Thursday, October 25, 2012

26 October 2012 - Eden Gateway Tourist Park, Sapphire Coast, NSW


We have now arrived at the most southern settlement of the New South Wales coastline, and this is as far as we will travel for now. In a few more days we will turn north again, retracing some of our path and visiting coastal places still unexplored.

Perhaps it was the excitement of moving on this morning that had us up and out of bed, breakfasted, hitched up and out of the camp by 8.30 am. We popped back down into Bega to pick up fresh bread for lunch and then turned south, travelling up and over progressively steeper hills while still relatively close to the coastline. The Princes Highway, in this part of the world, is very like that along the south eastern parts of Victoria, between Lakes Entrance and Orbost, passing through heavily wooded State Forest and National Park alike. 

We have remarked time and time again how many trees there are in Australia, and that is something a foreigner such as I would never have given this so called barren continent credit for. But there you are.

We called up to the Yellow Pinch Dam, 14 kilometres north of Pambula, a camp spot in our Camps 6, to see if it would suit as a overnighter on our way back north. The one kilometre approach off the Highway is extremely steep and the “camping” area is tight. However it certainly looks quiet and safe so we will keep it in mind and see how the next week pans out.

We came on down to Pambula, a quaint old fashioned town in the style of Cobargo passed through a few days ago further up the highway, which also probably warrants further inspection. Perhaps on the way back?

The road turns eastwards just before Pambula and heads out to the seaside town of Merimbula which, by the amount of advertising in the promotional brochures, must be a significant town. That too will have to wait for our return.

Lagoons or lakes lie inland from the sea in from Merimbula, south of Pambula and to the north of Eden. They are really just estuaries except for the fluctuations of water flow; in dry times they become land bound and have their own ecosystems.

It is less than sixty kilometres from Bega through to Eden and so we were through to our chosen camp a few minutes before the checkout time of 10 am. Some camps may have made us come back in the afternoon, however the staff here were welcoming, happy to take our money and see us set up for the duration. Again the tariff advertised on the web was inaccurate however with our Big4 discount, we cannot complain. 

Once set up and refuelled with coffee, we set off for a pleasant three kilometre walk along the boardwalk that follows the western shore of Lake Curalo, Eden’s lagoon, just opposite the camping ground. We observed black swans and a variety of ducks, and startled several rather large skinks. We walked on through to the spit that separates the lagoon from Twofold Bay, out on to Aslings Beach. Strangely, as we came over the rise to the beach, which descends steeply into the gentle surf, I was reminded of the beach at a small southern Spanish village I spent three months in another life. It’s funny how tiny glimpses in the now can trigger memories of the past. Up to our right, we could see the township of Eden, spread over several hillocks and were keen to discover it for ourselves.

After lunch we set off again, this time in the cruiser and drove about all the streets that the 3,600 inhabitants of Eden call home. The township is situated on the more northern edge of Twofold Bay and a small peninsula jutting out from the business part of the town cuts this bay in two, Calle Calle Bay to the north and the larger wide bay to the south. But then in the northern curve of this larger bay, just below the town, lies Snug Cove, Cattle Bay and Cocora Beach.

At the Information Centre we learned that there had been whales in the bay during the course of the morning, so we set off up to the lookout at Rotary Park to catch sight of these majestic beasts. Alas they had moved on, and the wind had come up causing a mess of white horses all over the bay, which precluded any easy sighting of the odd spume or flapping fin. We decided that we might have a better chance tomorrow morning if the wind were less and the water calmer. We will also listen out for the siren which is sounded on such a sighting.

It does not take a rocket scientist to realise that Eden’s raison d’etre is all about the sea. Back in 1798, the explorer George Bass, he of Bass Strait fame, entered Twofold Bay and declared that Snug Cove offered “a snug and safe anchorage for any ship during a blow”. In 1828, Thomas Raine came ashore here to establish the first shore based whaling station on mainland Australia. That was the beginning of Eden and whaling, together with timber, livestock and seafood, has kept Eden humming down through the years. Today, a chip mill operates across the bay and we will most likely get a closer look tomorrow. Oyster and mussel farming are evident with the rows of strings or whatever they use, visible here and further up the coast in those lakes passed today. Eden is renowned for its excellent deep-sea fishing with a large fleet of fishing trawlers.

We drove down into Snug Bay and parked facing the wharves. The wind was brisk even in this apparently sheltered marina so we satisfied ourselves with viewing the activity through the windscreen. I watched several pelicans gliding and diving and landing in the wind, a few brave tourists hugging themselves for warmth as they walked the pathways and one solitary fishing boat heading off into the wild sea. We had seen so many more fishing vessels when we passed through Lakes Entrance in Victoria earlier in the year; perhaps most based here were out at sea.

We then went on down to Cocora Beach, labelled a family swimming beach, and watched one lone swimmer sampling the sea.

Back at camp we settled in for a quiet afternoon. Out of the wind, the temperature is far more pleasant than the past few days. Here in the camp there are several families with children, small people we rarely have contact with these days. They are enjoying the inflated jumping cushion and the large tricycles, and are of the kind who express their joy in an uninhibited manner disregarding the fact that others may prefer peace and quiet. On arrival here we immediately noticed the bell miners who are even more vocal than the little people. These wonderful birds have always delighted us with their unusual song, however there is a distinct possibility we may change our minds about this. They could become as annoying as a bad case of tinnitus.

No comments:

Post a Comment