Monday 14th May 2012
MERIMBULA NSW
Today we went to the Killer Whale Museum and met the skeleton of "Old Tom", the leader of a whale pack many years ago. This pack was known to drive humpbacks and sperm whales into the harbour for the community to catch for the oil/blubber. After harpooning the whales, the whalers would allow the Orca's to feed (as they do in nature still) on the mouth & tongue. Once the orca finished, the whalers would tow the caught whale to land and collect the balance for the community's use or for sale or trade. It was a mutual alliance that assisted both in survival in harsh times. Thankfully we no longer need this method of trade and bans on whaling should be mandatory, country by country, perhaps only being legal where communities such as those in the northern artic areas rely wholly on the whale for food, clothing and cooking/drinking implements.
This was a photo of "Old Tom's" Dorsal Fin.
Imagine how the whalers felt when they were accidently thrown into the water whilst working and this guy came along. Legend had it that "Old Tom" and his pack were known to assist in keeping the men afloat till they could be rescued.
The museum here was very interesting and shed a huge light on the difficulties these pioneer communities in the south had during the 1800's and very early 1900's.
After the Whale Museum we found ourselves at the wharf again and the Endeavour that was due to leave on Sunday had been postponed and wasn't leaving till Tuesday, so, with wind howling, temp of about 14*C (and wind chill factor to about 5*C) we decided that it may be warmer on board the clipper. *lol* sure, sure - Gosh those poor guys with Capt Cook!!!!!!!
This is the replica ship captained by Cook, which I mistakenly have always thought of as being the explorer all those years ago. I never learnt at school that Cook's voyage was actually to formulate navigation by astronomy which they didn't think had worked. They found upon arrival back home that it was in fact perfect and this became the 'new' method of navigation. His exploration trips came after this.
Some pics on board:-
The Galley
Dining Area 
Serviettes above each dinner table (When greased enough & unable to be used anymore, they were used to oil/grease the decks)
(1 Hammock)bunks of 10 of these on each shift were hung above the dinner tables and stored under the seats during meal times.
Completing the tour below-decks we left the wharf and had a little look around. It was decidedly warmer in the car than walking or riding the bikes and also drier. Just south of Eden we found a nice little bay called Quarrantine Bay, with several yatchs and boats sheltering from the weather along with this cute little guy.
Some running repairs on the leg of the awning demanded a visit to ARV caravans & supplies which gave us a new foot for the post. This little sucker won't break now (it's made of metal and not plastic).
Tues 15th & Wednesday 16th May
MALLACOOTA, VIC
We had decided last night to head to Lakes Entrance today, but 85/90 kilometres from Eden we chanced upon this charming little town (24 kms of the main road on a little windy road to be exact) which just screamed "STAY, PLEASE STAY - YOU WILL LOVE ME" and guess what............Yep, we stayed at Mallacoota (home of the abalone) and what a top site we had here -
PHILLIP - Greg found a new spot for you to launch that new boat from:-----
and out past here Phil -
Hey Shelly: I haven't forgotton you -found these for you growing wild on the sides of the road into Mallacoota.
And JOSH, look what I found for you (but I had to look hard) :)
We found a World War II bunker used for communications from 1943 and last used in 2002
On Wednesday, we decided to go fishing for the huge flathead and salmon they have showed us photos of:-
Cute boats (15hp outboards - governed down to max 4 knots, so once again Greg decided to be generous and let me drive/steer/guide, while he tried to work out if his trusty pocket knife would be up to the task of taking the governer out of the engine - Good onya MacGyvor)
Bottom Lake -
And we're sure that's only because this sea lion does
like the taste of PUFFER FISH!
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This fellow got the last fish in the lake me-thinks!
We tied up at this jetty and went for a walk on the island to see the remnants of The Spotted Dog Gold Mine and Pioneers' Cemetary.
Greg threw a line in while waiting for me to come back with my trusty camera and slow hiking boots *lol*
This is a nice shot I found when we went for a stroll along the beach on the southern end of Mallacoota. It's a really wild coastline along this area, but really beautiful. Something stirs the soul when you have all this to soak in without anyone else around ..........
Thursday, 17th May 2012
MALLACOOTA to LAKES ENTRANCE
This morning we left Mallacoota along the Princes Highway and headed towards Lakes Entrance, which was our plan 2 days earlier but we found Mallacoota instead.
Along the way we turned off at Cabbage Tree Creek to have a look at Cape Conran and Marlo before entering Orbost.
We kept seeing these funny signs, but I told Greg not to read them or take any notice 'coz he certainly wasn't allowed to powernap just yet. (Wait at least till we get to Lakes Entrance; we've only been on the road for an hour so far)
Cape Conran
These amazing rock formations had lots of quartz seams
throughout, right on the beach. It almost made us feel
that we could have been in Madagascar!
Marlo is the town where the Snowy River empties into the ocean. Without seeing the town, you would never know how pretty this area is.
From the top of the hill, all the homes in Marlo have a view similar to these, but to access the beach areas you do need to drive down a hill and around to the wharf/boat launch areas into the river.
Having Lunch at the bakery in Orbost, I think we may have missed a very interesting spot after looking in the information centre, but I guess you can't see everything. Funnily enough, I didn't notice any information in the towns leading up to Orbost about it, but I think had we had some info we may have decided to spend a day or 2 here. Hopefully we may still get back to mines at Buchan as it isn't too far from Lakes Entrance which we arrived at this afternoon, after a short peak at Lake Tyers just before L.E.
So my sweets..... until next time (Sleep well & stay safe xo).....
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