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In 1797 George Bass and Matthew Flinders surveyed the bay at Eden for the first time, which is one the deepest natural harbours in the world. The first whaling station, for shore whaling, was established in the area by John Raine in 1828. Initially the prevalent orcas were seen by the whalers as a nuisance, however, the Yuin aboriginals employed on the boat crews refused to kill orcas, and a new policy encouraged collaboration between whalers and the killer whales. The killer whales would trap humpback whales that entered Twofold Bay, the whales would then be harpooned, and the orcas rewarded with the tongue and lips of the humpback carcasses. The whales would then be hauled ashore, their blubber cut up and boiled to extract oil. Whales were a valuable commodity for colonial NSW, with an array of items produced from the carcasses.
After setting up our caravan, we walked down to the beach at Boyd Town and walked along until we came upon a magnificent historic hotel overlooking Twofold Bay, named the Sea Horse Inn. It turns out the building was built by none other than Benjamin Boyd in 1843. It is now an upmarket boutique hotel.
After
taking a tourist drive around Eden and looking out across Twofold Bay, we drove out to view the historical Davidson’s Whaling Station, and Boyd’s Tower. Davidson Whaling Station was the longest operating whaling station in Australia and the last of its type to close down.
I learnt about Benjamin Boyd in second class at school, ironically via my teacher at the time, Mrs Whalebone. Boyd commissioned the construction of a sandstone tower overlooking the entrance to the harbour of Twofold Bay, initially as a lighthouse. When the authorities refused to approve the lighthouse, Boyd used the tower to alert whaling crews of the approach of their prey. The tower was never completed, however, it bears his name on top of the tower. Boyd was the first in Australia to engage in blackbirding, a practice akin to slavery, when a ship he had commissioned brought 65 Melanesian labourers to Boyd Town in 1847. In light of this practice, in November 2021, the NSW Government announced Ben Boyd National Park would be renamed Beowa (aboriginal for Orca) National Park. Once again I had to revise my blinkered view of Australian history learned through primary school.
The next day saw an
obligatory visit to the Eden Killer Whale Museum, which contains the skeleton of the most famous of the Orcas who assisted the whalers, “Old Tom”. Old Tom would enter the bay and slap his tail alongside the whaling boats when there were whales passing by Eden. The interaction between orcas and the whalers was incredible, even to the extent that Old Tom would grab the rope from the whaling boats and tow them out to where the whales were passing. If a whale smashed one of the whaling boats, Old Tom would swim around and protect the men from sharks until rescuers arrived.
The Light to Light Walk is one of the foremost coastal walks in Australia, covering 30 kms, from Boyds Tower to Green Cape Lighthouse. It is a three day walk, but we managed to walk 11 kms from Boyds Tower to Leatherjacket Bay return. The rocky headlands and bays, framed by deep red coloured rock were amazing and we would one day like to return and do the full three day walk.
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