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Published: January 10th 2009
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The Whale Museum
A lot better than it sounds actually. 14/12/08 = Christmas Carols in Narooma
Was a really sunny day in Eden yesterday, so woke up really excited to check out beautiful beach. Hopes completely dashed when rolled over to sound of rain again and real howling wind. Bitterly cold as opened van door and had to run to toilet just to make it in one piece. Got back into bed and decided to treat the bad weather as it should always be treated on a Sunday....by getting under covers and snoozing for a couple of hours. Re-awoke (pretty sure that's not a word) at 10am to no rain, but still v.bad wind. Got shower (still loving the clean feeling), had breakfast, and by time were both ready, was midday anyway. Went to killer whale Museum = pretty big deal out here and main famous thing about Eden. Said before that I'm not usually a museum person, but actually found Killer Whale Museum interesting. Here are he few things I learnt:
1) Whaling was the main industry in Eden at one time (I never remember dates)
2) Killer whales used to work with men to kill the blue whales, by working in large packs and driving the blue whales
Beautiful Eden Beach
If only it had been Sunny. into the bay. They would beat at the blue whales, bite them and pull at them, and the men would hook/harpoon them. When the blue whale was nearly dead, the men would back off and let the killer whales eat the tongue and lips as a reward for their work. Then when the killer whales had had enough, the men would go back out to sea and drag the giant blue whale back in - they got to keep everything else.
3) Killing blue whales was mainly successful because of killer whales and same killer whales came back regularly to do it (whalers even had names for the different killer whales and could identify them).
4) All parts of blue whales were used for something.
Well, that's my bit of history done. Don't like killer whales as much now, but I suppose there's a reason they are called 'killer' whales and not 'friendly' whales. Spent quite a bit of time in museum, then headed to beach, even though it was cold and we had our coats on. Didn't look as pretty in the cold and rain, but was great to walk along, because sand was completely untouched and ours
were only footprints there. Like walking in fresh snow. Had to do foot patterns as walked along and also drew a nice little christmas scene. V.England like with coats on.
Back to van then and headed for next place. Randomly chose Narooma. Passed some nice places again, including Mystery Bay, which had to go in. V.tempting name. Never found out what the mystery was, but it was a really nice bay anyway. Arrived in Narooma just after 5 and found a good little park to sleep in for night. Deb tried to make some soup for lunch, but was a disaster. Pea soup = yuk anyway! But was really watery and lumpy and the burner just kept blowing out. Personally, I think that was God saving me from a terrible fate - thank you God x Meant I could have a sandwich instead 😊 Both really fancied a cup of tea to get warm, so drove into town and managed to find a coffee shop open until late. Got a beautiful hot chocolate and an even better chocolate muffin that they warmed up for me 😊 😊. Chilled there and read magazine for a while and then lady told
Mystery Bay
Never really found out what the mystery was. us about Carols by Candlelight service happening in villiage. Awesome. Both been looking for something christmassy to do. Ate my muffin, then off we went.
Had 10mins until carols started. Layered up, then headed into sportshall. Loads of community there and we ended up sitting right at front, on floor with all kids. Started with an OAP group doing some classic carols, then a host and hostess came on. They were both good. Had high school kids singing, little kids singing, a local group performing and all interspersed with all of us singing some classic carols. Santa even came and that was point that realised we had definately chose wrong seats. As soon as his ho ho ho sound came through door, 500kids were up and sprinting to him, trampling anything that was in their path (A.K.A. us!) Managed to dodge most of them...don't think santa was so lucky. Poor old guy who volunteered. Whole event ended really nicely with all families getting up to dance to White Christmas. Made us both a little sad about not being with our families, but still nice.
After all christmas cheer, drove van back to night spot. Was so dark that
we couldn't find it and ended up finding a different place by the sea. Also nice. Got the nightly wash, then settled into bed feeling a little bit more like christmas.
15/12/08 = Disappointed in Batemens Bay
Woke up this morning, or rather was rudely awoken by sound of lots of voices around van, teamed with the most incredibly annoying horn sound imaginable! Opened one eye to look at watch and was only 8 o'clock. 8 o'clock on a Monday morning and we were surrounded by the local cycle team about to set off for training - when do these exercise people work? Had to wait until they left at 8:30 before could dash to toilet. Then got ready and had a team talk about next part of trip. Didn't really come up with a plan, but decided to think on it while went for a walk. Did the famous boardwalk of Narooma and was really nice. Water beautifully clear and looked much nicer for being a clear, warm day.
Set off (unsure of final destination) after walk and at Moruya, took the tourist route to Batemens Bay. Stopped at surf beach on way and was reallyu
Christmas Carols in Narooma
The local OAP group started the evening off. nice. Tide had come right in though, so couldn't lay on it. Was nice to stand in warm sand though; has been a while! Got to Batemens not long after that and headed to info centre to see if they could help plan journey. They solved problems by telling us there was a campsite in Canberra = next stop after Batemens. Chilled out then and found nice place by sea. Was a lovely day and really hot, so sat outside van by the sea. Got chatting to a swiss guy who also pulled in. Catted for a few hours, then had a walk into town. Not a v.good town really and Deb mortified that no ice creamery. Must admit even I was shocked! Library was closed and that left us with not much to do. Both a bit fed up today, but after 30mins of moaning, decided to cross Batemens bridge and go and do a walk in Murramarang National Park. Could really do with exercise!
National Park wasn't what we thought and actually stretched across a big beach. Was a really nice beach too. Walked along it a bit, then decided to play some sand games instead. Play
The party got started.
We were sitting just behind the kids dancing - resisted the urge to dance! sand pictionary = really good. Then played the classic 'dots' game. Even ended up drawing clues for people we knew and then had to guess person. Got really carried away with it and passed loads of time. Would definitely recommend sand games to anyone. Was 6:30 when left beach and when got back into town, decided to look for a cafe or a bar. Couldn't find either...anywhere. Batemens Bay supposed to be a really good town - either we missed a major chunk of it, or someone lied to us! Was 8o'clock when got to night spot, so chilled in van for a while, then had another early night. At least I'm getting some good sleep on this trip.
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