Having a Whale of a Time with Family

Saturday, 17 September to Sunday, 25 September 2022

We had a day and a half to get the boat ready before the arrival on Sunday afternoon of our son Josh, Joanne and our granddaughter Charlotte. We emptied the third cabin (our storage room) to give Charlotte her own cabin which she decorated with some stickers of sea life we hoped to see.

Room for Charlotte, Doug the polar bear and several dolls

On Monday, we left the marina and headed out in search of whales. No sightings, but we had a nice swim at Moon Point where we anchored for the night. On Tuesday we had an early start and motored around to Coongul Creek then headed into the bay where we found a pod of 3 whales. We followed them for about an hour as they cruised along the beach before heading in for lunch and a swim at Arch Cliffs before returning to Coongul Creek for the night.

On Wednesday, we saw whales in the bay while having breakfast so headed out again. Josh is a keen photographer and was keen to snap that iconic photo of a whale breaching. We found another pod that we followed and watched people swimming off the back of a whale watch boat as the whales swam by. Sadly no whales breaching.

Back at Coongul Creek we found some soldier crabs to show Charlotte before a final night at Moon Point. 

Thursday was changeover day, with the departure of our guests and the arrival of  our eldest son, Ben. We headed out on Friday morning to Coongul Creek again and this time saw a whale breaching in the distance. We headed towards the mother and calf and stopped 100m away. A few breaths and then they dived down out of sight. As we waited to see if they were going to reappear, the calf suddenly breached about 50 m abeam of us. It then breached 3 more times in succession which we managed to get on film.

It was amazing to see and I was so sorry Josh and family had missed it. These 2 whales entertained us and a couple of whale boats that joined us for over an hour. Fin slaps from the mother and lots of breaches from the calf. By far the best whale experience we have had. Back to the marina on Sunday to drop Ben off and prepare for the last leg home.

Mother and calf enjoying Hervey Bay