Seal Rocks ROCK!

The drive to Seal Rocks from Crescent was only a few hours on the main HWY 1 so we arrived by mid afternoon. The entire drive I couldn't get Byron out of my mind with its' nice beaches and uncrowded surf. I really didn't want to go to Seal Rocks where there is no surf due to sharks wanting to eat the seals. What are we going to do for a few days at this place since we heard it's a tiny little place without even a grocery store and no one really knows about it (other travelers). I guess I can drink beers all day and fantasize about surfing. It will be a good time to finally pull out my guitar and learn some songs. Oh well, life goes on.

When we pulled up to this little bay I noticed a few things:

The water was crystal clear
There was absolutely no seals
There was a head with a barrier reef around it
The waves were waist to chest high and peeling around the head
There was 3 people out

It was on! I pulled into the parking lot and slamed the van into park. Jumped out, grabbed my board, and ran into the water. I forgot if I turned off the engine or not, oh well, Amy will take care of it.

Seal Rocks is pretty much a smaller version of every popular "head" in Eastern OZ. You can walk all the way to the head and jump off the rocks right at the main peak. No paddling required. When I jumped in the other 3 guys were all smiles and really friendly. I guess safety in numbers against great whitey. We all talked, cheered each other on, and took turns catching the set waves that came every 10 minutes or so. It was super mellow and fun. The water was only about 5 feet deep due to the reef protecting the break. No sharks in site and if one was brave enough to come near, we could see it 100 yards away due to water clarity. We surfed and talked until the sun went over the hill and the wind picked up. It was time to get out and look for a place to park for the night before doing it all over again the next day.

None of the surfers I talked to was a local there since the only thing around was a caravan park with some cabins. There were a few homes scattered here and there but most of them were empty vacation homes. Over the hill from Seal rocks was another bay that was just as nice minus the waves. There were a few homes here and half of them were occupied year round by people who fished for a living out of the area. The other half belonged to very wealthy Sydneysiders who built vacation homes here since it was within driving distance for weekend trip. I later found out from one of the few locals that there was bad blood brewing between them and the Sydneysiders. The locals want to keep the place pristine and undeveloped (explaining why the only road into town was a gravel road until you get into town) while the Sydneysiders wanted to build up more shops and turn the place into a resort town. I have to take the locals side on this one and we all planned on getting together later for some beers before burning down the vacation homes! Just kidding, I do wish the people find a balance and keep the place undeveloped for our next visit.

We found a nice campsite with free bbq's and only two other group of campers. It was nice and quiet so we set up shop. More of the same: cook, wine, talk stories, then sleep. I love this lifestyle. Oh, the reason we slept early (around 9 PM usually) wasn't just due to having nothing to do at night, it was because we wanted to get up early to split the camping area before the rangers came in to collect fees. Sly little bastards we were.

The next day wasn't as nice since the wind picked up and the swell went completely flat. Water skiing would be more appropriate than surfing. We hung out and made breakfast to see what the weather and waves would do. Nothing changed for a few hours so it was time to get out of town and head into the mountains since Amy was dying for some hiking. I'm not a big fan of walking around for no reason but convinced myself that the skin on my stomach and chest could use a break from the sun and rubbing on my board to the point of feeling like leather. Time to head to the Blue Mountains for some hiking, yay!