The road to Green Cape was a single lane dirt road that seemingly has not been graded for a very long time. It was full of potholes – some which were big enough to swallow a small car, ruts and washouts. We could coast along at around 40 km/h with frequent swerves or quick use of the breaks to avoid the next obstacle. It was quite an adventure! And it was worth it!
Matthew Flinders first named the cape ‘Green Point’ in 1798. In 1802, eight of Flinders’ crew disappeared in what he then named Disaster Bay. Since that time a number of shipwrecks, including the SS New Guinea in 1911 have added appropriateness to the bays name.
Our first stop, around 15 km’s in was the Disaster Bay lookout – a beautiful lookout down along a sweeping beach surrounding Disaster Bay. Mountains covered in eucalyptus in the background.
A few km’s further we came to Green Cape Lighthouse. It seemed somewhat ironic that after around 20 km’s of potholed dirt road access we were confronted by a ‘speed hump’ sign as we neared the lighthouse car park! We slowed down even more, but there was no speed hump to be found! The lighthouse stands at 29 metres and was first lit up in 1883. It was decommissioned in 1992, with a solar powered light operating since then. Lighthouses generally look very grand and imposing – this one certainly did, its position on the tip of the cape was an impressive sight.
We enjoyed the views from the very tip of the cape that had some information boards on the shipwreck of the ‘Ly-ee-moon’ which had only 14 survivors out of 86 on board when it ran aground on the rocks below where we stood.
Although a relatively calm day, the waves crashed impressively over the rocks! We then had a wander around the grounds and admired the lighthouse keeper’s residence, telegraph station and stables.
300 Metres inland we found a graveyard of those who did not survive the ‘Ly-ee-moon’ disaster.
Back in the car, and we backtracked a few km’s and took a right turn, down another pot-holed dirt track about another 3 km’s to Bittangabee Bay. Originally, supplies for the lighthouse were offloaded in this serene and calm bay, stored in a storeroom and then moved across to the lighthouse on a horse drawn tramway. After a picnic lunch, closely watched by some vocal currawongs, we went down on to the beach and took the short walk around to the ruins of the storeroom. This short walk was part of the much longer, 30 km ‘Light to Light’ walk that stretches from the lighthouse up to Boyd’s Tower.
Near the car again, we saw a kangaroo which was as curious about us as the kids were curious about it.
It was now time to back track back to the sealed Edrom Road and turn right, heading up to Boyd’s Tower. This was at the end of another pot holded track, just 1 km this time though.
Boyd’s Tower has a fascinating history – originally built by Benjamin Boyd as a ‘private’ lighthouse – it was not granted permission to operate as one, so it became a watch tower for the very competitive whaling trade. Mr Boyd was quite the entrapaneur and even constructed his own private town, named, of course Boydtown. The stone work for his lighthouse was shipped in from Sydney and his name was engraved in large letters across the top of his tower. It’s quite a monument. Apparently things turned sour for Mr Boyd and when finances got tight he went off to the Californian gold fields. He eventually died in the Solomon Islands. The Davidson’s took over use of the tower and became a key whaling family in the area… more about that soon!
We wandered around the base of the tower, into the ground floor where you can peer right up to the roof. We also went on two short walks for great coastal views. One was across Twofold Bay, which dazzled with the sun shimmering across the waters. The other was on the eastern side of Red Point – the red rocks of the cliffs were vibrant. The red colour comes from iron oxide. There was an unusual cliff, which apparently was an ‘anticlinal’ formation which is ‘A fold of rock layers that slope downward on both sides of a common crest. Anticlines form when rocks are compressed by plate-tectonic forces’.
The next stop was involved an 8km return drive down yet another pot-holed track. This time a stick got jammed in one of the back wheels and made a terrible ‘whirring’ sound – we thought we’d done some serious damage to the car, but on locating and removing the stick, the noise stopped, which was a relief. A short walk found us at the Davidson Whaling Station – and the original 1840’s cottage ‘Loch Garra’. At its peak, there were 27 rival whaling boats in Eden and this was the home to three generations of the Davidson family who were successful whalers. The cottage was quaint, with nice gardens, including flowering bulbs that were in bloom.
Down on the banks of Kiah Inlet were the remains of rusting whaling pots and information boards of the process of dragging the whale ashore and the stinky, disgusting task of extracting the whale oil. It was easy to imagine the sights and sounds of this now abhorred practice… fortunately the smell was also left to the imagination.
On the drive out, with the sun now getting low, a male lyrebird ran across the road a few metres in front of us – an animal not often seen in the wild.
Nearing Eden again, we paused at Quarantine Bay and photographed the setting sun and a few pelicans who hung around the boat ramp hoping for fish scraps from the boaties.
It was a full on day, but an awesome one, with beautiful scenery and fascinating history. And we pretty much had it all to ourselves. The only people we saw were some fishermen and one other family at the lighthouse.
We hit 21st century civilisation again… and a reality check as we had dinner at McDonalds after our after dark arrival back in Merimbula.
