TUESDAY – DECEMBER 3, 2013 Diamond Beach NSW
BOTTOM LINE:
Explored the coastline
from our resort to Seal Rocks south
BACK STORY:
We woke to a beautiful
sunny morning with predicted high tides and high waves. We left for a drive to explore all beaches
between our resort and Seal Rocks…about 30 miles to the south.
Our first stop was in
the twin city to Foster called Tuncurry.
It sits on the north side of the Wallis Lake inlet. Near the mouth of the ocean sits the town
saltwater swimming pool. It encompasses
a large area, but with the high incoming tide and rough waters, people could
have easily surfed at the spot.
We walked out to the
breakwaters and found four crusty old men sitting in their weathered folding
chairs…speedos and hats on, beers in hand (it was 10am) and tan skin resembling
well worn leather. It was a sight and
just as I was ready to take a candid shot I noticed a hand made sign on a rock
to the side of them. The sign read, “Rocks
of Knowledge!” I approached the gents
and asked about the sign. It was theirs
and they were there to enjoy the sun, people and partake in conversations where
they could share their knowledge! LOVE
IT! Better than living a sedentary life
in a dim room with a TV and channel changer as your friends! Sharing life’s stories with the people we
have met has been the highlight to our trip thus far!
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| The Rocks of Knowledge |
We are in what’s known
as The Great Lakes Region for New South Wales.
The name is well suited given all of the large lakes, rivers and ocean
estuaries. The lakes are predominately
salt water fed having sandy bottoms, clear water and saltwater fish. Those lakes that do not drain naturally into
rivers and ultimately into the ocean are opened once a year to flush.
This area seems very
conscious of healthy and sustainable waters.
The oyster farms just in from the ocean have high standards to adhere to
or are given hefty fines for any pollution.
Speaking of
oysters…yum! The oysters from this area
are known round the world as being sweet and very small, needing only a tender
chew as you pop them into your mouth raw.
The oysters grown just north of S.F. and the large oysters grown and
harvested in WA are on the opposite spectrum from these little local gems.
We were out to the
Foster seaside swimming area and noticed three elderly people crouched in
between rocks that were getting pelted with strong surf. They seemed to be busy doing something and I
was actually concerned about their safety.
When they emerged I inquired as to what they were doing. They answered, “cleaning oysters for our
picnic!” They had bought oysters from a
local farmer and were shucking and washing them out in the clean ocean salt waters.
As we worked our way
down the coast, we encountered high surfs and pounding waves. Young people were out in droves not so much
with surf boards, but wearing fins, rash guard tops and laying on small boards
to ride waves on their bellies. Either
way, it looked like danger against the oceans wrath. One mother came running out to the waters
edge yelling for her son to come it. He
was tiring as he fought a rip tide that was pulling him into some rocks. Friends of his luckily pulled him to safety.
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| Tuncurry, NSW jetty on high tide/surf day |
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| Paddle boards in rough surf |
Speaking of safety, we
heard on the local news about an 18 year old who had been killed by a shark
attack in Coff’s Harbour four days ago.
That was where we were staying last!
‘Ya just never know. Sounded like
a nice kid.
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| Tank Rocks on Monday |
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| Same spot the next day! |
Although Seal Rocks
were only about 30 miles away, it took all day to go and return. We wanted to see the area. People had said that it was a kick back 1960’s
hippy kind of place. We really didn’t
find much commercialism there, only more beautiful beaches. The movie, “Adoration” that was just released
was filmed there. We are planning to go
to the cinema Thursday to see it.
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