A Whale of a Day June 23, 2006
Breakfast in the town of Margaret River was followed by a pleasant drive (man we were glad weren’t hiking) down to Augusta, which is the town nearest to Cape Leeuwin. Holly had booked us on a whale watching cruise. We boarded the boat along with 30 other souls and headed down the Blackwood River and into Flinders Bay. We crossed the shallow sandbar on the high tide but the captain still had to pick his way to avoid finding bottom. He explained that the mouth of the river had shifted 2 kilometers in the last 15 years and had shallowed considerably.
The day was beautiful, the seas calm and the temperature cool but not cold. The first whales were spotted within 5 minutes of clearing the bar and we headed in their direction. Like most developed countries, Australia does not allow guide boats to approach whales closer than 100 meters, but if the whales come to you it’s OK. Our captain may have pushed this rule a bit. Humpbacks and Southern Right Whales migrate along this coast between May and December making this one of the world’s longest whale watching seasons. For the next 2 hours we sat mesmerized as several groups of whales surfaced and interacted with our boat and themselves. Like our experience with the Menke whales in the Coral Sea, this was a near religious experience. The difference was in the size. These whales were 2-3 times larger than the Menkes, but just as graceful. They are beautiful to watch and as corny as it sounds it is hard not to feel a kinship to these creatures when you are close to them and we enjoyed the experience immensely.
After another careful crossing of the sandbar, during which 20 or so of the passengers had to stand at the bow in order to bring up the stern and allow the props to clear, we headed back to the river and the dock. We disembarked and headed up the hill to town where we lunched at a local café overlooking the river.
After lunch we drove out to Cape Leeuwin and the oldest lighthouse in Australian mainland; an impressive structure that was built in 1895-96. We of course took the tour and climbed the 165 steps to the top while listening to our guide give the history of the lighthouse and the area. (As a note our guide’s father was in the oil business and the family had lived in Houston from 1983 until 1995. Our guide, although Australian, was a graduate of Texas A&M.) The views were fantastic from the top. Holly, now being a seasoned whale lookout, immediately spotted a large whale breeching about a mile south of the light house. She watched through binoculars as the whale breached 5 times. Spectacular!
We left the lighthouse and headed back to Margaret River taking several scenic detours along the way. The last, being just before dark, led us through a forest of huge gum trees. For half an hour we wound our way through the woods and a dirt road, passing only one other car the entire time.
We drove into town to the grocery and restocked our breakfast tucker for next few days. We then ended the day on a perfect note by driving down to the beach and doing a bit of star gazing. There were no lights that we could see and the sky was clear. By that I mean no buildings, no clouds, no pollution, only millions of stars. The Milky Way shown brightly and my favorite constellation, the Southern Cross, was high overhead.
The day was beautiful, the seas calm and the temperature cool but not cold. The first whales were spotted within 5 minutes of clearing the bar and we headed in their direction. Like most developed countries, Australia does not allow guide boats to approach whales closer than 100 meters, but if the whales come to you it’s OK. Our captain may have pushed this rule a bit. Humpbacks and Southern Right Whales migrate along this coast between May and December making this one of the world’s longest whale watching seasons. For the next 2 hours we sat mesmerized as several groups of whales surfaced and interacted with our boat and themselves. Like our experience with the Menke whales in the Coral Sea, this was a near religious experience. The difference was in the size. These whales were 2-3 times larger than the Menkes, but just as graceful. They are beautiful to watch and as corny as it sounds it is hard not to feel a kinship to these creatures when you are close to them and we enjoyed the experience immensely.
After another careful crossing of the sandbar, during which 20 or so of the passengers had to stand at the bow in order to bring up the stern and allow the props to clear, we headed back to the river and the dock. We disembarked and headed up the hill to town where we lunched at a local café overlooking the river.
After lunch we drove out to Cape Leeuwin and the oldest lighthouse in Australian mainland; an impressive structure that was built in 1895-96. We of course took the tour and climbed the 165 steps to the top while listening to our guide give the history of the lighthouse and the area. (As a note our guide’s father was in the oil business and the family had lived in Houston from 1983 until 1995. Our guide, although Australian, was a graduate of Texas A&M.) The views were fantastic from the top. Holly, now being a seasoned whale lookout, immediately spotted a large whale breeching about a mile south of the light house. She watched through binoculars as the whale breached 5 times. Spectacular!
We left the lighthouse and headed back to Margaret River taking several scenic detours along the way. The last, being just before dark, led us through a forest of huge gum trees. For half an hour we wound our way through the woods and a dirt road, passing only one other car the entire time.
We drove into town to the grocery and restocked our breakfast tucker for next few days. We then ended the day on a perfect note by driving down to the beach and doing a bit of star gazing. There were no lights that we could see and the sky was clear. By that I mean no buildings, no clouds, no pollution, only millions of stars. The Milky Way shown brightly and my favorite constellation, the Southern Cross, was high overhead.
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 6:22 AM
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