Whale watching island adventure

Hi everybody! It’s nice to back on campus for the new semester. How’s everybody’s semester break? Some of you must have some awesome holiday trips, didn’t you?? I had one wonderful trip with one of our Explore bloggers – Alina! Guys, that trip were amazing!! Because that was my first time I saw a real whale in my life! Now let me share my whale watching experience with all of you, it is the perfect holiday adventure for anyone!

Alina and I were so excited , both of us were looking forward to get on the cruise and see that big living thing – the whale!

We met in front of Marina Mirage around 8:30am. That morning was so peaceful and harmonious around the wharf — all of the yachts docked at the wharf, the water surface shiny like a mirror under the morning sun, the whole wharf under the relaxing atmosphere, the only busy thing you can see are the excited people like us who are waiting for the boarding.

9:00am, we got on board and it was hard to find, as you can see from the picture, whale watching on the Gold Coast is very popular! Whale watching is a popular activity each year during July and September. 1600+ humpback whales make their way through Queensland’s water during their migration north from the icy waters of Antarctica. The Gold Coast offers locals and tourists some of the best opportunities to head out on the water to get up close to these magnificent creatures during whale watching season.

The catamaran took us a short distance from Main Beach, out to the front of Surfers Paradise, to see the Humpback. Look at the amazing view at Surfers Paradise! Normally we just stay on the Surfers Paradise to look at the ocean, now it’s opposite, I’m watching Surfers. And look at the picture, half city were full of sunshine, another side were having a cloudy sky. What an amazing phenomenon!

The weather was very windy, the wind blew my scarf everywhere, even touching the person next to me. Oops! That poor person always move because of my naughty scarf, and I had to apologize to him all the time. We also see those hard working rowers! Since the Commonwealth Games, people are excited by those athletes who get awards on the podium, but we might not pay attention on their daily exercise. I always believe “The hardest we work, the luckiest we will get in the future!” The new semester has already started. Guys, we need to work hard on this last semester if you didn’t get good results from last semester, remember, we get what we paid. Same as those athletes, they can get the medal because they’re extremely hard working.

After 45 minutes, finally we saw our first whale! It was a new born baby Humpback, we were so lucky!!!!! And that new baby was just born; it was on the next day’s news as well! The Humpback mum was teaching this new born spirit how to swim and get used to the new environment. Can you believe whales are mammalian? They are using lungs to breath. How amazing is that? Even though the weather was windy, people still came out from inside onto the deck to watch this new born spirit and took photos! I am apologising here I didn’t get a good photo of the baby whale, only the tail.

Around 1 hour, we head back to the departure point! I thought we had finished our tour; however Alina told me, we still have a McLarens Landing tour and a free BBQ lunch after this! Oh, yeah! What a surprise!

McLarens Landing is a great day out for friends or with family. It is located on the western side of South Stradbroke Island. On this island we can see the full splendour of Australia’s wildlife and the live music playing all the time. After we arrived, there were more surprise were waiting for us: beach volleyball, beach cricket, darts, segway safaris, 4WD tours and even a seaplane! However, as it was too windy, we didn’t get to do any water sports. We finally made a decision to have an island walk after the BBQ lunch! It took us 1 and half hours to walk the whole island. Look at me, I was extremely exhausted with my UGG boots! Normally that boot was my favourite shoes in winter, but on that day walking on the beach, no, that was a disaster! All of the sand came into my soft woollen boots and it was really hard to walk, but we still had a lot of fun!

At other side of the island, we saw a totally different ocean view! When we found that beach, all of tide was gone; the beautiful view totally attracted everyone. For some people who have their own boats, they can have camping just beside of the beach. On the way back, we found some wallabies in the bush, they were so adorable. And we also found they have their own “Communication Waste and Recycling Centre” and power station, the water on the island is recycled from the rain which is non-potable water, however, there still have few people living on the island, I’m wondering how can they living there without the portable water? At the end of the walking, we found it actually pretty fun! It’s like a short life summary, you only feel satisfied if you got the surprise after the hard working. 🙂

3:45pm, we finished our island tour, this time is the real time to go back home. It was an unforgettable day out and the perfect Gold Coast attraction for families, couples and friends. The best thing I got from that day is “The hardest we work, the luckiest we will get.” Alina and I were the only group of people that went to the other side of the island, and it was only us who saw the amazing secret beach! The walking was hard but the view we got was really special and amazing. I recommend whale watching and the island tour to all uni friends – perfect for your next holiday adventure! Have a good semester mates!

– Nikki