Monday, I arranged another tour, this time to do some whale watching in the ocean off Surfer's Paradise, Gold Coast. I wasn't sure I was going to do this, but so many people here have told me I had to make it down to Gold Coast, a city on the water which I've been told is Australia's answer to Miami; a very popular place for Australians to spend holidays. I'm very glad I decided to make the trip.
Surfer's Paradise is actually a suburb of Gold Coast, and the drive there took about 90 minutes. When we arrived I had time to walk around a bit before getting on the boat, and I took a few pictures. My impression was that this was indeed a beautiful, albeit very touristy, beach town. The water was gorgeous and crystal clear, and the views from the buildings lining the water must be incredible.
Once on the boat, the day really began to be wonderful. Our guides were fairly young guys, extremely knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the protection of the whales and all the creatures in the ocean. It took about 45 minutes to get from where the boat was docked out to the open ocean, and along the way they pointed out some beautiful homes belonging to many wealthy and famous Australians such as Ian Thorpe (Olympic swimmer), and non-Australians like Jackie Chan. The whole trip out to the ocean was scenic and beautiful, but I just wanted to get out to the ocean, hoping to see at least one whale.
As soon as we made it out to the ocean, one of our guides spotted a whale in the distance. We moved closer, and spent most of the next two hours watching this fella - he was simply gorgeous! Apparently, more than 200 whales a day pass through this area of the ocean during the migration season; they're headed back to Antarctica after coming North to mate and breed. According to one of our guides, this particular whale was young, maybe one or two years old, judging from his smaller size. He was awesome. It was tough to get good pics, because he'd go under for a while, then come up and breach, and if the camera wasn't ready, we'd all miss him. Unfortunately, I saw a lot that I didn't get to record. However, at one point, he came up and swam right next to the boat - so I was able to snap a few pics of him before the afternoon ended.
After watching him play for a few hours and enjoying the gorgeous ocean air, we had to turn around and head back to Surfer's. Our guides were sorry we didn't get to see more ocean life - sharks or turtles - though we did see dolphins in the distance on the way back. I wasn't disappointed though. I'd never seen a whale before, and holy cow I won't soon forget how unbelievably awesome it was. I couldn't stop smiling on the way back - so grateful for another incredible afternoon in this most beautiful country.
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