This week I’ve travelled to a town that has a rich maritime heritage, particularly associated with the whaling industry of yesteryear. Pretty much surrounded by national park on three sides and the Pacific Ocean on the other, the bay that the town nestles on is one of the deepest natural harbours in the southern hemisphere. Although known to the local indigenous people for thousands of years, the bay wasn’t mapped until 1798 by George Bass and Mathew Flinders.
Although whalers seeking the Southern Right Whale (so named because it was the ‘right’ whale for their commercial purposes) were in the area in the late 18th century, it wasn’t permanently settled until 1828, with whaling being the main attraction and the first shore whaling station on mainland Australia was established. Remains of this industry are still clearly visible along the “Whale Trail” today, and the legend of Old Tom, a killer whale who herded smaller whales into the bay, is one of the main attractions at the local museum. In fact, even today, whaling is a primary industry of the town, not hunting them but spotting them as the humpbacks pass through on their migratory routes and you can see them from the shore if you’re lucky.
The discovery of gold at Kiandra in the NSW high country led to the town becoming a port bringing many to the area in search of elusive and mythical riches. While that foundered when the rush ended in 1866, and whaling in the 1920s, commercial fisherman used the port extensively and now, with the extension of the wharf just completed, it is a haven for large cruise ships like the Queen Elizabeth. Here’s a photo I took on an earlier trip here.
