We spent the day exploring this remote National Park. There is a lot of early European history here and if it were closer to a larger city like Boyd himself was aiming for, there would be many more visitors. All we saw today were a handful of day trippers and the bus load from Nelson Bay Probus club.
We first visited Boyd's Tower*. It is an impressive five story stone tower build at the southern headland of Twofold Bay. In the 1840's Ben Boyd, an English entrepreneur decided to build his empire just south of Eden. He farmed sheep, had a whaling company, built a huge stone tower and a town and named them after himself. Within 10 years it wasn't all going to plan so he gave up and went to California. At least the national park got his name, and a street in Neutral Bay, and West Pennant Hills??
So back to the tower. It was built with Sydney sandstone, quarried in Pyrmont and transported to Eden! I think he wanted it to be a lighthouse but it wasn't needed so he used it to look for whales and then sent his boats to massacre them.
Next stop the old whaling station, which was more like a few rusty old pots and boxes than a station. The bay was beautiful where the Kiah Inlet entered the sea. We ate our lunch and swam. It was sad to think that 100 years ago this was the spot where they dragged and butchered the whales before boiling their blubber for oil. So glad that stench is gone.
We'd planned to visit Cape Green lighthouse at 3 pm for the tour but as we drove along the headland NPWS were doing hazard reduction burns and the road was closed. So disappointed. Hopefully we can drive out there in the morning before we leave.
* please note and local history is what I remember reading from the information signs and may not be entirely true.
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