Yesterday’s drive from Ulladulla to Eden was in stark contrast to the day before when we had driven on motorways to avoid Sydney. Instead of just driving to a destination as we did the day before, yesterday’s travel was very pleasurable. We were able to enjoy the countryside, beaches and forests that we encountered along the way.
The first part of our drive was by following the Princes Highway south through Batemans Bay. A short deviation then took us along a tourist road through Moruya. On the way, at Malura Bay we found a nice beach with cliffs and later, a narrow litle laneway took us down to Guerrilla Beach which was an ideal place for our morning coffee.
After traveling through Bermagui (a famous gamefishing location) we saw the signpost where we could have turned right to the town oif Tilba (a beautiful little town in rich dairy farming country) but we decided to head right on as we had visited Tilba relatively recently.
However, at its neighboring town, Tilba Tilba, we diverted down a coastal road that took us all the way down to Pambula, just noirth of our destination at Eden. As we meandered down that road we found some lovely scenery and really enjoyed our drive.
Our guidebook told us that the MIchael Lerner Lookout, just south of Bermagui, was a good place to stop but like many of these places, it had become overgrown. I did manage to get one photo by walking right to the end oif the track on a headland and peer through some bushes.
Further along, we found Camel Rock which lived up to its name rather well.
With its rolling hills and green grass (a result of heavy rain a few weeks ago) the countryside was very pretty.
Some of the route took us through forest with dappled areas of sunlight and shade.
A roadside stop in the Bodalla Forest was a very peaceful lunch spot. We were very glad thgat found such a nice spot.
We continued for the afternoon on the same road that alternated between hils with forested headlands and a various beaches where the road descended to sea level.
Today, we have also enjoyed the second part of our two-night stay in Eden where there are easily enough things to see in order fill in a day.
Today, August 18, is Vietnam Veterans Day which commemorate Australia’s biggest battle in Vietnam at Long Tan in 1969. The little town of Eden is not large enough to hold its own commemoration service, so this morning I visited the nice little town war memorial to pay my respects.
At the Eden Lookout. I was able to see right across Twofold Bay which was an active whaling location until the 1930s. In the 19th century, before the development of the petroleum industry, whale oil was a major source of lighting, lubrication and soap manufacture and helped drive the industrial revolution. It was only replaced very recently in many critical engineering applications. The baleen with which whales filter krill (small crustaceans which are their main food source) was also used to manufacture women’s corsetry which was popular up until World War II.
At the height of the whaling industry in Eden 30 boats operated out of the port and the town is famous for its whaling history – in particular for the remarkable pod of killer whales that assisted the whalers of the Davidson Whaling Station.
The story of Old Tom, the killer whale is well known and unique. He and his pack alerted the whalers to the presence of the whales by going to the whaling station and flop-tailing (slapping their tails on the surface of the water) until the whalers came out and joined the hunt in their small row boats. It was said that if the whalers lost sight of their guides they would slap their oars on the water and the lead Killer would turn back to ensure the whalers kept up.
While some of the Killers alerted the whalers to the presence of whales, other members of the pod would herd the whales into the shallow waters of the bay like dogs herding sheep. They often led the attack, harassing, biting, driving the whales underwater where they could not breathe, and even attempting to cover the blow holes of the whales.
The whalers had quite a symbiotic relationship with the Killer Whales which feasted on the tongues and lips of their prey. The killer whales left the remainder of the carcass to the whalers who processed it and removed the blubber.
When the last of the killer whales named Old Tom died it bought to an end a fascinating era. Old Tom died of old age and it was decided, that his skeleton should be preserved and displayed in a museum. It is now the centre piece of the whaling museum in Eden.
Watching the tugboats, pilot cutter and police rescue boats at the wharf was an interesting place for lunch. The loal bakery makes some excellent meat pies.
We finished the day with a vist to the historic and famous Seahorse Inn at Boydtown. This is near the location where the Scottish entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd built a light house, now known as Boyd’s Tower and built a new town south of Eden known as Boyd Town. Along with his other enterprises in the district Boyd set up one of the first whaling stations at Twofold Bay.
