Thar she blows!

Posted on by Thor

Terry and I took a walk along the beach in Eden Australia to go bird watching. We were looking for a trail that cut off into the woods. Her birding book said this was a great spot to see local birds. We had seen Goffins Cockatoos and other parrots right at the apartment at Eagle Heights. I looked out at the ocean and spotted a column of mist. It was a whale, actually a mother and child. They were no more than 100 yards off shore. Excited, Terry got out her binoculars to get a closer look. It was a cold and very breezy day. After I took a quick look through the binoculars, I found a tree that cut the wind a bit.

I knew Terry was in her zone, when whale watching, so I did a quick sketch. We guessed that the mother must have been teaching the child how to feed in the bay’s relatively calm waters.  In town, the siren sounded, announcing that whales had been sighted. We were proud that we had spotted the pair before the experts. We had visited a spotting station manned by a volunteer on top of a cliff. He keeps track of all the nautical traffic that enters and leaves the bay. It was raining when we were there, and he was nice enough to invite us up into the tower to look at the vista. To pass the time, he scanned the ocean horizon for whales. He claimed that he could spot whale blows from miles away. He would see one and then hand me his binoculars to look. When I looked I wouldn’t see a thing. Spotting these two whales so close to shore therefor was quite rewarding. Whales don’t make great models however. They submerge and stay hidden under water far too long.

At Eagle Heights still looking for whales.

Posted on by Thor

When the whale watching catamaran pulled into Eden Australia‘s dock, I rushed down the gangway, thankful to have solid ground under my feet. I sat on a park bench and my wife Terry went to talk to the crew of the whale watching boat. The ground still swayed under my feet. I put my head in my hands and sighed. It would take a while to recover. Amazingly, Terry wanted to go out on the boat again for their second cruise of the day. The boat wasn’t full and she wanted a closer view. They didn’t charge her for her second time on board.

I was thankful for the time to recover. I thought of sketching the boats in the dock but I wasn’t up to the task. After maybe an hour of sitting like a zombie, I stood up and decided to walk over to a small cafe to get something back in my stomach. Locals gossiped with their dogs at their feet. After lunch I returned to the bench and waited for Terry to return. She got off the boat excited to have seen another whale, or perhaps the same one at another location on his route.

That night back at Eagle Heights, Terry sat vigil watching for whales in the bay. I had no desire to look out over the water, so I sat on the couch and sketched. Dusk turned to night and the stars came out. I imagine the stars must be different in the southern hemisphere but I never took the time to identify the constellations. I needed rest. The room still swayed slightly.

We spend our wedding anniversary in Eden Australia.

Posted on by Thor

Our wedding anniversary was on October 19th and we spent the day making domestic preparations. We found the town supermarket and got essentials like Cheerios and milk for breakfast. We picked up some pre baked barbeque as well for dinner that night. The Eagle Heights apartment  in Eden, Australia had a full kitchen along with a microwave, so we cooked our food in minutes. I sat on the couch and used my tablet to sketch Terry making plans for the next day. We planned to go out on a charter boat to finally see some whales up close.

We were both still jet lagged and the drive down from Sydney had taken all day, so we were exhausted. On social media, hundreds of people might wish you happy birthday, but wedding anniversary’s are quiet introspective mile stones. There was a TV and an assortment of movies but it was never turned on. The apartment had two bedrooms and we used them both. I fell asleep in seconds.

Eden is the place to go for whale watching.

Posted on by Thor

From Sydney Australia, Terry and I rented a car and drove south to Eden. It was a full days drive. Australia is deceptively large. We stayed at Eagle Heights (2 Yule Street, Eden NSW 2551, Australia) which is perched right on the edge of cliffs over looking the bay. From our little patio you could look out over the expanse of water. I love the twisted ways that trees grow when they are affected by salty winds. A gazebo offered a telescope in case whales were spotted. Terry becomes incredibly patient when wild life viewing. We never did spot whales from our cliff perch but we might have spotted blow spouts which are the fine mists created when whales exhale. The spouts were so far out that they might have just been sea mist.

At the foot of the hill there was a place where we ordered fish and chips for our first dinner. It was the best fish and chips I had ever tasted. Exhausted we immediately drifted off to sleep. I believe this sketch was done the next day, very early in the morning as the sun rose. Just beyond that fence is a steep drop to the bay. Waves crashed the rocks that had spilled into the water. We had come to Eden to see whales and come hell or high water we would find them. The town has a siren that fires off any time whales are spotted in the bay. It was a rare instance where we hoped to hear a siren blaze. From October 31 to November 2 this quaint fishing village is home to the annual Eden Whale Festival. The festival is celebrating its 19th year in 2015 and will combine art, street
theatre, film, music, exploration, seafood and local produce along with
good old fashioned festival fun. Terry and I missed the festival by a week, but it sounds like a good reason to go back. Our time was divided between bird watching, whale watching and the occasional sketch.