Whale Watching at Gold Coast, Australia

Truthfully, I didn't give whale watching a thought before visiting Gold Coast. Well, I did some reading on it while preparing for the trip, and I was sure it came up while discussing with my travelmates. I didn't exactly remember how we came to agreement to do this, but I'm glad that we did. 

A view at the wharf

We were early, and spent some time waiting

As we were really internet savvy people, and we loved advanced booking from the Internet, everything was set long before the whale watching day. On that glorious morning, the weather was welcoming as we took a local bus to the wharf, right in the middle of the Surfers Paradise town. 

Alas, it was time to board the boat. We began with safety briefing and some breakfast. There were also seasick pills, since we're going out to the high seas and there'd be some massive waves happening. The crowd was cozy, not too many people it seemed. I guessed they must have limited the number of passengers for each whale watching tour. 

The first part of the boat ride, we passed by the houses by the sea with their own little jetty. We're also shown a house previously owned by Ian Thorpe, the previous world champ swimmer. Well, he hasn't retired then though. 

Ready to go to the high seas

Used to be Ian's ?

Of course one's got to have one's own boat!

 

Err, why not a chopper while you're at it?

Passed by a marina on the way

Kinda felt being in Miami, really. Okay, okay, enough with the fancy homes already. Let's get back to the whales. 

It was one long ride to the open seas, more than an hour I think. Once we reached the target spot, the boat stopped its engine and we waited for signs of the giant mammals. At first, I didn't know what to look out for. It was a challenge noticing them from far, but after getting the hang of it...oh yeah, I saw some whales alright! 

The boat then started its engine back again and slowly approached the area where we saw them last. You see, since whales are mammals they would have to surface from time to time to breathe. And when they come to surface, they usually do a backflip or half a somersault, just for fun ;-) 

Whales love the attention we give them too. So when they're up at the surface, the guide encouraged us to make noises and cheer for them. True enough, some whales responded and did some more flips and turns! This was such an engaging experience. Since the boat was swaying, all photos taken were very blurred and shaky. I resorted to taking videos instead. 

Video 1: The first sighting 

Video 2: The courtship :p 

Suddenly, one whale came close to the boat and did a flip there! There was a big splash. I tried recording it as best as I could but it was too late! All I can say is that I had the chance to see a lifesize whale less that 10 metres away with my very own eyes. The image is embedded forever in my brain. 

So as not to disappoint us, the guide 'gave' us some whale pics to take home. I didn't scan the photo but it looked something like the one below. 

I shall never forget the day a whale flipped and turned just inches before me. A really lovely experience.