Short Break to Eden

This weekend Australians celebrated 'Australia Day' which appears to be growing bigger every year (and perhaps ever more jingoistic). It's nice to wave a flag, but to get yourself an Australian tattoo seems....hmmm.

Anyway, it meant that we got Monday off as a public holiday which allowed us to take a short break to the South Coast. We hadn't been as far as Eden before, usually spending our time around Canberran's favourite haunts of small towns around Batemans Bay.

Eden is a small fishing town whose wealth was born out of the whaling industry in the 1850s and is now quite a pretty* little coastal town about 3 hours drive from Canberra.

We stayed at a small holiday park (Eden Gateway) which was excellently equipped for the kids, with a great playground, pool (10 seconds walk from our cabin) and jumping pillow. The kids always love bunkbeds too! 

We spent a lot of time on the nearby beaches and ventured down to the interesting Boyds Town about 15 minutes out of Eden where we drank milkshake at the (posh) Seahorse Inn then swam in the warm sea. The beach in Boyds Town was fantastic - a really wide arc of beach which was really shallow and with only small waves - the kids loved it.

For lunch we enjoyed freshly caught fish and chips (I ate Grenadier fish?) and enjoyed the general peace and tranquility of the place incredible to me, given that  this was school holidays, on a public holiday in a pretty town with sandy beaches....

We did have one rainy afternoon where we scurried back to our cabin and watched the decidedly dubious (from an animal rights point of view!) 'Milo and Otis' on a free DVD loaned from the park.

On our drive home we stopped off at Bega, famed for its (regretably mass produced) cheese. It was interesting as it was a big factory which had clearly bought a lot of wealth to the town but it wasn't aiming to win any prizes for the quality of its cheeses - just a deal with the supermarkets, still it was interesting to see the place.

I'm sure we'll be back to Eden again - perhaps for a longer stay next time.

fun in the pool

Audrey (wearing her Wolves t-shirt) overlooking Yalumgo Cove

On the beach by Rotoract Park

Hardly a space to lay a towel!

Just so crowded

The beach at Boyds Town

Amy with the Seahorse Inn behind her

Eli running from the waves

Eli working on his hook shot (this time at the particularly busy Aslings Beach)

Eli and Audrey encounter a cow at Bega cheese factory

Eli loves his cuddles

Eden is not pretty in a "cobbledy-stone-streets" type of way like Lymington or Whitby in the UK but certainly holds its own with a nice harbour and stunning (empty beaches). It was a lovely place and certainly has none of the tackiness of a Great Yarmouth or the "step-outside-and-I'll-punch-you-in-the-face-edness" of Rhyll.