Monday

2019 South Coast Adventure
MONDAY This is where we spend today. The points we visit are: 1) Wharf area near the Marine Discovery Centre, 2) Eden Lookout, 3) Killer Whale Museum, 4) Seahorse Inn, 5) Boyd Tower. MONDAY Eden Wharf Area Our first stop after an easy ¾ hour drive from Hobart Beach is the Eden Wharf area at Snug Cove. There are two other wharves in Twofold Bay but this one is in Eden itself. MONDAY Eden Wharf Area This cute blonde follows me around all day. I quite enjoy her company, especially when she buys lunch for me. MONDAY The Eden Wharf There are two types of fishery management tools in NSW. INPUT controls include restrictions on the number of licences, the size and engine capacity of boats, the length and mesh size of nets, and the areas and times that can be worked.
MONDAY The Eden Wharf OUTPUT controls directly limit the amount of fish that can be taken from the water. This involves the setting of a Total Allowable Catch for each species. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The area receives 550,000 tourists annually which contributes AU$180 million yearly to the economy of the shire. Many people visit Eden for whale watching as whales migrate from Antarctic to tropical waters in June and July, and back again later in the year. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The Port of Eden is one of two regional ports in NSW administered by the NSW Maritime Authority. The other is at Yamba on the North Coast. The Port of Eden is the largest fishing port in NSW. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The estimated one million recreational fishers in NSW also have a significant impact on fisheries resources. As a result, the NSW DPI manages the recreational sector as well.
MONDAY The Eden Wharf This boat sells live mussels. They have a cleaning machine running on board that transports live mussels from below deck, cleans them in a screw-like device and then empties them into an area for eventual sale. I imagine that they only clean what is soon to be sold and leave the rest alive below decks. MONDAY The Eden Wharf At the height of the fishing industry up to 40 tuna boats plied the waters off Eden. Also, almost 200 locals earned a living at the tuna cannery. Today, only five trawlers operate out of Eden. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The Greenseas Tuna Cannery closed in May 1999. The cannery had been a major employer in Eden and when it closed, one in eight workers in the town became unemployed. MONDAY The Eden Wharf There is a lot of hard work involved to prosper/survive in the fishing industry. We are fortunate to see fishing nets being repaired; a highly labour intensive procedure.
MONDAY The Eden Wharf Eden is in the northern reaches of the Southeast Trawl fishery, Australia's biggest supplier of domestic fresh fish with a catching zone stretching south to Tasmania and west to Kangaroo Island. MONDAY The Eden Wharf Eden's fishery is essentially a cottage industry with a total catch in the Southeast Trawl of MONDAY The Eden Wharf Twin tug boats, the Wistari and the Willara. MONDAY The Eden Wharf All seagoing vessels are in continuous contact with marine authorities. A week later I can see that the Willara is still at Eden and its status is stopped.
MONDAY The Eden Wharf This is the WISTARI, a Firefighting Tug. It flies under the Australian flag and is registered in Brisbane. It was built in 1982 and has a gross tonnage of 396 tonnes. MONDAY The Eden Wharf I have it on good authority (the Quibbler News Magazine) that these guns are secretly financed by the CIA to kill Russian intelligence-gathering spy whales. Also, the same magazine describes how John Kennedy was able to shoot himself from the grassy knoll in Dallas because of a temporal anomaly in the space-time continuum. MONDAY The Eden Wharf For ships 130 –190 metres overall length, two tugs are required on arrival and one or two tugs on departure as required by the pilot. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The WISTARI's maximum recorded speed is 11.9 knots. Its tow line is substantial.
MONDAY The Eden Wharf Cruise ships are currently unable to berth alongside landbased infrastructure in Snug Cove and land access for passengers is via a tender that operates only in favourable weather conditions. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The Breakwater Wharf extension project consists of extending the existing Breakwater Wharf and deepening the adjacent berth pocket and approach channel. MONDAY The Eden Wharf When complete, cruise ships up to 325m in length will berth alongside the upgraded wharf and passengers will embark/disembark via a gangway to the wharf. MONDAY The Eden Wharf The NSW Police Marine Area Command's (MAC) responsibility extends to all coastal areas of NSW to 200 Nautical Miles out to sea.
MONDAY The Eden Wharf According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 3,151 people in Eden, with 79.1% born in Australia and 88.0% speaking only English at home. MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout Next stop: we drive a couple of hundred metres to the lookout. This headland is what divides the harbour into two resulting in its being called Twofold Bay. MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout Reading a little about the ocean's animals. MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout The strip of sand on the left is 3.7 km (2.3 mi) away on the foreshores of Boydtown and is ~2.6 kms long. The strip of sand on the right is about 2.3 kms.
MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout "Look across to the other side of the bay and you'll see Boyd's Tower where from the 1840's until the 1930's, whale squatters would wait, searching for the telltale "blow" of passing whales. A gunshot, a puff of smoke and a shout of "rusho" would signal the crews in small boats to take off with a flurry of oars, all intent on being the first to the prized whale. MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout But some whalers had an advantage. Killer Whales (Orcas) of the area would alert the men to the presence of of larger whales and drive them towards the waiting harpoons. Most famous of the Killers of Eden is "Old Tom" and his skeleton is on display at the Eden Killer Whale Museum." Ah, the romance. MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout Another view of the Breakwater Wharf extension project. Work commenced in August 2017 and is due to be completed by mid-2019, weather permitting. MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout That white mountain on the left side of the picture is wood chips, 3.5 kms away. The chips are produced on site here. The Conveyor is for loading the chips onto ships for processing in China and Japan. A small amount is processed in Australia for local needs.
MONDAY Eden Rotary Park and Lookout Hardwood woodchips are generally priced higher than softwood woodchips because of the higher quality paper that can be produced from them; these papers are produced in Japan. The private wharf is operated by Allied Natural Wood Exports Pty Ltd MONDAY Lookout Point It is a short walk to the east to Lookout Point. MONDAY Lookout Point There is a lighthouse on the point; a far cry from those of the past. MONDAY Lookout Point This is a small bulk carrier belonging to Island View Shipping, probably waiting to load wood chips from the port facilities at Mangunno Point near Boydtown.
MONDAY Lookout Point It's astonishing how calm the ocean is today. There's barely a ripple in the water and from here it's a straight line across the Tasman to NZ. MONDAY Lookout Point A happy blonde, the best kind. MONDAY Lookout Point Look at the angle of these rocks that were once horizontal. The power to do this must have been enormous and I wonder (speculate?) if this was caused when NZ broke away from this part of Australia 80 Million years ago. MONDAY Lookout Point We return to the parking lot and pass by a park that has some very old North American pine trees. There is a pleasant pine fragrance in the air as we pass by.
MONDAY Lookout Point This where we were about 15 minutes ago: at the Lookout and Rotary Park. The beach to the right belongs to the Seahorse Inn at Boydtown. Boyd's Tower is off to the left out of this picture. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum Next stop: the Killer Whale Museum about 500 metres from the Lookout. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum It was once a small museum built to house the skeleton of Old Tom the Orca. The enlarged museum includes now the history of whaling along the SE coast of Australia. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum To me, glorifying whaling is like glorifying bullfighting: intensely cruel and pointless. Commercial whaling continued in Australian waters on sperm whales until commercial whaling ended in 1978. Killing bulls for fun still continues in Spain in 2019.
MONDAY Oswald Brierly had a brilliant career Brierly met Benjamin Boyd in England and sailed with him to NSW on Boyd's yacht, the Wanderer. They arrived in Sydney in July 1842 after which Brierly became manager of Boyd's pastoral and whaling businesses. He lived at Twofold Bay and was later appointed a magistrate. In 1848, when Boyd's affairs were approaching bankruptcy, Brierly joined Captain Owen Stanley as his guest on the H.M.S. Rattlesnake to survey the Barrier Reef and points north. Later in life he was knighted and appointed as Queen Victoria's Marine Artist. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum Old Tom was the Benedict Arnold, the Brutus, the Judus of the Orca kingdom. He was a truly awful whale. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum This exhibit describes the process for destroying a whale. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum This is an actual boiling pot where the whale's blubber was boiled down to extract its oil.
MONDAY Killer Whale Museum The meat of course was wasted. There is an exact parallel with the slaughter of the buffalo in North America carried by men of the same ethnic background with the same religious beliefs. Christ would have hung his head in shame. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum It was an unequal battle even before the introduction of diesel-powered boats and explosive head harpoons. Thereafter, it was a slaughter. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum This is the skeleton of Old Tom and it's obvious he was a very large mammal. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum The story of the partnership between the Orca and man.
MONDAY Killer Whale Museum These are the jaw bones of an actual Blue Whale. The size is unbelievable and a photograph cannot capture their enormous size. If these bones stood vertically, they would probably be taller than me. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum A little bit about the two suborders of Cetaceans. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum I was very sad when I read this and asked myself: Why? Our species slaughtered these gentle animals from 239,000 to about 360 in the Southern Oceans. And their numbers have still not recovered. Its conservation status is ENDANGERED and it faces a very high risk of extinction. Bloody hell! MONDAY Killer Whale Museum These bones belong to a 97' Blue Whale and that whale remains the largest ever killed by hand harpoon from a small boat. A very proud record that will never be surpassed.
MONDAY Killer Whale Museum This is a hotel called the Nautical Retreat. Incredible views. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum A selection of small boats of the kind used to kill whales by hand harpoon. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum Well, it wasn't only buffalo and whales that were slaughtered to near extinction, fur seals here and in NZ suffered the same fate by the same men during the same decades. Once again, most of the animal was wasted and only the pelt was kept. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum On the lower ground floor.
MONDAY Killer Whale Museum We exit the museum and breath in the views from the upper deck. Right now, I feel a little saddened about what I have just experienced. I hope conservation efforts are not too little too late. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum The views are wonderous and it's about 22° - a perfect day. MONDAY Killer Whale Museum The front part of the museum was constructed about 85 years ago and was originally built to house the skeleton of the orca "Old Tom" and tell the story of Old Tom and the other Killer whales of Eden. It has been cleverly integrated into the new additions. MONDAY Lunch at the Eden Wharves In exchange for my company, as promised, my travelling companion treats me to a very fine lunch.
MONDAY Lunch at the Eden Wharves We have a mixed seafood basket, salad and an oyster/prawn sampler. MONDAY Lunch at the Eden Wharves It is expensive but good. We now head for Boydtown. MONDAY The Seahorse Inn at Boydtown Construction of Boydtown began in 1843 when the newly arrived Scottish entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd based his Steamship Company at Twofold Bay. Boyd's  paddle steamers operated between Sydney, Twofold Bay and Hobart. MONDAY The sandy beaches of Boydtown This huge strip of fluffy, golden sand stretches for 2½ kms. The Boydtown caravan park is located a couple of hundred metres to the north and campers can easily access this beach.
MONDAY The Seahorse Inn at Boydtown The first building erected in Boydtown was the "Seahorse Inn", named after one of Boyd's steamboats.  The foundations were constructed of sandstone imported from Sydney and the rest of  the building from locally made bricks and hardwood. Cedar and oak fixtures were imported from England. The hotel was built with convict labour and never fully finished because Boyd was bankrupt by 1848. MONDAY The Seahorse Inn at Boydtown Because of neglect and vandalism, by 1936 the Seahorse Inn had been reduced a shell. Mr R.B. Whiter, a builder from Lakes Entrance, purchased the property in 1936 and then, along with his two sons, began the long task of restoring the inn. MONDAY The Seahorse Inn at Boydtown Work on the site was interrupted by WWII with the introduction of petrol rationing and the departure of R.B. Whiter's sons to serve in the military. After the war the family regrouped and restarted restoration of the inn, a task that was not finished until 1957. MONDAY The Seahorse Inn at Boydtown "There was a chimney standing on its own, about 50 yards to the east of the Seahorse Inn which is now gone and on the hill behind the remains of the old church, and wherever you went on the flat surrounding the Seahorse Inn was evidence of old buildings, all long gone and fallen down.  It was from those buildings, which by now were laying on the ground in the bracken fern, we recovered all our bricks.  All the raw materials were on site, so it was just a matter of putting it all together." Alan Whiter
MONDAY The Seahorse Inn at Boydtown The Seahorse Inn is now a four star hotel with rooms costing around $285/night at this time of year. We have a very nice cup of coffee with scones (my companion ordered and paid). We then leave for Boyd's Tower MONDAY Boyd's Tower Benjamin Boyd was a wealthy London stockbroker who came to NSW in 1842 with grand plans, one of which involved the whaling industry in Eden. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Benjamin Boyd was a "Blackbirder" (the kidnapping or coercion of Pacific Islanders and using them for forced labour). On Sunday 14 November 2021, I read that the Ben Boyd National Park would be renamed with an Aboriginal name. Boydtown itself may also be renamed. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Boyd's folly?   "Extravagant and expensive are two descriptions of Boyd's Tower. Extravagant because special Pyrmont Sandstone was used for a structure designed to be seen from a distance and expensive because the blocks were imported from Sydney. Around 1846, Boyd instructed his manager, Oswald Brierly, to supervise the construction of a prominent Tower at Red Point. Sandstone blocks were shipped from Sydney and unloaded at East Boyd, hauled to the site by bullock teams, then worked by skilled stonemasons. The stones were lifted by connecting chains to each block which were then raised into place by a frame or gantry, mounted on top of the growing structure. Ladders connected the 5 timber platforms."
MONDAY Boyd's Tower Gambling on the future   "With visions of building a large commercial empire, Benjamin Boyd sailed to the colony of NSW in 1842. Two years later Boyd's dream became a reality when he was rated one of the largest landholders and graziers in the colony, with interests in shipping and whaling. Boyd saw Twofold Bay as the hub of his financial empire. By locating a port on Twofold Bay, Boyd could ship wool from his sheep properties on the Monaro and Riverina, whale products from his whaling station and provide shipping transport for other goods in the area. In 1843 Boyd began building a private town called Boydtown to service the port and hinterland of his dream. Brick, local timber and stone were used to construct a church, hotel, houses and stores. Boyd's lavish dream was interrupted by financial difficulties in the late 1840's, so he abandoned his interests around Twofold Bay and set sail for the Californian Goldfields." MONDAY Boyd's Tower Whaling was already an established industry when Boyd arrived in the area and he brought with him his own boats and crew, aggressively went into competition with the locals and expanded his fleet until he had nine whaling boats working for him. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Boyd's Tower was not commissioned as a lighthouse and construction stopped in 1847 as funds became short. The tower was used as a whale sighting station thereafter. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Following the collapse of Boyd's financial empire, the tower was taken over by the Davidson family whose Whaling Station was based at Kiah Inlet. During the whaling season, the tower was manned daily to alert the Kiah Inlet crews to the presence of whales.
MONDAY Boyd's Tower Boyd sailed his yacht, the Wanderer, to California in October 1849. He had no success at the gold diggings and, in June 1851, sailed in the Wanderer among the Pacific islands with the aim of establishing a 'Papuan Republic or Confederation'. On 15 October 1851, while on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, Boyd went ashore to shoot game and was never seen again. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Boyd's Tower was struck by lightning in the 1860s and as a result is missing a section from its top. MONDAY Boyd's Tower From here we walk to the lookout at Red Point. MONDAY Red Point Lookout It's a short 300 metre walk.
MONDAY Red Point Lookout Boyd's tower sits atop southern headland of Twofold Bay. Both headlands of Twofold Bay are formed of ancient river sediment – pink sandstone and red mudstone – deposited 360 million years ago. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Eden is surrounded by magnificent hills and valleys. The tallest of these is 886m Balawan, about 20km away in Mount Imlay National Park. Balawan has a conical shape resembling a young, active volcano. However, Balawan is not a volcano and never was; it is an erosional form, capped by resistant sandstone seen as a pimple at the summit. MONDAY Red Point Lookout The huge arc of Twofold Bay's southern and western parts is a sea carved landscape formed in soft sandstone and mudstone since the sea rose to its present level 6000 years ago. During the last ice age (that ended about 20,000 years ago), a great river flowed through a rocky gorge across what is now Twofold Bay. The drowned gorge is now filled with sand and it is clearly visible in sonar maps of the sandy bay floor. These maps are on display at the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre in Snug Cove. MONDAY Boyd's Tower Our very own Trump.
MONDAY Boyd's Tower Visitors cannot climb the tower as the staircase has been removed. MONDAY Boyd's Tower To my left is the north window and, carved into the ledge, is a tribute to a popular young Norwegian man who had worked with the Davidson Family whalers. "In Memory of Peter Lia who was killed by a whale, September 28 1881. Aged 22 years." MONDAY Boyd's Tower We're walking back to the car and we spot this cute little Swamp Wallaby. We walk quietly but it seems unconcerned. Isn't it nice when an animal doesn't flee at the sight of a human? MONDAY Boyd's Tower The swamp wallaby's differences are significant enough that they have their own genus (one rank higher than species). They are macropods (=big feet).
MONDAY Boyd's Tower Swamp wallabies can eat plants such as bracken and hemlock that are poisonous to other Australian animals. MONDAY Boyd's Tower back to camp From here we return to camp and stop for petrol at Mrimbula. The car takes $80 to fill, such is the cost of a "tow truck". We stop and buy a dozen oysters, prawns and seaweed and have dinner back at camp. Thus ends a stupendous day in one of the loveliest and most interesting places we've ever visited. And we never saw it all.