Eden was an enjoyable stop when caravanning down the rugged, but picturesque, south east coast of Australia. Eden is officially located on the Saphhire Coast and midway between Sydney and Melbourne.
Note – Cruise ships regularly stop at Eden, so this post may be of interest to cruise lovers as well as caravanners.
Bookend Seagulls at the Snug Cove Wharf.
Table of Contents
Eden Information Centre
Eden Information Centre was the first stop to pick up a guide book “Eden a Natural Paradise.” The list of attractions with everything from national parks and lookouts out to the whaling museum is enough to keep you busy for a week! Sadly, we only had one day to spare but fitted in as many as possible….
NB – the best time to travel to Eden is between September and April – we were there in August and the weather was a bit too chilly for our liking!
The Three Wharves of Eden at Snug Cove
Eden is well known for its deep-sea fishing and fleet of trawlers that operate from Snug Cove daily. The old wharf is still used and is a daily hive of activity unloading huge hauls of fish and other seafood delights.
Unloading the daily catch.Getting up close and personal to fishing boats and watching the daily catches being unloaded ready for the journey to Sydney and Melbourne markets is always fascinating. We watched mussels being cleaned and net repairing while other fishermen sorted their haul of fresh fish into dozens of blue trays for delivery.
Southland Fish Supplies, Eden
Fish hauls unloaded we headed to the Southland Fish Supplies Factory – only 100 metres from the wharf where you can buy the fresh as fresh fish that is straight from the boats.
Southland Fish Supplies boat. (photo credit Southland Fish Supplies).
Not keen on a whole fish lying on your plate with its eyes looking at you? Never fear there’s an extensive range of fillets and everything else that comes from the sea to choose from at Southland.
The friendly staff will even give tips on how to cook seafood to perfection. We all know how easy it is to overcook a tasty fish fillet or your Calamari ends up like a rubber tyre!
Fishing tours at the factory operate from Tuesday to Friday at 9.30am and 11.30am, but… you guessed it, we were there on a Monday!
Eden Smokehouse
The Eden Smokehouse is around the corner in Weecoon Street and you definitely need to browse the smoked produce of everything edible from the ocean. (www.edensmokehouse.com.au)
We promptly bought a slab of prize winning Smoked Salmon to enjoy for dinner. The Salmon has won medals in the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show for eight years so we couldn’t wait to cook and enjoy for dinner – we weren’t disappointed.
What a slab of smoked salmon!
But there’s more…
Chicken breast, eel, Italian garlic mussels, Thai Mussels, plain mussels, Mexican chilli mussels, rainbow trout, and….drum roll….smoked old style bacon (we quickly stocked up on this favourite food). Cholestorol? Never heard of it! Anyway the fish balances everything out.
Brunch at The Wharfside Cafe
After exploring the wharves and factories we remembered an inviting sign for The Wharfside Cafe situated right at the end of the wharf with a complete view of the harbour. There’s was an extensive, and affordable, breakfast, lunch and dinner menu with our choice being Seafood Risotto. A tasty mixture of seafood in white wine, shallots and cream…Mmmm! Oh, and a dozen shared oysters for starters!
A Poem For Oyster Lovers.
- “Oysters are the most tender and delicate of all seafoods.
- They stay in bed all day and night.
- They never work or take exercise,
- Are stupendous drinkers,
- And wait for their meal to come to them”
- (quote by Hector Bolitho)
Eden Killer Whale Museum
With our stomachs full, we walked up the hill to the Eden Killer Whale Museum to investigate the history of whaling in Eden.
Whale Museum at Eden
Now, we are totally anti whaling, but you can’t close your eyes to the past and the Museum is well presented and very informative.
The most amazing aspect was the story of “Old Tom” who was a killer whale. For 20 years, with his pack of whales (Hooky, Humpy and Stranger) he would herd the Baleen Whales into Twofold Bay. The whales would let the whalemen know of their prey’s arrival by “flop-tailing” (thrashing the water with their tails) and the chase would be on! Tom lived to approximately 39 years of age and his story (and mounted skeleton) is a focal point of the Museum.
Two hours of interesting browsing was spent at the museum visiting the exibits spread over two floors – soon to be expanded to three.
An Old Fashioned Whale Cure!
“Rheumatic patients sometimes used whales caught at Twofold Bay to relieve their suffering, using the following unpleasant treatment.
A large hole 4ft to 5ft long x 3ft wide was made in the side of the whale, with smaller separate holes for each patient to enter.”
Anyone prepared to give this cure a go??
Eden’s Rugged Coastline from Lookout Point.
Our last wander was up to the lookout near Rotary Park, above the town, here you get an incredible view of the rugged 380 million (!) year old headland.
Eden’s Ruged Coastline from Lookout Point
There was time for a spot of whale-watching and we saw one giant creature from a distance. But, when you are told that between 40 and 50 whales pass this coastline every day in August, it took a huge effort for these baby boomer travellers to move on!
Whale watching from Lookout Point
Seamen’s Memorial Wall
Rotary Park is also home to the Seamen’s Memorial built in memory of all those who sailed from the Port of Eden and were lost at sea.
There were many plaques on the memorial and in the garden surrounding the wall – sailors, fishermen, engineers – some old some young. The Museum’s photos of the old whaling rowing boats conjured up frightening images in the rough seas. Especially when a 25 tonne whale was tugging the boat around!
Too soon our enjoyable day at Eden came to an end – when you go be sure you stay longer and enjoy:
- the Coastal Wilderness walks that range from 300m to several kilometres, and
- Twofold Bay that is apparently majestic and dotted with beautiful pristine beaches.
Both of these are on our wish list for the next time we visit Eden.
Handy to Know
- The Garden of Eden Caravan Park (A Top Tourist Park that are always our first choice) www.edengarden.biz has a great reputation and backs on to Aslings Beach.
- Eden Killer Whale Museum – Opening Hours – Monday to Saturday 9.15am to 3.45pm, Sunday 11.15am to 3.45 pm. Entry fee $12 for adults and $6 for children. (Worth every cent)
See you on the road!
Gypsy at 60 – AKA “A baby boomer traveller”
Sounds great Joycee! Might bypass that whale cure though
Really! I thought it would be a good way to have a little privacy for a week or so (the smell would be so strong) – LOL. Thank you for reading my post Jenny 🙂
Fabulous post Joycee. We too love visiting Eden. It’s a long drive to get there, but as you say, there is so much to see and enjoy once you arrive. We particularly love all the history in the area, with the Whale Museum being a favourite. Then there is the fresh seafood and natural beauty of the area. Eden ticks many boxes for us. Thanks for reminding me we must soon revisit beautiful Eden, but not in winter
No definitely not in winter! Although the weather was very kind to us when there – thank goodness! We had based ourselves at Paynesville for 3 nights and did day trips to Tilba, Bega, Eden etc.. A really nice and welcoming little town and would happily call in again – preferably staying overnight. Thank you as always for reading my post 🙂
It seems you had a wonderful day in Eden. While we’ve been to the Saphire Coast we didn’t get to Eden, seems like we should visit what with the natural beauty, the smokehouse and the museum. Thanks for sharing this.
There are so many places along the Aussie Coast that are quite unknown. Honestly, I think it would take 10 years of non stop “dropping in” to small towns to see them all – LOL. Thank you for reading my post 🙂