Day nineteen. Fowlers Bay. 20.7.26

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Up early today as Meg, Mary and I are doing the Whale
watching tour with EP Cruises at 9:30.

We need to check whether we can stay an extra night OR pack up before 9:30. Cameras charged and binocs ready.
Thankfully we were able to stay the extra night, she just had to reshuffle as others were coming in.

Over to the jetty at 9:30. Met by Adam who explained the deckhand is crook and he is helping Rod out today. He is a friend visiting from Melbourne. Turns out he is a firey at Eastern Hill station.

We finally boarded the boat at 10:30 for our 2 hour tour. Pretty much promised no whales as the season is different, the currents are doing different things and the Southern Right Whales and calves are not coming into Fowlers Bay yet.

Anyway off we went with 10 people and a baby on board.

Adam and Rod were excited to hear about our whale sighting off the point yesterday.

We headed around the bay in search of anything. We had some dolphins playing alongside for a little bit.

We came across a Sunfish – prehistoric looking thing – the world’s largest bony fish. It was feeding on the Timble or Jimble? Jelly fish. We sat near it for ages watching it come to the surface to suck in jellyfish. It is a pancake shaped fish with a tall shark like dorsal fin top and bottom. Rod estimated it would be 4 metres from tip of top fin to tip of bottom. It was incredible to see. Evidently they are rarely seen and we are lucky to see one today. We hung around for sometime as it continued to flop about at the surface to feed on the Jellyfish that are in the bay.

After spending time with the sunfish we headed across the bay to Point Fowler to see if we could find some whales. There was a bit of a swell but the ride was smooth.

The weather allowed us to go about 3 nautical miles off the coast. We saw some whale blows and kept moving towards them – they were humpbacks.

Rod put a hydrophone in the 50m deep water and we could hear whales within 30 kilometres – it was very cool hearing the whales ‘talking’.

On the return to Fowlers Bay we motored right into the cliffs at Fowlers Point (below where we had stood and watched whales and dolphins yesterday) – the waves, water, dolphins and rocks shelves at the cliff base were fascinating to see.

Further around we found more of the Fur Seals we saw yesterday and Sea lions a bit further around. Some lounging on the beach and rocks and others had clambered higher up onto ledges quite high above the water.

Some cormorants on the point and that was it. Despite few whales, the trip was three hours well spent.

Then back to base. Stef and Phil
came to meet the boat, they had been busy swapping brake controllers back over and airing up all the tyres again.

We lunched at the kiosk at Caravan Park reception. Hot dogs, pies and toasties were enjoyed. Coffee and milkshakes were good too.

After lunch we took a drive out to Point Adieu. I went with Mary and Phil. It was a good drive to see more of the coastline. A memorial to two young fisherman whose fishing vessel the ‘Turton Star’ was lost in violent seas.

The wave action was intriguing with various hues of blue and coming in at all angles. Splashing pure white up the cliffs.
Driving along the cliffs quite close to the edge at times is a bit hairy when you see how undercut they are.
We returned home and skipped nibbles, opting for cuppas with a biccie. Tea of leftover Green Thai Chicken curry, followed by mango peaches with ice cream for Mary and I, two fruits for Meg. Stef and Phil were like two kids in a candy shop with their Lions Fruit Cake and custard (2 helpings)

Then time for dishes at the camp kitchen, then showers and bed.