Exploring Eden....

After having made it through the windy night we were ready to get out and explore so our first stop was Aslings Beach which was just across the road from the park.  Yes, we were on a spit of land between the sea and the lake.  An absolutely beautiful location but it might have accounted for such a rough night in the wind.  The beach was deserted early in the morning though lots of footprints showed there had been some early morning visitors other than us.

Leaving the beach we wandered along Eden's Maritime Heritage walk with pictures in the path depicting various highlights of the area.  From here we crossed over into Apex Park and walked back along the Lake to pick up the car to explore further afield.  Our first stop was at the Tourist information office where we picked up some guide books and maps of the local area.  One of the ladies gave us an idea of a couple of drives to do so after a coffee at the bakery (a real disappointment after Orbost) we left on a voyage of discovery.

Snug Cove was our first stop and this is home to Eden's commercial fishing fleet.  All the boats were in as it was late morning and we walked along the pier watching fisherman doing some general maintenance work before heading out that night.

Next stop was just up the hill at Rotary Park where we walked to the lookout and spent some time watching the gannets fishing in Calle Calle bay.  They kept us entertained for a while but as we walked further around we found a group of seals playing in the waves so stopped and watched them for a while as well.  The views from here were lovely and you can see why the area is called Twofold Bay.

It was here that we found the Seaman's Memorial Wall which commemorates all the seamen who have sailed from the Port of Eden and never returned.  It was erected after the loss of the fishing trawler 'Shiralee' in 1978.  It was so sad to see so many names here and some so young.  Leaving here we returned to Snug Cove where we succumbed to a lunch of fish and chips and ate them watching the very boats that had brought them in that morning.  Very yummy and the seagulls didn't get one little bit.

That afternoon we drove out to the other side of Twofold bay and visited Ben Boyd National Park where we found Boyd Tower, Davidson's Whaling Station and The Seahorse Inn.  These three icons of Eden are all connected to entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd who had a grand plan of building an empire here between 1843 to 1849.  He built the tower in 1847 to serve as a lighthouse but after a dispute with the local govt of the time it was never commisioned and was used as a lookout tower for whales instead.  Just a little further along from here is the Red Point Lookout where you can see the dramatic folded rocks of this amazing coastline.

The whaling station was built on the shores of Kiah Inlet in 1857 and operated until 1929 with men in open boats helped by a pack of killer whales hunting various species of whales.  It was the longest operating shorebased whaling station in Australia.  There are now relics of the past there to give us an idea of what life was like there during that era.

Eden is now well known as the ideal place for whale watching with many different species of whales travelling close to shore as they migrate south.  No longer are they threatened by killer whales or hunters.  We were a little bit early in the season so did not see any but we did keep an eye out whenever we were near the coast.

The Seahorse Inn was our last stop for the day and it was here that Boyd tried to create Boydtown complete with brick cottages, salting down works and a church which was never finished or blessed.  Seemed to be the story of his life eh!  Not much is left now other than the magnificent Inn which is now a luxury hotel right on the shores of Twofold Bay.

We called it a day then and drove home for a quiet night in with a glass of red, dinner and a movie as we recharged the batteries for more exploring tomorrow.

until then......