Flookin' 'ell!

I woke up before Sam today, well she had a bit to drink the night before so she needed a lay in. I cleared the decking from the storm the night before and put on a pot of coffee. 

I even called my mum while sat out in the sun. I had to knock Sam's door at 9 am as we were due to go whale watching today and it was a fair drive to get there. We arrived a little before noon and had time for a spot of lunch and sat waiting for the boat to load passengers.

I was a little dubious about the trip after all whales are huge wild animals with the whole ocean to wander in so as we boarded I settled in to not expecting to see a great deal. We finally set off and before we were even ten minutes into the trip we saw a pod of dolphins playing in the waves. They doubled back and started jumping through the ship's wake. We circled them a couple of times so people could get a good look and then set out to sea. We were informed by the tour guide that it would be about an hour till we get to our destination, so I settled in on the bow of the boat, enjoying the sun, soft breeze and calm waters as we travelled, still dubious about what we may or may not see. As we approached the area we noticed spotter planes and a few spotter boats lingering and then we saw a tell tale sign in the middle distance of a puff of water as a whale exhaled on the surface. I jumped up camera in hand to snap anything that I may see. But we waited.... And waited, watching the ocean until whoosh, another exhale of water from the ocean surface and we saw the back of two humpback whales. It's at this point I should apologise for lack of pictures on my iPad, wait till I get back to Albany and I'll post some pics from my camera. We watched for some time as two whales, a mum and a baby surfaced, exhaled and dove down again. Giving us some wonderful views of their humps and tails as they headed back to the depths to feed. 

I had set my camera to continuously snap hoping to get some good shots and I was not disappointed. The boat started to move off and the guide informed us we were heading off to see a basking shark! This I really wanted to see, the second biggest fish in the ocean, I kept my fingers crossed for a good sighting. Sure enough, as we arrived we saw the huge dorsal fin and rear dorsal of the fish cutting through the water. I tried to get some shots but was unable to get anything meaningful. We got closer still and the shark cut in front of the ship and swam right along side us. I looked into the water and saw this magnificent animal in full under the water. It was huge. I knew they were big but it's only when you are this close do you realise how big. He had his mouth wide open, skimming microscopic food from the water. I was in awe. It circled the boat a couple of times but I just couldn't get a good shot as the camera couldn't see through the water like I could, my sunglasses were helping to see through the surface. 

I turned to Sam with a huge grin on my face as the boat moved off again, this time to see more humpbacks. This time, there was a mother, a calf and another adult all in one area. I put my camera away and decided I had already got some great shots and now wanted to appreciate these animals without looking through a view finder. We arrived at the spot where spotter boats already were and as soon as we got there the three whales surfaced, almost surrounding us. This time they got real close, displaying their backs and tales for us as if they knew what we wanted to see. People were moving from one side of the boat to the other, trying to catch a look at these animals as they rose and dove. Then the mum and calf surfaced right along side the boat, spraying the people on the side with exhaled water and startling many. We hung about for a while enjoying the whales till the guide said it was time to head back but the mother and calf had one final show for us. Surfacing just ahead of the boat, they slowly swam along side and we peered into the clear waters and could see their heads, mouths, fins and whole body through the water as they both just glided by. The deck was a wash with whoops and squeals, especially from Those who could peer down and see the whale's eye. I can only imagine what she could see as she peered up through the water at us peering down at her. 

Alas, it was time to head back, so we sailed back into harbour, everyone talking furiously about what they had seen. I spoke to the resident camera man, who makes DVDs of your specific trip and sends them out to you. I ordered a copy as he said he got some excellent shots of the basking shark. So that should be waiting for me when I get home.

The trip wasn't over yet and as if Mother Nature was just trying to eek out a little more for us, we saw a few seals gliding through the water. I was half expecting a great white to pick one off as we watched but alas, not today. All in all, this trip was amazing and really put to bed my doubts of seeing anything. It turns out Sam has done this a few times and it's rarer to see nothing at all but by all accounts this was an exceptional trip. 

We drove back to the cottage. I sometimes think I drive Sam mad with my blabbering but today I had every reason to chatter away. I saw a damn shark! We finished off last night's pizza and had a chocolate brownie ice cream sundae before we headed off to the beach. By this time it was 6 o'clock and the water was still delightfully warm. I had been in need of a dip all day and it was really refreshing to go for an ocean swim. I even tried putting up my kite but the wind had died down and I wasn't as good as I used to be, that or I wasn't used to using such a small kite. So it went up, done a few turns, fell out of the wind window and crashed into the ground. We packed up and headed home in time to watch the sun set. I have to say, it was a pretty amazing sunset, across the river, with the geese all swimming, so look out for pics of that when I get back. Sorry for the lack of pictures on this part of the blog. 

We were getting a bit peckish so, once the sun dipped down we found a local beach style bar that was playing some live music and ordered some food. Sam had a dozen oysters which frankly looked like something you'd find in a hanky rather than on a dinner plate. How anyone can eat them I'll never know. The crowd seemed in good spirits but by this time we were quite tired so headed back. We sat outside and stargazed, using my stargazing app on my iPad we found the plough and were able to point out Jupiter and Venus in the night sky, shining like two bright pin pricks in the clear sky. We were, by now, yawning heavily, and we turned in for the night. Another great day on the Cape.