TOD Tour, Day 27 - Red Rock

Sunrise at Red Rock

There's not much at Red Rock but what's there, is worth seeing.

I rose just before the sun and made for the beach, where the promise of good photos had be given to me by a happy snapper. I wasn't disappointed. The waves crashing onto the headland which is Blood Rock, were inspiring enough but a stunning sunrise was among the best I've seen. As the sun rose higher, I transferred my attention to the climb up onto Blood Rock and the scenes of crashing waves and rich colours. In fact the colour and the strongly deformed sedimentary beds which can be seen at Red Rock are a puzzle to geologists because they are totally unique along the Coffs Coast. There is literally nothing else like it. Originally laid down in redbank river sediments, perhaps near to a subsequent volcanic activity, but why it appears here and nowhere else nearby is still a geological mystery.

Blood Rock has a nasty sociological history. It was the final scene in a massacre of women and children of the Gumbaingirr people which began at Blackadder's Creek when policemen rode up to women washing in the creek and began shooting. Survivors escaped up to the main river, where men were shot swimming across the water towards the safety of the far bank. The women and children continued to run and were "herded" up and onto Blood Rock, where they were forced off the bluff and into the sea. A plaque on the walk up to the summit highlights these events and explains that Gumbaingirr women avoid Blood Rock.

After a few hours taking photos, I swapped my camera for my iPhone and had a Skype consultation with my psychiatrist - an annual event which amounts to no more than a mental grease and oil change. After flying to Sydney last week to take part in a presentation around a corporate board room table, speaking to a top notch medico from the top of headland made for a complementary event. I was kind enough to direct the camera around the view for his benefit.

I also made a birthday call to our eldest - Chris - and one of the few occasions we have been apart for his birthday.

Before leaving the summit, I accepted an email from the Editor of "Time To Roam" magazine and his purchase of an article I have written. It should appear in the April edition.

After breakfast and now with Sue up and about, it was down to the beach for some water and sand. The main beach which faces the ocean, was too rough, having just peaked at the high tide and was too steep and too strong for swimming. After a short while, Sue took her turn up Blood Rock to catch the view and then we went down to a gentle beach, just inside the mouth of the river. Here the water was gentle and waves small and few, so we took a dip.

My afternoon was mostly exhausted on management activities and some planning. Try as we might to keep this long journey "free and easy", monitoring our finances and some short term forward planning makes sure we have few worries.

Late in the day, about 7pm, we went for a drive around Red Rock. Sue started cooking dinner at 7:05.

Moving on tomorrow.