Twofold Bay

Twofold Bay is a bay on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. The bay has an area of about 30 square kilometres.Guide to Twofold Bay cruises] Close to North Head is a conspicuous islet, Mewstone Rock. About five km south of the islet is Red Point which forms the southern headland of the bay. Eden and the Port of Eden are located in the bay. Boydtown is to the west of the bay, located on Boydtown Beach which stretches south from the mouth of the Nullica River.

The bay was named by George Bass, for its shape of two bights, when he passed it on his whaleboat voyage to Bass Strait in 1797/8. [cite book| first = Miriam |last = Estensen| title = The Life of George Bass| publisher = Allen and Unwin| year = 2005| id = ISBN 1-74114-130-3| page = page 82] The northern bight is called Calle Calle Bay [Eden Tourist Guide] while the southern bight is known as Nullica Bay.

It is also famous for the "Killers of Eden", the whales which helped a group of whalers in their search for other whales. The best-known of these was Old Tom whose skeleton is preserved in Eden's local museum. [cite book |last = Wellings | first = H.P. | title = Eden and Twofold Bay: Discovery, Early History and Points of Interest 1797-1965| edition = Second Edition | id = ISBN 0-646-29410-5]

History of Twofold Bay

The original inhabitants of the area surrounding Twofold Bay were Aborigines of the Thaua clan of the Yuin nation. [cite news| last =Blaxell |first =Gregory |coauthors = |title =Twofold Bay and Eden | work =Afloat | pages =28 | publisher =Afloat Publications | date =2008-09-01 | url = | accessdate = ] The first recorded visit to the bay by a European was by George Bass. Bass' diaries show that he noted the bay on the south-bound leg of a voyage to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in December 1797 and took shelter in it on the return journey in February, 1798 [4] . Bass named the place where he sheltered "Snug Cove", a name by which the bay is still known [4] .

On October 7 1798 Bass and Matthew Flinders set out from Port Jackson in the "Norfolk" on a voyage to determine whether or not Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania) was attached to the mainland of Australia. Accompanying them on this voyage was the "Nautilus". Two days later a survey of Twofold Bay was commenced. This very accurate survey has required little subsequent modification apart from the addition of water depths and of shore-to-shore distances between important landmarks [4] . They also made their first contact with the local Thaua people .

The bay is mentioned in the logs of many ships which sheltered in it from the storms battering that part of the New South Wales coastline. Some of these ships were shipwrecked in the bay including the "Mary" (1821) and the "Sophia" (1825).

Quarantine Bay, 3km south of Eden, is so named because a sailing ship with a smallpox epidemic amongst the people on board took refuge in this (then) isolated area. Many people died and were buried on shore in a communal grave.

In 1843 Benjamin Boyd purchased land in Twofold Bay with the aim of transporting cattle from the district [5] . Soon afterwards he started to build the Seahorse Inn adjacent to what is now called Boydtown Beach. Boydtown Beach lies on the western shore of Twofold Bay just south of the entrance to the Nullica River, which is located at the southern end of Quarantine Bay. The Seahorse Inn is still used for tourist accommodation. Nearby are the ruins of the church which Ben Boyd had constructed.

Industry

In the mid 2000's two major wharves dominate the south-eastern section of the bay.

The most easterly wharf services the woodchip mill. Usually two ships per month use the wharf. The forestry industry plays a significant role in the region. The Eden woodchip mill is owned by South East Fibre Exports(SEFE), a subsidiary of Japan's biggest paper manufacturer, Nippon Paper Industries. Last year, SEFE exported a million tonnes of native forest chips.Fact|date=April 2008 The mill can only process whole tree logs and cannot process waste wood. The Eden chipmill was Australia's first chipmill and has been vigorously opposed by conservationists for over 35 years. Conservationists argue that woodchipping not only kills millions of native animals and birds, it is a major contributor to climate change, however, they are derided by the general public for the interruptions they cause the economy.The second wharf belongs to the Department of Defence and is used by the Navy to service its ships. Parallel to the woodchip mill is a naval munitions storage depot.It is a multi-purpose wharf which allows other vessels, including cruise ships, to also moor at the wharf when the Naval ships are not using it.

Mussel farming occupies the westerly part of the bay off the small peninsular between Cattle Bay and Quarantine Bay.

References

5. "Sydney Herald" 15 March 1843