Eden to Towamba River

Sometimes when events don't go as planned, they turn out even better than expected. This stage provided such an experience. We had originally intended to cross Twofold Bay by boat, but having tried everyone from the harbour master to the charter operator to the fisherman's association, we could not find a boat to take us to the southern side of the bay. Nothing for it but to walk around the perimeter of the bay, which we did, and which gave us the opportunity to stay in a cabin in a beautiful bush setting overlooking the Towamba River, providing an experience of the South Coast that we may otherwise have missed. More of that later.

We started our stage by walking across the back streets of Eden to Cattle Wharf and picking up a local track that followed the shoreline of the bay. Across the water a large bulk chip carrier was moored at the wharf of the chip mill. Wood-chipping remains a controversial industry and has seen confrontation between environmentalists and forestry workers. It highlights some of the ongoing tensions over land-use on the South Coast.

Continuing on, we crossed small beaches and followed the low cliff lines, past the rafts of mussel farms, until the track ended at the local yacht club at Quarantine Bay.

View over the Cattle Wharf to Eden Harbour

Large bulk chip carrier being loaded at the chip mill wharf
on the southern side of Twofold Bay

Part of the rocky northern shore of Twofold Bay

Mount Imlay overlooking mussel rafts in Twofold Bay

Yachts at Quarantine Bay

Rock formations at the western end of the bay

From here we picked our way around the rocks of one headland, then headed inland to follow a track to the Nullica River Bridge on the Prince's Highway. Crossing this, we quickly left the highway to return to Boydtown Beach, which we followed down to the Seahorse Inn, built in the 1840s by Ben Boyd as a base for his planned whaling, timber and pastoral empire.

Boyd's venture failed, his town remains largely undeveloped and Eden has become the principal centre on Twofold Bay. Nonetheless his name remains attached to many places in the area – most curiously Ben Boyd National Park is named in honour of someone who would most likely have cut down the trees for timber or transformed it into pastures.

The Seahorse Inn built in the 1840s and currently being renovated

Old hut ruins in the bush

From Boydtown, we headed up over a wooded hill on a dirt road, where we saw for the first time a pair of red-tailed black cockatoos. Descending the hill, the road faded away to a track and eventually vanished near the ruins of an old shed. Crossing a fence line, we picked our way through the trees to a dry sandy creek bed, which led us out to the Towamba River, a tidal river at the south-western corner of Twofold Bay.

Dry sandy creek bed near Kiah Inlet

The Towamba River - the cabins are
on the hill at the rear

At this point, our passage seemed blocked, as our side of the river was steep with dense understorey and vines in the tall eucalypt forest and the deep channel of the river ran along side it. We scrambled up the steep bank and, to our great relief, found a track leading along the edge. This track led us directly to the Kiah River Cabins high on a bend above the Towamba River. and 4 km in from Twofold Bay. We later learnt that our host, Neil, had personally cut this walking track along the river, for which we were very grateful.

These cabins, crafted from stone and local timbers, have floor to ceiling glass windows looking over a grassy flat directly down the Towamba River toward Twofold Bay. Tall eucalypts lining the valleys of the river and creeks running into it completed the peaceful and secluded bush setting in which we found ourselves. It was the perfect place to “get away from it all” and we made a mental note to return here one day with a kayak to get to know this beautiful river and valley even better.

Tree-lined banks of the Towamba

View from the Kiah River cabins

Late evening over the Towamba River

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Stage 33 - Eden to the Towamba River