One Benefit of Winter Travel

We have chosen to take the Great Ocean Road at the right time of the year. The colder weather has sent fellow Grey Nomads north to warmer regions. That means that it is easy to find places to stay in caravan parks that would be booked out in the Summer months. It also means that some attractions have closed down for the cold months, and that saves some money.

But It is…..

Whale Watching Season

on Victoria’s south western coast.

While travelling from Mount Gambier to our current destination, Warrnambool, we stopped of at Portland for lunch. When we visited the Tourist Information Office we discovered that whales had been sighted in the port that morning and had moved a little further down the coast. They had some spectacular photos of a whale leaping out of the water from earlier in the day. The Melbourne newspapers next had had these same photos on their front page.

We were wondering if as usual we were going to not see the whales this time. We had heard that whales were seen at Port Fairy so we stopped off there to check at the Tourist Information Office. But with the caravan hooked up and running out of time to get to Warrrnabool we did not try to see them on that day.

Today we took the short drive back to Port Fairy to ask if whales were in the area. The helpful staff at the Tourist Information Centre pointed out where they had been sighted, and when we drove there it was obvious that whales were still in the area. There were cars parked all along the foreshore and people with cameras and binoculars everywhere.

The nearest Fish and Chip shop  was doing a roaring trade with several people sharing their chips with the seagulls, even though it was mid afternoon when we pulled in to watch the whales.

These photos were taken of what was most likely a mother and calf, sighted off the beach at Port Fairy.

So that’s one of the things that we hoped to do on this trip ticked off on the checklist.