Hervey Bay, Qld

Today we went out on a half-day whale watching tour aboard Whalesong. This is a big luxury twin hulled, purpose built whale watching boat. Just a shame for them that there were only 11 paying guests instead of sixty, but good for us! They downstairs saloon has deep plush pile seating and a big bar, where they served us a better than average (for boat tours) luncheon while we made our way out from Hervey Bay marina to Fraser Island. The weather is still overcast and howling winds, whipping the ocean up into a reasonable swell and very choppy. This boat just went at it full speed ahead, crashing through the waves and spraying huge plumes of water right down the windward side. Some went outside to be in the wind and ocean spray, I thought it decidedly more pleasant to watch through the windows from the comfort of my lounge.

After about 40 minutes, we entered the lee of Fraser Island which meant smoother sailing and it wasn’t long before we had our first pod in our sights.

As is always the way, the whales give one big spectacular breach without notice straight away and of course we all missed it with our snappers. After that it’s a game to try and point your camera at the bit of water you think they will come out of next, put it on auto with continuous snapping and hope for the best. In all I think we followed about five different pods, but there were many others being shadowed by the other whale boats. We had all but turned for home when the pair of juveniles we were watching decided to come over to us and take a look. It’s such a thrill to have one of these creatures come up close to your boat and it’s only then that you get a full appreciation f just how big they are. These were toddlers and they were massive swimming alongside the hull or diving gracefully under and up the other side. Finally they left us but just as they did, they gave a parting display of heads out of the water and tail waving. Fantastic.

We took almost 300 pictures between us and I culled them down to 10, and even then I had to Photoshop them to make them more than a black spot in a sea of blue.

Fabulous day out though, got back home pretty tired and decided pizza would be the go for dinner. It’s still windy, with occasional drifts of rain, but not cold, which is something.