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SEPTEMBER , 2008 |
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| WHALE WATCHING |
We spent our time at Bundaberg by getting more provisions and having a few stainless steel pieces for various parts of the boat, i.e. the mixing elbows on the engines, welded and/or altered at a small engineering shop. The shop had a dock that was empty and Paul asked if we could tie up at the dock for a few days while the engines were out of service. We offered him much less money than we would have to pay at the marina next door and he accepted. After a few days, when all of the work was completed, we stopped off at the fuel dock at the marina and filled up the diesel tanks. We were quite happy to learn that the price of diesel had dropped in the last few months. We then settled at anchor in our usual spot across from the marina. This was our last evening in Bundaberg. September 6 - 8, 2008 We set off early to cross Hervey Bay. Our friends Bob and Julia, on their catamaran Kinta, met up with us along the way and we planned on spending a few days together in Platypus Bay whale watching. The winds were predicted to be out of the northeast and Bob knew of an anchorage at Moon Point where we could get into “Bridge Gutter” and be quite protected from the wind. We followed Kinta into the narrow, but deeper than we expected, pass and dropped our anchor near a sandbank. Unfortunately, the wind swung around and came out of the west and we spent another rolly night at anchor. The next morning when we were all sleep-deprived and the forecast was now calling for winds out of the northwest, we decided that the best protection would be offered near Coongull Creek between a long sandbank and shore. We had been in that spot several months earlier when Steve and Bettye from Mooloolaba were aboard. At half-tide rising, we hauled anchor and motored around the corner and up the northwestern shore of Fraser Island to our spot. The weather was beautiful – it was now the season of spring in Australia and definitely warmer than the two previous months. We had clear blue skies. We had not seen any whales yet but knew that we needed to get a bit further up into Platypus Bay to see any whale action. That would be later in the week because we were due to pick up Steve and Bettye (from Mooloolaba) in Urangan on Tuesday morning and they would be spending a week aboard. Our few days with Bob and Julia were spent relaxing, walking, shell collecting, fishing, playing boules (bocce) and just enjoying each other’s company immensely. We were making the most of every minute, as we are heading south to Tasmania in November and then crossing to New Zealand for a couple of years. Unless Bob and Julia come and visit us in New Zealand, it will be at least two years before we see them again. |
| We went ashore at 3 p.m. one day and walked for an hour, then played boules for an hour, and stayed to have our sundowners on the beach – just in time to watch a beautiful sunset. Unfortunately, we were eaten alive by sandflies and midgies while we were enjoying ourselves. |  |
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While we were enjoying our sundowner session on the beach on Fraser Island in Platypus Bay, we could see a dingo walking along the beach towards us. There are “beware of dingo” signs all over on Fraser Island and we are always a bit leery of this animal in the wild. This one didn’t come any closer than 15 feet and actually looked like he was posing when Paul pointed the camera at him. Two weeks later, we heard on the news that a dingo on Fraser Island had attacked a three-year old girl. |
We left Coongull Creek at 0900h and sailed 8 miles to the town of Urangan, where we picked up Steve and Bettye for a week’s stay aboard. Again, we knew that this would be a meaningful visit as we would be saying good-bye for a few years. We had a good sail back to Platypus Bay and joined Kinta at anchor at Arch Cliffs, a bit north of Coongull Creek. The next morning we decided to have a leisurely sail up to the northeast corner of Fraser Island, Rooney Point, and watch for whales along the way. We weren’t disappointed… read on…. The Whales of Platypus Bay Our close encounter with a pod of whales back in July while en route to Line Reef, though exciting and scary, paled in comparison to our whale experiences in Platypus Bay. We specifically timed this visit to coincide with the peak of the whale-watching season, which is September for Platypus Bay. Each September the humpback whales congregate in Platypus Bay to nurture and train their newborn calves on how to become a whale. These calves are born in June in the warmer waters of the Whitsunday Islands, approximately 400 nautical miles north of Platypus Bay. Sometime after giving birth the adult whales travel with their young to Platypus Bay. Mother and calf, and occasionally the father, can be easily seen throughout the bay at any time of day – lounging on the surface, surfacing and blowing water 3 metres into the air, slapping their giant pectoral fins on the water as if to say “Hey, I’m here. Look at me. Look at what I can do!”. The “pec slapping” is great fun to watch as the whale rolls over onto his or her side, sticks a giant pec straight up into the air and then brings it slapping down onto the water. There is a flash of white and black, the contrasting colours of the whale’s upper and lower body. Down it comes with a loud splat and a big splash. |
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Here are Bettye and Paul up the mast as we sail along looking for whales. |
We never knew, while we were sitting in the cockpit at the end of the day, when we would be interrupted by one or more whales gliding by the boat, or blowing as close as 10 metres away, or watching a whale breach repeatedly 6 times in the distance as the sun set directly behind it. Definitely magical times! And we wish that you could hear the sounds of the “whale song” coming through the hull of the boat and sounding like a lullaby as we fell asleep in the evening or woke up in the morning. Paul’s most thrilling and terrifying whale encounter occurred while he was alone in the dinghy. Here are his words: “The emotion and images of this encounter will always be with me. It was about 4:30 p.m. and just about Happy Hour when I saw a lot of whale activity about a nautical mile from Bella Via. Everyone else was either showering or already spruced up and no one wanted to join me at that time for the wet, bouncy, high speed dinghy ride out to the whales. That didn’t stop me from going alone. We only go around once, and I am getting as much as I can in my turn around! So, I grabbed our camera, hopped into the dinghy, placed the emergency kill lanyard for the outboard engine around my wrist, and roared off. At 15 knots, it only takes 4 minutes to travel a mile. I positioned the dinghy the required 100 metres away (whale watching rules), in front of the direction in which the pod seemed to be travelling. Once in position I turned the motor off and watched and waited. At first, all that I could see was some splashing off in the distance but then I saw an adult whale and a calf repeatedly breaching and then disappearing for 30 seconds. |
Breaching is the most spectacular of the whale tricks. From down deep the whales rocket themselves straight up and out of the water, crashing down on the surface like a ship dropped from a crane.
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The graceful motion of the tail as the whale disappears into the water.. |
Throughout most of this I was shouting and screaming at the top of my lungs in excitement; like a kid riding an amusement park ride. When I got back to Bella Via I had a difficult time describing what I had just experienced. I simply went, with a big grin on my face like the cat that has swallowed a mouse, straight to the computer to download the pictures that I had taken. Unfortunately, the pictures just don’t capture the size and power of these spectacular creatures.” End of Paul’s account. |
Bob and Julia standing on the bow of Kinta as they watch a whale gracefully dive into the water. |
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One day, after returning from a game of boules on the beach, we came across a pair of giant sea turtles mating on the surface. We watched and photographed this amazing feat of nature from only 20 feet away. After watching for 15 minutes we moved on. Locals told us that the process often goes on for hours. |
Alas, all good things must come to an end. We had to leave Platypus Bay to continue heading south to Brisbane. Luckily, the whales weren’t quite finished with us. While motor sailing we approached a pair of whales and stopped the boat 100 metres away only to have them disappear below the surface. Our wait of anticipation was rewarded when they suddenly resurfaced 20 metres from the boat, with mother and calf swimming happily beside Bella Via, splashing their pectoral fins as if waving goodbye to us, then diving with that graceful wave of their tail. What a great ending to whale watching in Platypus Bay! We continued on to Big Woody Island, at the northern end of the Great Sandy Strait. The weather was looking good to cross the Wide Bay Bar on Monday or Tuesday of the next week and we needed to get closer to the bar in preparation. Bob and Julia came aboard for sundowners that evening and we were all up and ready to set sail at 0600h the next day to take advantage of the tidal flow. September 14, 2008 We had originally planned on stopping at Garry’s Anchorage for the night, however, we were travelling so fast with good winds and over 2 knots of current in our favour, that we decided to continue on to the end of the Strait. By 1400h, we were at anchor at Pelican Point. A look at the most recent weather forecast determined that we should cross the bar the next day, Monday, September 15, and head for Mooloolaba. We had a discussion with Steve and Bettye about their plans. Bettye opted to continue going to Mooloolaba (the home of their boat Jams) with Bella Via and Steve would get a ride with Bob and Julia back to Urangan to pick up his car and drive to Mooloolaba. We had a teary good-bye with Bob and Julia that evening. We had originally hoped that we would be able to stop in Tin Can Bay on this trip and have a tour of their new home (almost finished), however, the painter was hard at work and no one was allowed in. Instead, Steve and Bettye offered to drive us back from Mooloolaba later in the week to see the house. So, with those plans, we were able to delay the final leave taking with Bob and Julia for a few more days. September 15, 2008 Everyone was up at dawn and at 0600h Bob came over in his dinghy and took Steve back to Kinta for the ride into Tin Can Bay and then the drive to Urangan. We raised anchor immediately and, along with Bettye, had a calm Wide Bay Bar crossing and set off for Mooloolaba. The wind didn’t pick up until 1100h and that is when we put up the spinnaker. The wind gradually built throughout the day and we had a wonderful spinnaker ride to Mooloolaba. On the way, since it was a nice flat ride with following seas, Paul barbecued our last package of spareribs for lunch. Bettye was most impressed that one can do things like barbecue lunch while underway on a catamaran. By 1600h, we were at anchor in Mooloolaba in our usual spot just behind Jams. We cleaned up and had a nice dinner on Jams that evening with a recounting of our day of sailing to Steve. September 19, 2008 We had made arrangements during the week to meet Bob and Julia at their new house in Tin Can Bay at 1100h. We set out with Steve and Bettye for the one and a half hour road trip. We had an enjoyable hour touring the new house. Mary didn’t want to leave Australia without seeing the house and now she will be able to visualize Julia in her lovely abode while we are in New Zealand. |
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Here are Bettye, Julia, and Mary standing in the freshly painted kitchen of Bob and Julia’s new house. |
September 20 - 22, 2008 Again, it was time to leave and continue to Brisbane. We had a farewell dinner on the Thursday night on Jams and a tearful good-bye with Steve and Bettye. We had what Mary has called the best sail of the season to Newport Waterways near Brisbane. We put up the spinnaker shortly after leaving Mooloolaba and flew at 8-9 knots down along the east coast of Bribie Island. It was a beautiful day with a cloudless sky. Once we rounded the southern end of Bribie Island and headed into Deception Bay we had to douse the spinnaker due to the new wind angle. We put out the jib (foresail) and still travelled at 8-9 knots across the bay. We went into the first canal at Newport Waterways and settled at anchor at about 1600h. We were there specifically to see our friends Trevor and Sonia. Trevor stopped by on his way home from work and came over for a drink and shared our dinner. Sonia was at an all-night Candlelight Walk for Cancer and we knew that we wouldn’t see her until Sunday or Monday. At mid-morning the next day, Trevor called and invited Paul to go out sailing on his trimaran and Paul eagerly accepted. They had such a good time that they didn’t arrive back at Bella Via until after 1500h. We all agreed, since they were tired from their day on the water, that we wouldn’t get together again until Monday. Sonia picked Mary up the next day and they went into Redcliffe for a coffee and a stop at the grocery store for some fresh fruits and vegetables. At 1700h later that day, Sonia picked us up again and the four of us started the evening off at the local art gallery where we watched an awards presentation for an art competition for 12-18 year olds - a very talented group of young artists. We ended the evening with dinner at Sonia and Trevor’s house and said our good-byes for another couple of years. September 23 - 27, 2008 There was a southeast change forecasted to arrive in the evening and we decided that we better head closer to the canal system, where we would be leaving Bella Via for a month, while the wind was still out of the north. Again, we had a great sail into Moreton Bay and chose to anchor at Lazaret Gutter at the north end of Peel Island. This was comfortable even in that day’s northerly wind. The predicted southeast change came through during the night, which made it a very protected anchorage. The winds were quite strong for the next few days and we spent the time by getting ready to leave the boat and fly home for our daughter’s wedding. September 28, 2008 We motor-sailed from Peel Island for the 8 miles into Aquatic Paradise, a canal system in Moreton Bay and a suburb of Brisbane. We were met by new friends Peter and Ann from Cleopatra who live in the canal across from the pontoon that we have rented for a month. We had morning tea with Peter and Ann aboard Bella Via and dinner at their house that evening. Such is the generosity of the people who we have met in Australia that Peter and Ann offered to drive us to Mary’s cousins’ house (Bill and Brenda) in Graceville on Tuesday. October 1, 2008 We spent the night at Bill and Brenda’s and then flew out of the Brisbane airport on Wednesday morning. That’s it for a month as we will be in North America for our daughter’s wedding. We’ll be back aboard Bella Via in November.
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