When your day is blown away by whales in Hervey Bay!

Since our last blog we travelled ‘quite a distance’ from Mackay to Hervey Bay. On the way we had intended on stopping into the towns of 1770 and Bundaberg, however in the end we calculated that we did not have enough time and preferred not to rush through them. In the end we decided to skip them all together.

In our long drive south towards Brisbane we did have a pit stop in the small coastal town of Tanum Sands. We searched for somewhere for lunch and stumbled upon this delicious restaurant; RockSalt. It was one of the only places open at the time, but in fact it also served amazing food and we definitely pigged out a little.

With some sustenance to keep us going, we all climbed back in the car and headed south. When we arrived in Hervey Bay, we located the local caravan park in the suburb of Point Vernon, just in the outskirts of town, and booked ourselves in for the night.

On our drive to the town we had booked a whale tour for the next day in Hervey Bay, just off the coast of Fraser Island. So the next day we woke up quite early, leaving our tent and washing out, to catch the courtesy bus to the boat.

We arrived at the Habour and boarded the Spirit of Hervey Bay boat excited for the tour. Chris and Annette had not been on a whale tour before, or seen them in fact so this was an exciting day!

And the tour did not disappoint! After a short sail out into the bay, our captain located a mum and her baby not far off the Fraser Island coast. The mum was teaching her baby how to jump and slap her fins, which for us looked spectacular.

From there we literally stumbled alongside whales and their babies every few seconds! Seriously they were everywhere and they were absolutely stunning to witness! In addition to a serious number of whales, we also saw dolphins and even a turtle popped up for some air right in front of our boat which was amazing!

We were on the top deck which gave us an amazing view when we were far and close to the whales. It was even more spectacular when the babies got curious and came to inspect the boat.

In total we were on the boat for around 4-5 hours and during that time it was filled with sights of whales. We saw them cruising along, teaching their young some tricks, and even jumping out of the water.

On our way back into the bay, under the warm sun Alex and I actually fell asleep and were captured, thank you Chris! #cute.

Back on dry land we headed back to the caravan park to pack away our tents and now dry clothes. The rest of the day seemed boring in comparison to the hours we spent on the boat. An absolutely amazing experience we all enjoyed and would recommend to anyone visiting Hervey Bay. We were fortunate that we were there in the middle of peak season which of course contributed to the number of whales we saw, that would be only one consideration if visiting!

That evening we found the first bush camp for Chris and Annette to try. It was just outside the town of Gympie and next to the highway like most free camps.

We had a sick set up though and cooked an amazing bbq we all enjoyed.

This campsite was in fact our last night camping with Chris and Annette. We had taken them camping in some amazing places; in numerous exciting and interesting caravan parks, on some beautiful coast right on the beach, and now a free camp next to the highway. It may not have been the most spectacular location for camping, but they got a glimpse into what a number of our nights camping are like. We hoped they enjoyed it! But in the end how can you not enjoy a good bbq, some well set up lights thank you Chris, and good company!

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