Merimbula day 2

Well the internet here is still dodgy at best. To get any reception I have to sit under a shelter outside in the cold to get wi-fi reception.

Yes, yes, I know that to those in the Northern Hemisphere our winter does not seem all that cold. In truth we have been having absolutely glorious weather down here on the NSW south coast (until this morning). It has been sunny every day with very little wind, temperatures up to about 16 or 17°C during the day. Way nicer than a typical dreary, wet Melbourne winter.

But it is still coat weather in the mornings and in the evenings. In fact as an ex-Queenslander I think it is pretty cold whenever it’s below about 20°C.

Thanks to my current internet woes I will have to keep my Uncle Harry-esque tourist guide to the minimum. (Sorry Uncle Harry).

So on day two of our holiday we headed south to the relatively sleepy port of Eden. Eden is a most beautiful patch of the coast. It is about six to seven hours drive from either Melbourne or Sydney and because the south coast is seen as ‘cold’ it has really avoided the tourist boom that has (in my opinion) ruined the north coast of NSW and south coast of Queensland.

Eden sits on the large Twofold Bay. This beach lies in the outer part of the bay (I guess that would be the outer ‘fold’).

Far across on the south side of the bay stands Ben Boyd’s folly. I posted about the tower last year. It was built in the early settlement period as part of the whaling industry.This piccie is from my post last year.
The town of Eden largely stands on a rugged promontory that extends far out into the bay.The original port of Eden sits in ‘Snug Cove’. The cove is sheltered from the worst weather by the headland.

A small fishing fleet calls the port home.A large tug serves as a reminder that the bay holds a modern port away on the south side. Down on the south side of the bay is a large woodchip processing plant, and the tug is used to manoeuvre bulk carriers into their berths.

I would post more about what we’ve been doing for the past couple of days, but I’ve had enough of the cold so good night!

Merimbula Day 1

There is intermittent wi-fi coverage where we are staying at Merimbula, so I am going to try to put up a post.

After a six hour drive we arrived just before dark on Thursday evening.
In the morning I awoke to the screeching of parrots.
High in the trees the Yellow Box flowers were out. These little guys, Rainbow Lorikeets, were feeding on the nectar.

Because they were high in the trees I was content with a few (not very good piccies).

After brekky we went for a stroll down to the beach. Because of the winter cold (looks nice and sunny doesn’t it?) there was no question of swimming so we poked around the rock pools on the headland.I snapped a few piccies of starfish and

Sooty Terns, these guys fly thousands of miles to Oz shores where they winter.

I thought these weather ravaged rocks were worth a piccie.After the beach we drove into town for lunch. The girls headed back first and when Deb and I got back we found they had made some friends.

These Rainbow Lorikeets are wild birds, but with the tourists around they have clearly become used to being fed.They are so comfortable with people they will perch on hands (this is E’s).Lu was getting covered with cute little birds.They were using any vantage point.I have included this piccie because as I snapped it a wing flicked across the shot.This little guy was giving photographic direction to Io.Finally, a close up to give a real indication of the spectacular nature of these guys’ plumage.

Down Time

Just a quick post this evening.

We (that is Deb, all the Girls and I) are heading off interstate on holiday tomorrow.

We are going to be staying in a town on the south coast of New South Wales (NSW) called Merimbula.

Merimbula is just north of one of my favourite places of all, Eden.

That’s right Eden NSW.

I’ve posted about Eden before, and no doubt I will take a piccie or two while I am away (Ok, Ok, a piccie or two hundred).

I haven’t been to the NSW south coast in winter before so I am looking forward to seeing what we can see.

Humpback whales begin making their way along the coast at this time of year so they could be one thing on offer.

In any case there is a good chance I will bore you with sights from around Eden like:

Twofold Bay;

Ben Boyd National Park.

The local wild life

But we’ll just have to see.

We’ll be away for around ten days. Now the place we are staying is supposed to have internet, but in case it doesn’t you might not hear from me until I get back.

Two birds with one stone.

Well this post won’t be too involved. I thought I’d comment on the fact that this is my 50th post. Quite a small milestone but one worth noting.
Yay I’m
50!

Now on to other matters: Just on a week ago Lisa at Lit and Life passed on an award to me.The Who Loves You Baby! Award is given to those bloggers whom you love and who have awarded you in the past! Pass it on!

Thank you Lisa! I appreciate the thought mate, I am most honoured.

So in the spirit of passing this award on to those who have awarded me I will pass this award to:


Jemima at The Reading Journey. Jemima gave me my first award “The Zombie Chicken Award.”

Carrie (alias Prettysiren) at the Prompt Romp. Carrie gave me a “Kreativ Blogger” award.

Heather at Gofita’s Pages Heather passed a “BINGO” award on to me.

Rachel at Parajunkee's View Rachel had the wisdom to give me the “Superior Scribbler Award.”

Rebecca at Living a Life of Writing Rebecca passed on a “Splash award” to me.


Finally, lest I be accused of false advertising here are:

“Two birds with one stone.”

This Guy is an Australian Pelican I shot (with a camera that is) near Eden. I have a feeling I may have used this piccie before, if so forgive me for laziness after a long week.

This fellow is a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo who was giving us cheek in the bush last week. You see these guys as domestic pets all over the world. They are one of our many, many, parrot species and are fortunately very common.

The stone is actually a small clump of boulders I captured near Canberra. They caught my eye because of the huge range of colours and textures in such a small space. A natural artists palette so to speak.

Eden and Twofold Bay.

Tucked into a sheltered inlet in Twofold Bay, across from Red Point and Ben Boyd’s Folly, is the quiet fishing port of Eden. Even at the height of tourist season this place stays calm and relatively quiet. At six hours drive from Melbourne, and six and a half from Sydney it is seen as “a little too far” even for Aussies.
The town sits in the hills immediately around the port.
There is a small fishing fleet that still operates from here.
This piccie represents for me how hard these fisher folk must work.
Looking across the bay in a landwards direction it is easy to see how undeveloped this chunk of country is. Largely because the Great Dividing Range extends almost down to the coast here.
As in many places in Oz there is wildlife in abundance.
Beautiful like Banksias
Cute and beautiful like a Rainbow Lorikeet.
Cute, tiny and too quick to get a decent photo. (A Superb Blue Fairy Wren). And oddly beautiful, but definitely not cute.
Eden wasn’t always so quiet from the 1840s until 1930 there were shore based whaling stations here. Whalers set out in longboats from the shore to hunt whales using hand harpoons.

One station, the Davidson’s, was operated by the same family for four generations (from 1843 – 1929).
One of the Davidson’s old cottages still stands.
This is the Davidson’s front yard (my youngest sitting at the bottom being contemplative)
While nestled in the corner of this idyllic inlet
are the remains of the station including: “trying” vat for boiling down the blubber and the capstan that was used to haul the whales up onto the beach.
The whalers, in particular the Davidson family, received significant support from an unlikely source. Perhaps uniquely, several pods of Orcas assisted in the whaling operations. The killer whales assisted in a number of ways: alerting the whalers that baleen whales were nearby by breaching and tail slapping; driving the baleen whales into Twofold Bay and into range of the harpooners; and harrying the larger animals as the whalers killed them.
In payment for their services the Orcas were allowed to take the lips and tongue of the baleen whales after they were dispatched.

There is one tale “Old Tom”, a male killer whale, becoming quite irate when one of the Davidson’s managers tried to renege on the deal.

If anyone is interested there are a number of websites that feature information on Eden’s orcas.

A Scotsman’s Folly

On the South Coast of New South Wales, almost exactly half way between Sydney and Melbourne and about six hours drive from each, lies Ben Boyd National Park. Hidden in the park are some fantastic places.

Examples include: many kilometres of isolated and undisturbed beaches;

and The Green Cape Lighthouse.If you drive into the main entrance of the park from the Princess Highway and head for Red Point you come to a car park. From there you follow a little path towards the point.

At one spot you catch a glimpse, through a window in the bush, down to the sea. The pounding of the sea has exposed the rich red siltstone that gives the point its name.

Then suddenly ahead you glimpse over the storm twisted Melaleuca trees this unexpected sight.
Looking as if it would be more at home in the UK, this is Ben Boyd’s Tower one of the legacies of an eccentric from the early days of European settlement.

Ben Boyd was a Scotsman who in 1840 raised £200,000 in venture capital to fund development in the Colony of NSW.
Boydtown was founded nearby in 1843 as a port to support a large pastoral empire and as a base for a whaling operation. Four years later a visitor, speaking of the town, mentioned its Gothic church with a spire, stores, well-built brick houses, and "a splendid hotel in the Elizabethan style".
Boyd’s tower was built as a look out to give his whaling boats an advantage in spotting whales as they came north along the coast and he had ambitions that the government would use it as an official lighthouse.But Boyd was too grandiose and by 1849 he was bankrupted. He travelled to the California Gold fields, but had no luck. Finally he disappeared at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1851.
Today the Tower that still carries his name is a shell.
Inside the floor joists are still in place but the floorboards are gone.From the tip of the point you can see across Twofold Bay to Eden, the port that took over as the local whaling harbour as Boydtown fell into ruins.And facing down the coast to the south, is more of the rich red stone that contrasts beautifully with the blue green ocean.This stretch of the NSW coast has to be one of my favourite places on the whole planet.

Next: Eden, a well named slice of country.

When the Pigs Come Home to Roost

Before anyone grumbles, I know I have mixed a metaphor. It’s not official yet but I think I have the dreaded Swine Flu.

This picture has nothing to do with our roosting pigs, It is simply a vain attempt to distract me from being miserable.It was taken in Ben Boyd National park not far from Green cape.

My dearly beloved eldest daughter E, brought the flu home from uni with her (E is the first letter of her name and it is one of the few nicknames she has ever tolerated). She has been officially diagnosed by our quack (no real disrespect intended but Aussies have a very strong tendency to irreverence) and put on a course of Tamiflu.

As you may know despite the initial hoo-ha about the virus, in most people it is presenting as a quite mild illness. However, it has caused some fatalities in those with underlying conditions. Hence the Tamiflu for E, she is unfortunately a chronic asthmatic, so the quack said “better safe than sorry.”

I have come down with the same symptoms and although I have yet to drag myself to the doctor (oops I am slipping, quack), I suspect same symptoms = same condition. It’s probably not rocket surgery.

Clearly my mixed metaphor meter is on the blink, maybe it’s the mild fever addling my brain? Before, anyone leaps in to say “don’t be silly get yourself down to the doctor”, I am going later, I have an appointment. As to why I am sitting in front of a computer instead of lying down… well I’m just stupid really. Though, I tried lying down and it doesn’t feel any better and at least this way I get to distract myself.

And just a final distractionThis was also taken in Ben Boyd NP just across Twofold Bay from Eden in NSW. I love the contrast in this picture, between the deep blue and Green of the Pacific and the red of the siltstone.