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.
Wonboyn Lake is a tiny holiday spot 20km south of Eden. It has a caravan park and a service station/general store/cafe. That’s all.
But it’s also a well-loved fishing spot. There were plenty of jetties further on to fish from. Not many boats because they’re probably all out on the lake.
Time to leave Ben Boyd National Park. But before we go, I can’t help but post two more pictures of the Pambula River mouth – from opposite sides of the river bank.
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.
What was left of Boydtown, Ben Boyd’s creation? Not much.
Within 10 years of his departure, all his buildings were left to rack and ruin.
Yes, Boyd’s Tower was magnificent, but in the end it was a white elephant.
Boyd’s empire collapsed a few years later, before the tower (designated to be a watch tower come lighthouse) could be fully utilised. He escaped the country for the California gold rush, but was unsuccessful there too. He disappeared while hunting what is now the Solomon Islands. His body was never found.
In the end, the tower was used by locals to spot whales. It was rather boring work, so the lads kept themselves occupied by playing chequers on a makeshift board.
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.
The crowning glory of Ben Boyd National Park however has to be the Pinnacles – an eroded two-toned claystone cliff.
It’s amazing how colourful the clay was in contrast to the bleached white layer underneath and the blue of the sea and sky. The white layer was due to bleaching by groundwater many moons ago.
Despite this being a prime tourist attraction, we didn’t encounter another soul while we were there. That’s the beauty of the Sapphire Coast.
But wait, there’s more photos of this wonderful coastline in the Ben Boyd National Park. It might not seem like it from this photo, but we’re looking towards ‘civilisation’ – the towns of Pambula and Merimbula.
However on the other side all you see is miles of wild beach.
And between them is Haycock Point, with it’s bombola and pebbly beach with more of those wonderful rocks.
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.
Static and Silence 