[17 Dec 05 - 19 Dec 05]
Brooms Head, too far from here, and from there, it's that kinda place where people just can't be bothered to go, and that's just the way i like it!
Though it was early summer you could definitely feel the sun. So heading to the beach to camp was a great idea. Even though 3 mates & myself took about 4 hours to get there! About two thirds of the way from Brisbane to Coffs Harbour, this place was nice and quiet when we got there, though i heard it can get very busy, probably during Easter and Christmas break. Its the little town of Brooms Head, no not Broome in WA, its in QLD. The campsite is just 10mins out of town, and the permit comes with unlimited firewood, just 90m from your tent. And to add to that, the site is just behind the beach and is on grass, helps keep sand out of the tent. To the north side of the campsite is a large lake, deep enough to swim if you don't wanna deal with the waves, but why wouldn't you, they were perfect. We didn't bring boards, but it was just great to jump around in the surf. They were like big fluffy clouds, strong enough to feel, but you didn't have to strain to stand, long white parallel lines rolled to shore, not to close in, nor too far, it is by far the best waves i have ever swam in to date.
Don't worry about the rock in the photo at the top of this article, though there were rocky areas, there were 1km stretches of sandy beach in between to be found. So we spent our first day just enjoying the surf right infront of the camp site, and rested for a journey of about 4km north along the beach the next day.
Travelling north we found fantastic volcanic rock out-crops, and not a soul for the first 2km. Even then we only came across an old man & his grandson collecting stones, for what i don't know.
Though after another km you could stand on the beach look in all directions & see no-one else, ah the serenity. As we closed in on the end of our trek, we came across an unexpected surprise. What one might call a room carved by the waves, out of sheer cliffs, it even had its own window.
This room contained a double seat (also of stone), where you could sit and as you watch the waves creep closer to high tide, you hear the echo of a thousand tides in stone walls. Sitting there alone, as my mates went back down 100m for a swim, i found it easy to lose myself in thought. The waves got closer, they began to caress my feet, & i knew it was time to leave, before the sea reclaimed it treasure.
On the last day we decided to investigate what lied south, toward the town, & though we found more people at first, we also found great cliffs. They were not as solid as the earlier volcanic rock & most of them were grey in colour, but we did come across a sight, as one was strongly red in colour, this was due to the high iron content in the soil, & it was called 'Red Cliff' (no points for originality).
So there you go, an accounting of a fantastic, relaxing, zen like camping trip. I hope to go back again before i head overseas, it truely is a hidden treasure.
