Wednesday, February 15, 2023 - Eden

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Wednesday, February 15, 2023 – Eden 

We are in the little town of Eden, Australia today. We are even able to dock here. So many of these smaller ports are tender ports for us. 

Today we are taking the “included” tour which is a 3-hour bus ride. We have been warned that we will be transported to 3 local villages by the local school bus drivers. They will drop us off and possibly a different driver will be picking us up at the appointed time. We wonder if we will be on school busses. 

As it turned out, the warning was not quite accurate. The busses are normal tour busses, so they have been constructed for adults, not children. Although we must note that “tour” busses are designed to be comfortable for someone that is about 6 feet tall but has very short legs. We also had a guide that would be with us part of the way and our driver was staying with us the entire time. 

Our first stop was at the local Whaling Museum. A very nicely done small museum about the days this port’s emphasis was on whaling. The whales they were after were mostly blue whales. There were also Orcas in the area that developed a symbiotic attachment to the whalers. The Orcas would drive a blue whale into the bay and harass it until it tired. Then the whalers would finish off the whale and leave it for the Orcas. The Orcas would eat only the lips and the tongue. When they were done, the whalers would pull the whale to the beach and harvest what they wanted. Everybody won except the blue whales. 

Next we headed for the nearby village of Pambula. As we were leaving Eden, we saw some kangaroos at a mobile home park just off the highway. The town of Pambula has a population of about 1,000, with little shops and eateries along its main street. We weren’t interested in shopping so found some coffee and an almond croissant, then headed back to the pick-up point. 

The next village on our tour was Merimbula. Merimbula is a little larger and is a very popular local tourist destination. We had learned in advance that oysters might be had in Merimbula. At the Tourist Office, we asked for instructions on where and were given very precise directions to a local seafood market. At dozen small oysters were $26 AUS, which turned out to be about $18 USD. The man in the market gave us a couple of lemon wedges and a couple of forks and suggested a picnic bench along the beach. It took us about 3 minutes to slurp those oysters. They are the first oysters we’ve had on this trip and thoroughly enjoyed them. 

Time to head back to the ship. As we exited the bus, we could hear fun music that seemed to be coming from the ship. As we got closer, many of the staff had gathered on the dock to welcome us home. There were 75-100 personnel from various departments having a blast dancing to the music and clapping for all the returning passengers. They were also passing out cocktails.