Whales are a prominent tourist attraction in Eden and the Eden Killer Whale Museum is ‘the place to go’ according to the tourist info. So we did. And what a story it tells, it a quite dispassionate way. It was a colourful history, with a few characters too. Including the Imlay brothers, you just can’t get away from the Imlays. I’m not sure whether these chaps are any relation to our good friends the Imlays of Mt Ommaney. I couldn’t see any likenesses from the photos. But the Imlay boys did get around a bit……….whaling, cattle, dairy. Pretty big presence in town. There is Mt Imlay, Imlay St, Imlay Rd, Imlay memorial and so on.

Mt

Whale boat crews

There was Ben Boyd also a whaler, who built Boyd’s Tower, constructed from sandstone brought down from Sydney. Originally it was meant to be a lighthouse but in the end was used as a lookout station for whales. The Davidson’s established a whaling station where the whales were dragged ashore, cut up and rendered down for their oil. It must have been a pretty sight, the sea blood red with the stench from the rotting whales.

Boyd’s Tower

Davidson’s Whaling Station house, last occupied 1954

The Museum holds the preserved skeleton of ‘Old Tom’ a Killer Whale (Orca) that actually assisted the whalers by alerting them to the presence of whales in the Bay, guiding them and assisting in the catch. he was washed up on the shore in 1930, estimated at about 35 years old, preserved and is now on display with lots of other whale stuff in the museum.

Old Tom’s skeleton

Coastline below Boyd’s Tower, with the ‘ special’ rock formation on right

The cemetery at Eden is situated on low ground just behind Aslings Beach. As a rule most cemeteries are placed on high ground. Many of the graves overlook the sea and tell stories of death at sea……..whaling or fishing. Fisherman ‘going down to the sea’ for the last time.

Aslings Beach

Eden Cemetery overlooking Twofold Bay

We are now finished at Eden for this time  and head back to Tathra for a few days