The Fumeaux and Rosenbaum families left from Friday the 16th to Monday the 19th for an intrepid adventure at Seal Rocks. Driving time from Sydney via Bulahdelah is about 4 hours. Thanks to dad’s map reading skills it took 5 hours for the Rosens who took a “shortcut” through Maitland! Bulahdelah, which is only about 30 minutes from Seal Rocks on partial dirt road is a nice township for lunch. Treachery Camp is located about 2 km past the Seal Rocks camp ground. Once we arrived at Treachery Beach camp ground (http://www.treacherycamp.com.au/moreinfo.htm ) Gary had already picked the perfect spot in a shady alcove and protected it with a massive tarp for the perfect rain and sun shelter. Need to get one of those for future family adventures. We spend Friday afternoon admiring the camp ground, which is set apart from the treachery beach by a massive sand dune. The Camping fee for a family of four and two nights was 72$. The camp ground has running water, coin barbecues and hot showers for twenty cents. The caretakers shop sells ice and water. Warning ! you can not buy any beer anywhere! Even the closest corner shop just before the lighthouse track is not licensed and you need to bring your own supplies.
Saturday morning started early with excited kids buzzing around the campground like thirsty mosquitoes. After a lazy breakfast we headed of to Treachery beach just beyond the campground. But before we hit the water is was time to surf the sand dune. We used the boogie boards and took turns in slinging the kids down the massive dune. After a few too many crashes it was time to hit the beach. It is only a short walk from the campground to treachery beach, which stretches South to Yagoon (there is a little free national park camping ground at the North end of the beach which Gary explored with his mountain bike) and North to Treachery Head. What can I say, the sun was blazing and the waves were perfect. I tried Gary’s short board and the kids had fun on Gary’s Redback long board. It was getting too hot at lunch so we headed back to the camp for a little downtime. The afternoon was spent with rigging a pulley system on two trees so that the kids could have fun on a flying fox ‘under the shade of a coolibah tree’.

In the afternoon it was time to head across the short dirt track to Sugarloaf Bay and the beach just in front of the Seal Rocks camp ground. There is a little Island on the South end with a channel disconnecting the Island from the main land and smooth surf for the kids. While the kids were playing cricket the boys headed of for a quick snorkel up the front of the Island. Astonishingly, without much practice Gary’s hand spear nailed a Rock Cod almost on the first try and dinner was becoming much more interesting. The first night was spent under a star spangled firmament and a cozy campfire keeping us warm.
Sunday dawned early with excited kids practicing on the flying fox. After a scrumptious lazy breakfast it was time to head of and climb up the Lighthouse track to Seal Rocks. A short one kilometer track along a stunning rugged coastline with narrow channels and slab climbing possibilities led up the track to the lighthouse perched high above the magnificent lighthouse beach where ‘one’ lucky fellow caught the perfect A-frames all by himself. Midday it got hot and humid and we headed straight to the beach for a cool swim with Gary catching Rock Cods once again (but this time true to its name the slippery thing jumped straight back in after Gary nailed it ‘twice’). There was no rest for the wicked and after dropping the kids of at the camp ground it was time to do some real surfing at Treachery. About 16:00PM somebody turned up the swell and there were 4 to 5 foot sets rolling in about 150 meters offshore. There was hardly anybody in the water so it was Gary on the shorty and Roman on the classic long board. I won’t torture you too much with the detail but lets just say that we should do this again very soon.
There was still a bit of time left to squeeze out of the day so we took the kids for a second round of hard-core dune surfing this time we built a little jump and went for it big time. Gary filmed the event and there will be some footage available soon. Sunday evening was barbecue time so we filled our hungry bellies with as much chicken and sausage as we could fit in and consumed the last of Ute’s secret chocolate supplies.
Monday morning started as yet another perfect day and we thought seriously of staying for another week……

Download a Regional Map for easy access and camping Here.

Special thanks goes to Gary and Ute and the kids for keeping up with us camping novices and for feeding us when our supplies dwindled.

Roman 21 Feb 2007