Rediscovering Ooty (Part 3): Woodbrook Lake

(This is part 3 of multipart Ooty travelogue. Click here to read Part 1 or Part 2)

Dark clouds began engulfing the area and it felt as if rains will come pouring down any time from now on. But the sight of woodbrook lake during our journey up here in the morning was still afresh in our minds.

(For the full picture of the journey, visit here)

A little earlier, we had a glimpse of this lake from another perspective too, when we had a magnificient view of the panorama from the top of the hill during our trekking episode (Watch the trekking experience here).

Rain or no rain we are going to the lake. Instead of walking down we decide to go in car, just in case it rains we have some cover available. The beautiful exit path from the resort once again is right in front of us. The path is very steep, and their is one hair pin bend too, but the exemplary scenery on both sides is spellbinding.

Dark clouds seem to accept defeat against our determination to have a face off with them as they were seen running for cover behind the mountains. The wide open area is right in front of us and the vehicle comes to a halt amidst one of the exquisite ambience it has ever been.

This is not a regular picnic spot. It is one of the sleepy villages of Ooty which has the charm of not being commercialized. If this place was devoid of any activity in the morning, now it is not so. The local lads are having a good game of volleyball in their traditional attires.

How lucky these guys are for getting to play in such a place everyday evening!! May be they will never have such a feeling as they are born and bought up here and will be thinking about the greener pastures in the cities.

Another interesting aspect of these fellows is that they were least inquistive on the invaders into their domain and continued playing. Initially when we saw such a crowd here, we had a feeling on whether it is a good decision to stroll around the lake. If it was my home state Kerala, the story would have been different.

As we move more and more closer to the lake the place was opening up nicely and the magananimity of the valley was there to be seen. We are having a feeling as if being in the centre of a big cricket ground engulfed between mountains kissing the sky.

The lake is now right in front of us, but the water does not seem too much fresh, for it is the ending point of the lake and this one seems to be the regular water source and bathing point for the villagers. The weeds and plants grown in the lake is giving it a green texture though. The chillness is increasing as we are standing close to the lake.

It is better to continue walking around rather than getting numb standing here as the chillness is starting to having an effect on our bodies. The walk sure is giving rich benefits as different live landscapes portrayals start to appear in front of us, all of them having a dark green tint owing to the cloudy evening sky.

We can continue walking as long as we can, coz we never feel drained with such august company and the extremely cool climate. It is not too cold nor it is hot. The perfect climate for those coming out from a summer weather touching almost 40 degrees. The irony is that we have to go back after two days. But something is better than nothing.

Well vast grounds around and simply walking around is not going to please kids or myself. Out comes a ball from my son's toy kit and soon it was flying high up in the air eagerly followed by some watchfull eyes to catch them before they touch the ground.

While the boys (read my son and myself) continued playing the girls are seen relaxing near the lake.

The clouds also seem to show some pyrotechniques to keep us entertained as it began weaving different patterns, bolstered by the rays of the setting sun.

It is already 6pm, but is not getting dark. The chillness is increasing and so is the intensity of a cold breeze blowing across. The parental concerns suddenly surged out and we felt as if this sudden change in climate will have some effect on our kids and so the decision is to leave this place for now. But not before my son having a jumping and running session around this place, a realisation in terms of body language for the kind of joy which we are feeling in our minds.

Nature somehow tends to sense our decision to go back and by the time we are in the car rain came pouring down. It is really dark now but I am not feeling to drive, so we all just stayed in car enjoying the rain whose intensity is just getting more and more as is the sound it produces when hitting the metal. All along we kept on discussing about our long day today. The rains sure is going to hamper our camp fire plans today at the resort. But who cares when we had such a great day.

Soon the vehicle is starting to roll back to its place of stay at night. As expected the rains are still pouring down and the resort fellow came and told about his inability to set up camp fire tonight. We were least worried. Dinner soon followed and we found ourselves in bed, for our bodies were real tired eventhough we never felt that owing to all the exciting things happened throughout the day !!

Click here to read the previous parts

Part 1 - Driver's dream roads : Calicut to Ooty
Part 2 - Brookdale: In a different league.
Part 3 - Woodbrook Lake
Part 4 - Ooty Kids Park, Film shooting point and a memorable camp fire