We’ve come to the end of our Southern NSW adventure. We’ll end with a walk along Aslings Beach in Eden. BB wanted to fish (although I thought he was crazy to be fishing in the surf mid-winter). I took a walk among the dunes.
On the other side of dunes was a lake. I thought it was fitting that I saw two pelicans paddling by into the sunset.
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.
Another post about the lovely coastline in Ben Boyd National Park. First, some lovely weathered sandstone, although not as red as in my last post.
Now this is a wonder – folded and faulted rock.
And to round up the day, more foreshore boulders.
The Sapphire Coast, where Eden is situated, is not only resplendent in beaches but also in interesting rocks. Today we’re looking at the coastline in the Ben Boyd National Park, that surrounds Eden.
The colours, formations and types are so varied because the coastline here is older than the coast further north along the Sydney Basin. Hence we found sandstone so rich in iron oxide that they are a reddish-purple with veins of white quartz.
The pebbles on the foreshore are most colourful, too.
Walking around Eden, we saw plenty of coastal flora. Some, like the banksia, are native.
But some, like the red hot poker, aren’t, even though they grow well in the sandy, rocky landscape.
It was late afternoon by the time we reached our destination – the sleepy fishing port of Eden. And what a coastline it was. We had plenty of opportunity to enjoy it, since this was the view from our balcony.
Static and Silence 