Eden Whale Festival Photos

Eden whale festival is on this weekend, and we had the usual parade through the main street. The weather was great and the parade was good value, with vintage cars, trucks, old Harleys (with old riders, grin) and so much more.





The kids had fun watching, and collecting lollies which were thrown from the floats and vehicles.





On the front of this old truck it said "Click go the years", how true!



Sorry St. Joseph's school, my camera didn't do what it should and I've got no photo, but Eden Primary did very well. That poor kid waddled all the way! Well done penguin boy!



Mermaids and more from Eden Primary, above.



I'm not sure who these were, with the black and orange, maybe the dragon boat ladies.



The Sea Scouts looked pretty happy.



What would a parade be without bagpipes?



It's great to see Eden so alive, this must be the most exciting day of the year around here! After the parade passed, everyone walked down the hill to the wharf for the stalls and rides.



The Defence Jobs stall drew a lot of people.



The Dragon Boat ladies did their thing.



This little croc is 4 years old, and his owner says that he is allowed to keep him until he reaches a size of 1.2 meters, at which point he must be handed back to the crocodile farm. He is keeping his croc small by feeding him enough to keep him happy, but not so much that he will grow fast.



Check out the carpet python slithering down the lady!



Spray on tattoos again, at the Campbell-Page Youth Centre stall.



Nice tattoo!



The kids were very happy to see that ride again!



The ride is over, but they will go back to do it again in the dark, when the fireworks go off this evening, woo hoo!

It rained mud in Eden today

Sydney had dust storms today, and I think we were lucky that it rained here instead. I awoke to a strangely yellow sky, and looked out to find the mailbox coated in mud and my doggie friend's water a very strange colour!

Down at the wharf, our usually pristine bay looked like a mud puddle and the sky was not much better. Such a strange and dismal feeling.

Smoky skies in Eden today

With bush fires blazing all around the country, Eden got it's share of smoke today. Above, a smoky sunset this evening at Aslings's Beach. Below, sunrise this morning.
Smoke from fires burning near Wyndham was high over Eden yesterday afternoon, below.

Chilli wine jelly! Yum!

The farmers market was on at the Uniting Church today, so I stopped in and found these wonderful chilli products, including Chilli Wine Jelly, of all things... so sweet and nice. The chillies are made by Disaster Bay Chillies. I'd seen their products at the deli and assumed they were from the north coast, but no, they are local, organic, and made from local produce as well. In fact, Pam, the lady who was selling the chillies, was the one who supplied the lemons to go into them.

Snow, and it's late spring!

Early yesterday morning I drove to Nimmitabel, which is half-way to Canberra and only an hour from the snowfields. At the top of the mountain just a few kilometers before Nimmitabel, it suddenly began to snow. So lovely, big fat flakes swirling down... Within minutes it looked like Christmas in the northern hemisphere.

Tragedy at Tathra - a day in the news

Last night at Tathra (about 40 minutes drive north of Eden, just south of Bega), a young father jumped off the wharf and drowned while attempting to save his sons. It's a very sad story. I went to Tathra as chauffeur for my friend Phil, who is the local cameraman for WIN news, though this time he went in his capacity as photographer for the Daily Telegraph.

It's not much fun covering such a story, being surrounded by sadness all day. It's as if the elements reflected the feelings of those present, because it rained and the wind blew all day long.

There wasn't much to see, just an empty wharf with a few hopeful seagulls, their feathers disarranged by the wind.

Sara from the Eden Magnet came, and interviewed the Anglican minister who was providing free counseling.

News people came from far and wide. The Canberra Times was represented, and even Denham Hitchcock and Paul Collins from the Sydney networks were present, as well as the ABC crew.

The police came and had a look, but what was there to see?

Some of the relatives and friends of the family were upset at the presence of reporters. I heard that some inappropriate questions were asked, but I could see that a many of the news people really did care, and felt sad at what had happened.

The one bright spark in the day was the little 3 year old grandson of the cafe owner. Such a beautiful reminder that life does go on.

My heart goes out to the young woman who has lost her partner and children in one terrible blow.

Artists of Eden

During the Whale Festival, some of the local artists took over a vacant shop and displayed their work. It was a real pleasure to walk around and see the different works.
The bright grevillea and parrot are by Andrew Fraser.
I think the rocks are by Ida Akkerman. The rocks of Eden are beautiful and varied, it was good to see that someone else enjoys them too...

I think the bright flowers above are by Lisa Meredith. Below are two more by Andrew Fraser - the boats at the wharf, and the pelican.
Other artists include Rae Bingham, Di Swane and Elizabeth Cameron. Sorry, I don't know who did the quilting.
Just click on the photos to see more detail...