painted and standing tall against the tide of both sea and time. This
one was completed in 1875 and at the current rate, looks like it can keep
blinking for a few more centuries. The walk to the Lighthouse from the Seal
Rocks beach through dense forests, is a terrific one. As we wound up the hill
to reach the lighthouse at the summit, we came across a rocky wall that
descended to the sea - with a shaft formed by decades of wind and water erosion,
practically behaving like a blowhole carved onto the vertical wall. (You would
almost wish for the seas to lash onto the wall just to see the blowhole come to
life)
We walked on, and soon enough, the mighty Lighthouse Beach
uncovered to the right - it was one
spectacular line of a beach, and would have been more of a magnet for surfers,
but on a lazy Sunday, the people, I guess, preferred the sedentary calming
waters of the Seal Rocks beach on the other side. With magnificent views that we
couldn't get enough of - and that always reminds me of this primeval land, we kept
walking up to the Lighthouse.
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| To the lighthouse |
The rolling hill was carpeted in green, with wild tomatoes
growing in the hedges while a blue sky seemed spangled with white clouds. The
walk was surprisingly refreshing even as the steep walk tired us out. At the top, the whitewashed walls of the lighthouse
sparkling in the morning sun and contrasted against the deep blue waters of the
Pacific felt so reminiscent of the Greek isles like Santorini. As Einstein once
said, 'Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere!'
Thank you Einstein, I was transported from the Pacific to the Mediterranean in
no time.
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| Reminiscences of Santorini |
The panoramic views from the lighthouse was breathtaking. I
have greedily savored such splendid sights far south in the Jervis Bay and
closer in the Palm Beach - a highway of lights indeed along the coast. What a
life for these white sentinels, standing all alone and yet, what beacons of
hope they must be giving out to the beleaguered sailors of the sea. As if to
reinforce just these thoughts, there were these beautiful lines hanging on a
wall inside the lighthouse:
'Sail
on!' it says,' Sail on, yeh Stately Ships
And
your floating bridge the Ocean span,
Be
mine to guard this light from all eclipse,
Be
yours to bring man nearer unto man!'
If these lighthouses
would be sentient beings (imagine a Studio Ghibli movie), what stories would
they have? Standing tall and compassionate like the Bodhisattvas, redeeming all
those who sailed close to the horizon!
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| Sometimes, the seas just bleed blue! – View from the lighthouse top |
The slightly
sweaty hike up and down to the lighthouse was reason enough to take a dip in
the aquamarine waters of the Seal Rocks Beach. The formation of the nearby bay
was such that it shielded all the choppy waters of the waves, leaving placid
waters glittering in the morning sun, looking too inviting to deny a swim. We
splashed about for a good hour and with clouds playing hide and seek with the
sun, the skies just added to the brilliant ambiance. Such should be a Sunday
indeed!
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| How-can-you-not-take-a-dip waters of the Seal Rocks |
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| The golden crescent of the Seal Rocks Beach |
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