Tathra to Eden

Eden spot #1

We seem to have made a habit of checking out of van parks at about 10.30 (10am being the normal checkout) but none of the parks we’ve visited have been real busy so no one has complained yet.  We left Tathra and made our way further south heading for Eden, our last stopover before entering Victoria.  Late last year Vic had won an auction on line, at www.travelauctions.com.au for 10 days at the Big4 caravan park at Eden after being referred to the site by a caravanning couple that we had met while in Hervey Bay.  These are very popular in the southern states and regularly advertise their offers on TV.  The top 50 bidders win and Vic got us a stay for 10 nights on a powered van site (at a really good price) and so we made straight for Eden, knowing we would have plenty of time to explore the area.  It is only 27klms from Tathra to Merimbula, and then a further 22klms to Eden, so 1½ hours after checking out of Tathra, we checked into Eden in time to put the kettle on.

Twofold Bay

Our first stop after setting camp was the Tourist Info Centre, where we got some great advice and suggestions on how to spend our time here.  That first day in town, we went to the Rotary Park Lookout, which has a fantastic view over beautiful Twofold Bay, the third deepest natural harbour in the Southern Hemisphere, and inland to Mt Imlay with the rugged hills that lead into the Great Dividing Range and the three national parks that surround Eden.  

We then stopped off at Snug Cove, where explorers, Bass and Flinders came ashore in 1798, and where one of the largest fishing fleets in New South Wales is based.  This is a working port and visitors are welcome to wander around and watch the fisherman unloading their catch and prepare it for the Sydney and Melbourne markets.  Overseas cruise liners sometimes call into Eden (anchoring in Twofold Bay) and travelling yachtsmen regularly drop in here, especially during the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Eden spot #2

It’s hard to believe that in this part of the country, densely populated as it is, that TV reception is so pathetic.  We have a new state of the art boosted digital TV aerial on this van and yet we’ve had more problems, in New South Wales, getting reception than we ever had with the old cheap as chips ‘Happy Wanderer’ we used in the last van, even in outback Queensland and Northern Territory.  Because we were staying 10 days here, we upgraded our site to an ensuite site, which comes with an aerial connection… problem solved.  

Snug Cove - Port of Eden

We stopped off at Snug Cove again the next morning and had coffee (Di Bella… my favourite!).  When Bass and Flinders landed here, Bass named Snug Cove and declared it a “snug and safe anchorage for any ship during a blow”.  In 1828, Thomas Raine came ashore and established the first shore based whaling station on mainland Australia.  The Imlay brothers (3 of them) built Eden’s first building, a small bark and slab hut, in Snug Cove in the early 1830s.  

The Port of Eden has seen continuous commercial activity since those early days and has shipped out timber, whale produce, livestock, gold, farm produce and seafoods over time.  Vic and I headed to the Eden Killer Whale Museum, which we’d been told, is a must-do when you visit Eden.  The displays are fantastic and with our concession (to my old age!) the $17 entry, for us both, was excellent value.

As it’s name suggests, this museum deals with Eden’s extensive whaling history, which is said to be thousands of years old.  It’s believed that the original landowners, the Thawa Aboriginal tribe, had a working relationship with the whales that came to the area.  This relationship continued when European settlement was established and the first whaling station was built in 1828.   Through the displays here you learn about “Old Tom”, a Killer Whale and his pack that worked with the local fishermen for decades during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. 

Original whaleboat

Size of Ol' Tom's fin

These Killer Whales that returned here each year, were identified by their markings and named.  Tom, Hooky, Humpy, Stranger and others would herd the smaller Baleen Whales into Twofold Bay and then alert the whalers by thrashing the water with their tails (flop tailing).  The chase would commence and when the Baleen Whales were harpooned, the Killer Whales would speed up the smaller whale’s death by rolling over it’s blow hole to prevent it from breathing while others would swim below it to stop it from diving.  ‘Old Tom’ would sometimes get impatient at the speed the whalemen rowed and would take the rope into his mouth and tow the boat to the whales.  You can see, on his jaws, where his teeth became grooved, by doing this over time.   When the harpooned whale succumbed, the killer whales would take the tongue and lips as payment and leave the carcass for the whalemen to bring ashore.  This came to be known locally, as ‘The Law of the Tongue’.  There has never been any such relationship between wild animals and humans documented anywhere else in the world.  The last whale was taken in Twofold Bay in 1928 and Old Tom’s body was found floating in the Bay On the 17^th September 1930.  His skeleton was preserved and kept as the first item to be displayed in the museum. 

Old Tom's skeleton

Ol' Tom's damaged teeth

You can read about a lot of whaling stories, such as how a large hole, about 5’ x 3’, would be cut into the rotting whale carcass and rheumatic sufferers would climb into the hole and stand in the whale for up to 1½ hours to ease their condition, or of the real life Jonah.  In February 1891, a huge harpooned sperm whale dived 800’ before rising under the boat and smashing it to pieces with the loss of two whalers.  At sunset, the whale died and was towed ashore for immediate processing, and as the stomach was removed, it was squirming, so the men cut it open and inside, unconscious, was one of the missing men, alive.  After spending 15 hours inside the whale, James Bartley’s skin was permanently bleached white, he lost his hair and was nearly blind.  He was delirious for 2 weeks and couldn’t speak for a month, but lived another 18 years before dying at 39.  If you visit Eden, be sure to go to the museum, it’s a great place to spend a few hours.   

There is a bar-b-q held at the van park here every Friday night so we had an enjoyable happy hour at the outdoor area and met quite a few of the other caravanners, and it was interesting to learn that many of them are travelling with travel auction vouchers also.  Some said they have planned their whole trip based on the vouchers they had won.  The bar-b-q was a lot of fun and we met some really nice people while enjoying a few cold drinks.  We were glad we changed sites during the day because we got to see the Broncos down the Titans, 27-14.

The next day Vic and I packed a picnic lunch and headed to the Eden monthly markets for a look around, but this was a non-event, so we drove north to Merimbula and checked out the beaches and headlands.  

Merimbula

This is the largest town on the Sapphire Coast (which stretches from north of Bermagui to the Victoria/NSW border) with a regional airport and much larger shopping hub.  From here it’s a 7 hour drive to Melbourne, 6 to Sydney and 3 to Canberra.  This is where many people from Eden come to do their groceries etc and commute to for work.  We found a quiet park overlooking Merimbula Lake and made use of the free bar-b-q to cook our brunch.  I was surprised that we had the place to ourselves considering it was such a nice day. 

On the way back to Eden we stopped off at the little town of Pambula, set in the valley of the Pambula River.  The name comes from the Yuin Aboriginal word for ‘two waters’, and sits by a lake and near the mouth of the river where it empties into the ocean.  It’s a quaint little historic village and has lots of boutique stores and cafes.

We had a couple of wet days during the week, which gave us the opportunity to veg out and do some chores around the van.  The 19^th May saw the passing of my lifelong hero, Jack Brabham, at the age of 88.  As a young bloke I idolized Jack, and because of my interest in motor racing, my brother Bob used to take me to the Lakeside Raceway.  We would watch legends like Norm Beechey, Bob Jane and Alan Moffatt race there and some great memories were created… but I never got to see Jack Brabham race.  RIP Jack!

Quarantine Bay

Vic and I packed another picnic one morning and headed south from Eden, following the ‘Killer Whale Trail’.  First we pulled into Quarantine Bay, a really pretty spot where there is a triple lane boat ramp, fish cleaning tables and floating wharves.  It was so named because of its’ intended use after 1850.  In 1855, the “Caesar”, suffering an outbreak of small pox, took refuge in this bay, which was isolated from Eden at the time.  

As many as 66 people had died during the voyage from Hamburg, Germany, and were buried here in a communal grave.  

We stayed here for ages watching a resident Grey Fur Seal being fed by a fisherman as he cleaned his catch.  Two huge stingrays cruised around as well, along with heaps of pelicans and sea gulls. 

Fur seal and large stingray at Quarantine Bay

We left here and a little further on, turned into Boydtown, a place with an interesting history.  Ben Boyd was a Scottish born entrepreneur who left London in 1840, after floating one million pounds on the London Stock Exchange, and sailed to Twofold Bay with a dream of setting up a vast commercial empire.  He was keen to establish a port here, which would enable him to ship wool from his properties on the Monaro and the Riverina and whale products from his station, while handling goods coming in and out of the area.  Two years after setting sail, (by 1842) he was rated as one of the largest landholders and graziers in the colony.  After a global recession, the shipwreck of some of his fleet, and, many bad decisions, his empire crumbled.  In 1849, discredited and almost penniless, he abandoned his dream and sailed to the goldfields of California. He was murdered in the Solomon Islands, aged 48.

 As part of Boyd’s  empire, Boydtown was  commenced in 1843.   Local brick, timber and  stone was used in the building of a church,  hotel, stores and houses. 

Some of the buildings remain, but the standout is the Seahorse Inn, a magnificent building with a mix of Elizabethan, Georgian and Tudor styling, which began construction in 1843 but was never completed because of the collapse of Boyd’s empire. 

It has been restored and extended, beginning in 1936, and renovations as a boutique hotel were finally finished in 2006.  “Seahorse” was the name of the paddle steamer Boyd purchased in 1840 for his trip to Australia.  Only the brickwork remains of the church after a bushfire, in 1926, burnt down the shingle roof and most of the woodwork.  

Boydstown Church

Commenced in 1844, it was never consecrated.  The building is unstable and there is no access to it today.

From here, we returned to the Princes Highway and 18klms south of Eden, we turned onto Edrom Road and headed towards the Ben Boyd National Park.  We visited the Davidson Whaling Station, at Kiah Inlet, that was set up in 1866 when Alexander Davidson and his sons came here following the Kiandra gold rush.  

Loch Garra

The homestead, ‘Loch Garra’, was built in 1896 using timber salvaged from the wreck of the “Lawrence Frost” and family descendants still use the home.  The whaling station operated here until the local whaling industry died in 1929.  The Davidson’s had the

longest serving shore based whaling station in Australia and Vic and I spent some time looking around the remains of the try-works on the shore of the inlet.  This is where whales were processed, turning their blubber into oil.  Apparently it was a pretty dangerous place while the try-works operated because the waters were thick with large sharks.

Site of the Davidson's Whaling Station

Next place to see was Edrom Lodge.  This is a beautiful home built in 1913 for local businessman, J.R. Logan who was responsible for the preservation of ‘Old Tom’s’ skeleton and became the driving force behind the establishment of the Eden Killer Whale Museum.  

Edrom Lodge

The lodge sits on the site once occupied by ‘Merton’, a cottage built for Oswald Brierly, who was Ben Boyd’s overseer.  It’s only possible to see the homestead by walking out onto the Navy Wharf, which curves around in front of the home.  If the Navy is in port, no access to the wharf is allowed so we were lucky they weren’t home when we visited.

Boyd's Tower on Red Point (South Head)

The final place on the trail was Boyd’s Tower.  This structure really shows the extent of Boyd’s dream and stands among a forest of gnarled tea trees, on Red Point (South Head), the southern point side of Twofold Bay.  Building commenced in 1846, with an extravagant use of Pyrmont sandstone, shipped from Sydney, and Sydney blue gum hardwood.  It was originally designed as a lighthouse but Boyd was never given permission by the NSW Government to use it as such.  

View from Boyd's Tower

At 23 metres, it is quite imposing and was used as a whale watching tower by the Boyd whalers and the Davidson Family after they took over the operations.  Whale watchers would communicate with the shore station, when they spotted a target, using mounted riders, gunshot or smoke signals.  
The tower was owned by the Davidson Family until 1960, when it was handed to the Government to form part of the Ben Boyd National Park.

View from Ben Boyd National Park

Vic and I had a couple of quiet days around the van before we took another drive up to Merimbula to grab some groceries.  We met up with Lyn and Neil, a retired couple from Wonthaggi (in Victoria), who camped beside us and we had met at one of the many happy hours.  

Wharf Restaurant at Merimbula

The four of us went over to the Wharf Restaurant, overlooking the Merimbula River mouth, and while we had a great Devonshire tea, a pod of dolphins were feeding just in front of us.

Lyn & Neil - two lovely people who we met at Eden

Since leaving Helensvale on the 27^th April, we seem to have been on the move constantly, even after these ten days in Eden.  With Vic seeming to be so well recovered, it’s easy to forget the severity of the event that had her in surgery a few months back, though she does get very tired.  She has organized a housesit for us in Victoria, which will allow us to take some time to sit back and take it easy for a month, so we are looking forward to heading out of Eden and continuing south.

Until next time… Happy travels!