4732 Diana gets a eucalyptus brushing.
4742 Good to go, she’s got her passport.
4751 Haycock Point
4768 The table of traditional items. The talking rock is just above the feather fan near the guide’s hand. It’s dark grey, oval shaped and has some white and brown designs painted on it.
4787 The MS Amsterdam in Twofold Bay, Eden, Australia
Nov 13 – Eden, New South Wales, Australia. This is the first time we’ve ever ported in Eden. Diana believes we’ve visited a whaling museum near here but I’m skeptical. I know we visited a whaling museum in this area of Australia but I’m not sure what the name was and I can’t fine any information on the one here to see if it’s the one.
Founded in 1818, Eden was Australia’s first whaling port and it was active into the 1920s. It’s located on Twofold Bay, the third deepest natural harbor and home to a sizeable fishing fleet. Near where we anchored there’s what appears to be a huge sand dune however it’s a giant pile of wood chips. The chips are destined for China where they will become paper.
We are heading out of the now sleepy little town to Ben Boyd National Park to take a ‘bush walk’. That term is used to indicate a guided walk with a naturalist of some sort that will discuss local flora and fauna as well as the customs of the ancient people who inhabited the area.
Ben Boyd was an interesting character and it’s a bit surprising to find a national park named for him. He came to NSW in 1842 supposedly to establish a bank and make money for his investors. Instead he acquired large plots of land and started building a city named Boydtown. He established a paddlewheel steam passenger service between Boydtown and Sydney and used the town mostly as a support base for his inland cattle and sheep farming operations. He built a hotel and started a church that was never finished. On South Head, a prominent cape as you sail by the area, he started to build a lighthouse as a monument to himself. Unfortunately he did not check with the authorities first and his tower was not approved for use as a light. It remains unfinished but his name ‘Boyd’ is chiseled prominently in the stones making up the cap. His empire collapsed and he had to flee the country in 1849. Some believe he went to the 49er Gold Rush in California. He became one of those hazy men of yesteryear. Nevertheless his impact on this area was large and the local national park memorializes his name.
It was a short ride, about 30 minutes, out to Ben Boyd NP and then another 10 minutes on a dirt road to get to the camp. We were met there by a three park rangers, two of white descent and one Aboriginal. The Aboriginal man was white on his father’s side and Aboriginal on his mother’s but looks like his father. They introduced themselves and then took us to a small clearing where a wood fire had been started. The Aboriginal man gave a short history of the area and discussed the path we would be taking out to Haycock Point. This area was a living area for indigenous people for hundreds of years. The path we’d be taking would cross over huge ancient piles of seashells that were created during that time. These piles were not garbage dumps in the western sense but more like a combination compost pile and ceremonial site. People were buried in these piles and ceremonies held there for religious and memorial occasions. As such these are sacred places and required us to be welcomed in a certain way for us to enter.
The ceremony he conducted was almost like a tribal induction would be for the Southwestern Indians. First, two small, bushy branches of eucalyptus were cut. One was from older growth, one from younger. He took these branches and brushed us from head to toe like he was sweeping the dust off our clothes. After everyone was swept, he took the branches to the fire and placed them on the coals. Being green they created quite a bit of smoke. Once he saw which way the smoke was blowing he had us walk, single file, through the smoke column to signify our entry into the community. Next he took some white ocher dust from the concave surface of a rock that he had ground, added a bit of water and then dabbed a dot on each of our foreheads to signify that we had been cleared for entry into tribal lands. He said this had served as a ‘passport’ in ancient times. Each group had its unique mark and if you were in the area without it you could be in serious trouble.
We started our walk out to the point. It was a very interesting area. The small isthmus that is Haycock Point has the ocean on one side and a large bay on the other. The ocean side had a very nice crescent shaped beach. I don’t know if the conditions were typical but the waves were breaking just off the beach and based on the swell it looked like it was great conditions for surfing with the possibility of some very long rides.
We did see a White-bellied Sea Eagle swoop down for a look at us and some wallabies grazing in the distance. Way out, off the point, we did see a whale briefly. Odds are it was a humpback but no one was fast enough with the binoculars to get a good look. Menke whales sometimes look like humpies in the distance and they both swim in these waters.
When we returned to the camp site they had tea and damper bread waiting for us. The bread is like a sourdough loaf and very good. They squeeze light sugar syrup on it and have it with tea. It was good and the warm tea was nice on a cool breezy day. We drank our tea seated near a picnic table full of artifacts, tools and utensils used by the area’s Aboriginals. Our interpreter showed us how the tools were used and that the significance of each object is. One small rock was particularly interesting. It had been painted in a very nice design and it was used in decision making. If two tribal members have a dispute, they and all the other interested parties would be called to a meeting. The elder would gather a panel of leaders and then the rock would be handed to the man with the complaint (plaintiff in our system). He could say whatever he wanted to and no one could interrupt while he held the rock. The rock would be passed to his opponent (the defendant) and he could explain his side of the story. The rock was then passed to witnesses until everyone was heard. If you weren’t holding the rock you were not allowed to speak, except of course for the elder who could ask questions. When everyone was heard, the elder and leaders conferred and rendered their judgment. Not a bad system really for the times.
Our time was up all too soon and it was back to the city for a quick stop at an overlook in the center of Twofold Bay. At the port our tender was waiting and we were quickly back on the ship.
Our entertainer for the evening was Martin Ralph. He was a little of everything, magician, mostly for the comedy, juggler, again mostly for the comedy and then he got serious. Well… The actions got more serious but the patter was still funny. First he did some yo-yo tricks of the normal variety. Then he brought out a yo-yo of his grandfather’s design that is not connected to the string. He did some very intricate tricks with that device. It was hard to tell how he got it to climb the string and stay on for certain maneuvers but he did. Then came the big finish and I do mean big. About 12 years ago someone introduced him to the thrown top. He had a normal sized one that he did some tricks with. He decided to make the world’s biggest thrown top and constructed one about the size of a bowling ball, with a tapered tip and flat top of course. This one he threw, albeit using both hands. He was able to do many of the same tricks he had done with the small top.
He was happy with that for a few years but then wanted something even bigger. He spent 9 months constructing easily the world’s biggest top. It’s about 2.5 feet high and at the biggest point 18-20 inches in diameter. It has to be hollow because if it were solid he wouldn’t be able to lift it. It’s too big to throw to get it spinning so he has a cordless drill that he attaches to the top and gets it going that way. Once it was spinning he passed it entirely around his body on the palms of his hands. I wouldn’t want to see an act like that every day but it was definitely unique and very funny. I had a good time anyway.
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