Even though it was getting towards the end of the season before the Humpback whales head south to the Antarctic for the summer, Maureen and I together with our daughter Alison, her partner Matt, and our 2 year old grandson Matari took a whale watching trip from Hervey Bay, and what a trip it was.

Goodbye

Hervey Bay, known as the whale watching capital of the world, is a huge bay in South East Queensland, Australia, protected from the ravages of the Pacific Ocean by the world famous Fraser Island. This World Heritage site, 123 kms long and 23 kms wide is the largest sand island in the world and creates a resting place for the whales to relax and play preparing for their 4,000 km journey ahead.

We took the afternoon trip with Australia’s longest established whale watch operators Hervey Bay Whale Watch on their boat Quick Cat II.

It started with a light lunch and fruit, cakes and freshly brewed tea and coffee were provided on the return trip. The weather was beautiful with clear blue skies and the temperature was approaching 30C with clear blue calm waters.

Quick Cat II is a fast and stable catamaran which quickly got us to the whale watching area and we were soon surrounded by pods of huge Humpbacked whales, many of whom were mothers and their calves, spouting jets of water high into the air and thrashing about no more than a few metres from our boat. It was almost as if they were putting on a show for us.

An added bonus was the trip goes alongside Fraser Island so there was always something to see on the 45 minute journey including 4 wheel safaris on the beach and Sea Eagles circling above.

The owners Brian and Jill Ferry made us very welcome and the skipper Brent and crew member Tony certainly know their stuff finding the whale pods and and providing a commentary about the whales and their behaviours, and Tony videoed the trip so if your camera skills aren’t up to scratch you can still have something to show your friends back home.

With the Skipper Brent.

Before leaving England to visit our daughter and her family in Australia we had whale watching on our agenda and along with seeing our family this was one of the highlights of our visit.

Hervey Bay Whale Watch http://www.herveybaywhalewatch.com.au/ is a multi award winning company with 40 awards, which has been family owned and operated for more than 25 years, and on the day of our trip they had just received their latest award for wheelchair access. Quick Cat II is a spotlessly clean boat designed for whale watching. Wheelchairs and prams can easily move around the main deck and we found it perfectly safe for an active 2 year old. It also has a bar so we have no hesitation in recommending it.

If you get to make the trip, say hello to Brian, Jill and the crew and tell them Cliff from traveljunkies recommended you.

So if whale watching is on your bucket list or if you are visiting Australia, try to take a trip to Hervey Bay, just a few hours North of Brisbane, to see one of the greatest shows on earth. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks guys, we had a great day.

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Please leave a comment and tell us about your whale watching experince. Thank you

Cliff Chapman
www.traveljunkies.com
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