This South Coast town has natural beauty and a fascinating history of folk tales and folly, writes Bruce Elder.

It is a rare country town where the visitor should start at the local museum. In the case of Eden, the southernmost town on the NSW coast, the wonderfully named Eden Killer Whale Museum is not just one of the best regional museums in the country. It also provides a graphic and illuminating background to the region's most compelling folk tale: you can stand next to the skeleton of the killer whale known as Old Tom and read the remarkable story of this whale's special relationship with the whalers who worked the waters of Twofold Bay.

Twofold Bay has probably been the site of whale hunting since the first humans arrived in the area. As early as 1798, Matthew Flinders, who was sailing down the coast with George Bass, made contact with the local Thawa Aborigines and was offered some fat - probably whale fat - in exchange for a biscuit.

Flinders, less than impressed with the whale fat, recorded how he was munching away on the horrible stuff while "watching an opportunity to spit it out when he [the Aborigine who gave it to him] should not be looking, I perceived him doing precisely the same thing with our biscuit". One man's biscuit is another man's poison.

Two years later, whalers moved into the area and during the migration seasons (May and October) the bay and nearby waters were literally red with blood. Serious whaling started on the waters off Eden as early as 1828 and continued for more than a century, until 1930. However the fishing industry, and the associated cannery, continued and became the backbone of the town's economy.

I have vivid childhood memories of watching men from the cannery push wheelbarrows laden with fish guts and heads to the end of the wharf, where sharks waited for an easy feed.

Though the cannery has closed, fishing is still central to the town's economy, the harbour is full of fishing boats and there are several local co-operatives that send fish to the markets in Sydney and Melbourne. Several fishing charters operate from the harbour and fresh local fish is on the menu of every restaurant.

In season - particularly in October and November - Eden is one of the best places on the coast to go whale watching. On November 1-2 the town will stage the Eden Whale Festival.

Oh, and the story of Old Tom? Tom was the leader of a pack of killer whales who used to come to the wharves in Eden and, by making a lot of noise, alert the whalers to the presence of the whales off the coast. So sophisticated were Tom and his killer whales that they would actually herd the whales - mostly humpbacks and right whales - to their bloody doom at the hands of the Eden harpooners.

Why? Well, the killer whales, according to local folklore, were happy to see the whales killed so long as they scored the tender lips and tongue. The oil-rich blubber was left to the whalers. It was such an unusual arrangement between humans and animals that it has spawned several books and documentaries.

This only scratches the surface of Eden's attractions. To the north of town are the Pinnacles. The ruins of Boyd's Church are near Boydtown. Within the Ben Boyd National Park are peaceful picnic areas at Wonboyn Lake and Saltwater Creek. For those who are fit and enthusiastic, there is a superb 30-kilometre coastal walk from Boyd's Tower to the Green Cape Lightstation.

Boydtown

Benjamin Boyd, who lent his name to a lane and street on the lower North Shore, was an English entrepreneur who blazed briefly in the Australian business firmament during the 1840s. He arrived in Sydney in 1842, set up a bank, bought a paddle-steamer named Seahorse, acquired nearly 1 million hectares in the Riverina and Monaro areas and decided Twofold Bay would be the ideal centre of his operations.

Shore whaling and oil extraction had been established on the bay for 15 years and Boyd added both to his other enterprises, undertaking the settlement of East Boyd for this purpose. The enterprise was short-lived, however. Boyd had difficulty recruiting workers and the cost of establishing Boydtown began to mount. He had overreached himself with his investments.

In 1849 the liquidators were called in. All operations at Twofold Bay ceased, most of the construction still incomplete; Boyd's whole colonial endeavour had become a spectacular failure. He left for the California goldfields in 1849 and disappeared at Guadalcanal in 1851.

All that is left is the Seahorse Inn. It was built by convict labour, fell into disrepair, was renovated in the 1930s, again allowed to run down and then, in 2002, upgraded at a cost about $4 million. Today it is chic and charming with glorious grounds that stretch from a terrace to the water's edge.

More than a decade ago a Melbourne chef, Donna Shannon, arrived in Eden and transformed the local cuisine. She took the local black mussels and cooked them in a tomato and star anise broth of great subtlety. And her seafood platters, which always included the mussels, set a culinary benchmark that made the town an oasis in a foodie desert. Shannon has gone but her influence lives on at the Seahorse Inn's restaurant.

Davidson Whaling Station

Alexander Davidson was a carpenter who worked for Boyd in the 1840s. The whaling station he established in the 1860s operated as a family concern, using traditional bay whaling methods, until the death of the industry in the 1920s.

Little remains today but the site is well-maintained and there are plaques with interpretive text, illustrations and photographs to help the visitor imagine what the area must have been like when the station was operational. Access to the site is south of Boydtown, off Edrom Road.

Boyd's Tower

Although it was built as a lighthouse, this solid, monolithic structure made from Pyrmont sandstone looks like a classic English folly. It was intended as a prominent landmark to reflect upon the glory of Boyd's good name and enterprises, as well as a whaling lookout and a lighthouse.

Like most things associated with Boyd, it was never completed and permission for its use as a lighthouse was refused. However, it did serve as a whale-spotting site. The letters B-O-Y-D are clearly chiselled into the stones forming the apex of the tower.

Down a stairway beside Boyd's Tower is one of the geological wonders of Twofold Bay. The cliff face, which is about 360 million years old, comprises layers of red siltstone and sandstone that have been compressed, fractured and folded into fantastical shapes.

Green Cape Lighthouse

At the end of Green Cape Road stands Green Cape Lighthouse, which was built in 1883. The view from the promontory is wild, even on a sunny day.

Nearby is a historic cemetery that bears witness to the 71 people who lost their lives in the wreck of the Ly-ee-Moon, one of many ships that foundered around the appropriately named Disaster Bay in the 19th century.

FAST FACTS

Getting there

Eden is 478 kilometres from Sydney via the Princes Highway. The journey takes 6-7 hours. The closest airport is at Merimbula, 27 kilometres away.

Staying there

Eden is a major coastal destination, with nine motels, four bed and breakfasts, three hotels, many self-catering units and apartments, and five caravan parks. For details, phone the Eden Visitor Information Centre on 6496 1953 or 6944 0251. The centre is situated at the corner of Imlay and Mitchell streets and is open daily.

While you're there

Eden has several fishing shows and competitions. The main festival is, appropriately, the Eden Whale Festival, which will be held on November 1-2.