Eden, New South Wales

And here we are in New South Wales!  It really does feel like the home run now that we are heading north.  Still a long way to go though :-)

We have just spent three nights in Eden and it is a lovely town on the southern coast of New South Wales.  The walks around the town have been on our agenda, many of them boardwalks.  Across the road from our caravan park is a path that takes you to Lake Curalo and if you continue walking around the lake you end up at Aslings Beach.  It is a gorgeous beach and we did dip our toes in the water but it was still very cold.  Well, too cold for us at any rate, but there were many who were enjoying the ocean.

Yesterday we self drove the "Killer Whale Trail".  The first stop is the Eden Killer Whale Museum that is chock full of interesting reading surrounding the whale industry at the turn of the century.  It is also home to one of the only Orca (killer whale) skeletons in the world.  His name was Old Tom.  Old Tom was quite the legend as he "herded" the humpback whales into Twofold Bay where the whalers in their small boats would harpoon the whale and take it back to shore to obtain the blubber that was rendered down to obtain oil.  A very sad part of our history indeed.  

The next place to visit was the Rotary Lookout that had magnificent views over Eden and out to sea where it is the perfect place to whale watch when the giants are migrating to and from Antartica.

Davidsons Whaling Station was next place on the list and it sits on Kiah Inlet at Twofold bay.  The Davidson family home is still standing and for more than three generations were Australia's longest operating shore-based whaling station.  The "try works" where the whales were slaughtered made me feel very sad.

From Davidson Whaling Station it is a short drive to Ben Boyd Tower.  Standing impressively on the headland, this imposing sandstone tower was built in the 1840's.  Originally designed to be a lighthouse,  it was never approved for such use, but did become a key lookout point for whalers to spot passing whales.

Today we drove north of Eden to The Pinnacles.  This is quite a remarkable place where millions of years of weathering and erosion have left behind the coloured spires of red clay and white sand.  The photo from drone footage taken from a website (thank you) shows clearly the great hollow that has been carved out.

So that has been our time in Eden.  The van park is practically deserted and we have no neighbours anywhere near us.  I think our next stop tomorrow, Batemans Bay, will be a little different.