Whaling survived in the area until the beginning of the 20th Century. It was however conducted in the old style, even right up until the 1930’s – hand-thrown harpoons from row boats. The most successful family were the Davidsons, who employed indigenous boat crews because they were the most skilled. Even more interesting, they had the help of local killer whales who would round up humpbacks and southern rights into the bay.

The centre of the industry was the whaling station on the other side of the bay from Eden at Kiah Inlet. The Davidson family actually lived in this cottage until the 1940’s. It’s an isolated place, but I guess it’s not too isolated if you know how to handle a boat.

You might wonder who the heck is Ben Boyd? The national park is of course named after him, and so are a lot of places in the Eden area. There’s Boyd’s Tower, for one.

Benjamin Boyd was a Scottish entrepreneur who came to Australia in the 1840’s, and came to Eden to establish a base for his whaling and grazing empire. You see, Twofold Bay, where Eden is situated, is a popular rest stop for whales. In fact, the Aboriginals have been hunting whales for centuries from dugout canoes. But hunting whales was a much larger enterprise for the settlers since the products of the whale were so profitable, and Boyd of course wanted to build the biggest whaling port ever.

One of the structures he commissioned was this tower, built on one of the headlands. No cost was spared – the sandstone blocks were quarried in Pyrmont, Sydney, and transported by steamer south. Some leftover blocks still lie near the tower.