The next night was quiet and tranquil. Well it was until
some moron on a dirtbike decided that he was going to go tearing through the
forest in the middle of the night although, it was a nice change from the
wombats shaking the car from the night before.
In the morning there was still no one on my beach so I sat and had
breakfast and read till some people showed up. I then moved on and headed
towards Eden.
A little later in the day I felt a headache coming on so I
found a nice park to camp at that was far from the road but just above Eden. It
was a perfect place to just wait out the pain. Next morning I went to the
Killer Whale Museum.
 |
| This is Old Tom |
Back in the day whales were hunted for their blubber to turn
into oil for everything from bicycle lubricant to light. While this sounds sad
I find it incredible that the men that hunted the whales were even successful.
They would go after these huge whales in the little wooden rowboats, then one
of the rowers would try and harpoon the whale when they got close enough. It
must have been terrifying. The unique part of Eden’s history is the killer
whales. They worked with the whalers to help them catch other whales in
exchange for the killer whales’ favorite parts to eat (lips and tung). The
killer whales would coral a whale into Two Fold Bay then send one of their team
to alert the whalers and then lead the whalers to where they had the corralled
whale for them to kill. Old Tom was the leader for this team of killer whales
and sometimes he would even pull on the harpoon ropes to help out the whalers.
After Eden I went and spent the weekend in Noojee (beautiful
rainforest where they have so many off roading tracks!). I started on a trail
and was taking it slow when as I was crossing a bridge a kangaroo jumped out
behind the guardrail and I had no time to stop; the kangaroo got hit. I was in
shock but the kangaroo just kept going. I figured it was a sign that maybe I
shouldn’t go off much further and made camp next to the river just below
Toorongo Falls. The area is so cool. It has trails marked all over the place
and even has special parking for motorcycle trailers. It is an off roaders
heaven.
I spent my last night just south of Alexandra along side a
river and next to some cows. There were some friendly fellow travelers and we
enjoyed the evening talking over coffee. It was a perfect end to my week.
"It feels good to be lost in the right direction" -somebody
I was lost a LOST this trip but I found such beautiful places and had the road almost always to myself. It was such a strange and new feeling but it was also very nice.
 |
| Noojee Historic trestle bridge |
