Monday, July 18, 2011

A Whaling Did I Go

I went whale watching on Saturday. Overcast, raining, and cold but what a morning. We headed out at eight aboard Quick Cat II with Captain Brian at the helm, Sarah, Dave and Mel in the galley serving breakfast and me as excited as a kid in a lolly shop. Too excited to eat.

I donned my sailing jacket but it proved to be as handy as a wooden leg in a bush fire. I was saturated by the time we went through the Box Channel on our way up into Platypus Bay but it did not stop me from standing out on the front deck scanning the horizon. We found whales not far up in the bay. We found them with a bit of help from a boatie who was moored off Fraser Island. He saw them swim pass and alerted us by radio.

It was a pod of three sub adults but one broke away so we followed it for a while before we headed back to spend some time with the other two. And did they live up to my expectations of a ‘Nike’ whale. No Fear! They swam around and under and up and down. They gave everyone a workout onboard as we went from the bow to the stern from port to starboard. They were, I am sure doing it on purpose, just to see us move as quick as we could.

They worked their magic. Before long they had made all of us onboard forget about being a bit damp and a bit cold (who said it never rains in Queensland!) We were drawn into their world of carefree playing. It just goes to show you don’t have to have perfect conditions to have a awesome day on the water when you go whale watching in Hervey Bay with the pioneers of whale watching Brian and Jill Perry.

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