Madison Scott is a reporter and producer with NBN News who has a passion for people and sharing the stories that matter most.
She started her career in TV, after completing a Bachelor of Journalism at Queensland University of Technology. After producing for Nine News in Brisbane, Madison reported for Nine in Toowoomba, before she made the move down to Newcastle s NBN.
THE LOCATION
Turn off the Pacific Highway, a three-hour drive north of Sydney, or under two from Newcastle, and the countryside rucks into purple hills and green valleys dotted with black pointillist cattle. Gum trees are a silver sheen against the sun. The road gets narrower, snaking through eucalyptus forest, and you can feel your urban bother peeling away. Then you round a bend, the ocean is a blue explosion through your windscreen, and you ve arrived in the sleepy enclave of Seal Rocks.
THE PLACE
Just a few dozen houses and a camping ground comprise Seal Rocks, leaving all the attention directed towards its two sweeping white slashes of sand, forest-draped headlands and blue ocean outlooks. The village lies at the eastern end of Myall Lakes National Park, whose coastal lakes and wetlands teem with wading birds. Expansive beaches hereabouts are barely marked by a footprint. Fifteen minutes uphill walk from Davies Cottage, past massive sand dunes, is Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse,
MILK BEACH, SYDNEY
Sydney has somewhere in the region of about 100 beaches – both harbour and ocean, north and south – so it shouldn t come as a surprise to find there are still stretches of sand here untrodden by a million feet. Milk Beach is one of those locations, an inlet in a spectacular location in you-can t-afford-it Vaucluse, with views over the harbour to the bridge and the city skyline on one side, and a whole heap of fantasy mansions on the other.
There s only about 50 metres of sand here, so it s good thing Milk Beach is tricky to access: with no carpark or direct road link-up, you ll have to join the Hermitage Foreshore walking track from either Rose Bay or Watsons Bay. To find yourself a spot here for a swim and a sunbake is, however, well worth the effort.
“You’d be forgiven if you thought this was a postcard from Greece!”
But the truth is: “These turquoise waters are brought to you by Broughton Island on the @barringtoncoast.”
“Broughton Island is part of Myall Lakes National Park off the southern boundary of the Barrington Coast, and is only accessible by boat.”
Even after reading this caption, various Instagram users struggled to believe what they were seeing.
“First time in 60 years I’ve heard of the Barrington Coast, is this something new or something that’s been hidden forever?” one wrote.
“I’m so glad to see this is in my own state, I just wish I knew about it last week when I was down the… coast…bummer!” another commented.