Of Whales and Bobbing Boats!

Hello, hello!! (Used as an alternative to g’day at the moment!)

Today dawned much clearer than the past several days, so we thought we’d high-tail it out early for our morning walk. Long-ish walk to the beach (which shows in some of the first pictures) but just lovely…helped, to be sure, by the massive amount of insect repellant we are now putting on – and DON’T forget the tops and backs of both ears!! Much dryer today, which is nice, with a lovely breeze. So, down to the beach and a clamber over the rocks, then back to the condo for breakfast.

It was so lovely that we decided that today would be a good day for the whale watching cruise out of Coffs Harbour. Had to move quickly to shower and change, but were out on the road by 8:45 a.m., stopping first at the local mall to pick up Kwells (the Australian equivalent of Dramamine or Bonine), then on to the jetty.

Lovely boat, two decks, very friendly crew; probably about 25 people in all heading out. And boy, was it ROUGH! As we were bobbing around on the waves, the captain explained that it often is too rough to go far, but that we’d see how today went. And there was a whale! BIG, very playful guy; lots of fluke slaps and waves for quite a long time! Then, as we got closer, he disappeared! Figure maybe he was shy…a bit later, we were intercepted by 6 or 8 common dolphins; really beautiful creatures! I think this is the first time I’ve seen dolphins that weren’t all grey! These were lovely tan and brown, and they were having a great time playing in the bow wave at the front of the boat; lots of jumping and weaving back and forth! Really NEAT! Finally headed in to shore about noon, just in time for lunch. (To be honest, there were some folks who hadn’t prepared properly … no Kwells! – who were very ill, because as I say, it was really rough, and we were bobbing up and down continually. Fortunately, we were all OK … better living through chemistry, I always say!)

Once on land, we headed back to the mall to pick up groceries for dinner tonight, and to have some lunch. We found a small coffee-type shop that did great sandwiches and salads. I had philo dough pastry around chicken and sun-dried tomato pesto; it was great! And R had chicken salad, which also looked really good. We’ve decided that if weather permits, we’re going to have a picnic at the beach tomorrow, so bought picnic supplies; Woolworth’s does have a lovely deli section; we’ll see how the cheeses turn out!

Then back to the condo, as everyone wanted naps – either the wind on the ocean, or the results of the Kwells, or a combination of the two…had a nice nap and up for the 5:30 p.m. “social hour” with other visitors here at the resort. By this time, the weather was definitely changing! And getting colder! For the first time since we arrived in Oz, R and I both changed into our sweatpants and sweaters. Went over to the rec room (very nice; big-screen TV, pool table and other amenities) for wine and munchies. Met several of the folks staying this week; all very nice people, and the wine was good! Back here about 6:30 p.m. and dinner, compliments of Marg, was about 7; curried pork with roasted potatoes and carrots and broccoli. Excellent! And boy, does that curry make the condo smell good! R has now retired (only for a power nap, but I’m thinking he might even sleep all the way through!) and I am blogging, and listening to the wind really whip around the resort. It has already blown the front door closed twice, and our bedroom door once. Will be interesting to see what kind of day tomorrow is!

But, regardless of anything else, tomorrow is Melbourne Cup day. If the importance of this isn’t readily apparent to you, don’t worry – we’re here and we didn’t get it! Seems like this is a very, very important horse race held every November on a Tuesday. I think it must be comparable to the Kentucky Derby! At any rate, a group of guests will be gathering tomorrow afternoon at the rec center; BYO-drink and a munchie to share, and rumor has it that there may even be some betting going on! This will certainly be an occasion; I will keep you all informed!

So, on that note, I’m heading off to bed. Even with a nice nap, that air was bracing (and of course we didn’t bring jackets…) and I think I can manage to go to sleep with no problems!

More later! Much love,

m