#TheTailOfTheWhale

So an interesting insight into Australia vs England's attitude towards the Royal family is summed up on this one day of the year - the Queen's birthday! Australia get a public holiday... England does not!
So usually, one takes these opportunities to drink ample amounts of wine and stumble around eventually feeling a bit sick. We managed to achieve the same results, with no alcohol what so ever!

Whale watching!
The whales travel to Australia from Antarctica to breed in the warmer waters of Queensland as their calves don't have enough blubber to survive in the freezing water. This means they travel on average 5000km to get a bit of whaley action! That is dedication!

James joined us as we made our way to Darling Harbour to board our "Go Whale Watching" boat. As we were waiting to board, the skipper began to shout at us. "3 meter swell this afternoon, if you want to cancel now's your chance! It's like spending two and a half hours on a roller coaster!"
No one turned back.
The engine roared and we were soon zipping out of the harbour towards the open seas. Some really irritating girls sat behind us, all squealing and shrill; James suggested offering to take a group photo of them near the edge of the boat and then pushing them overboard. It wasn't long before we started to feel the effects of the swell, the boat rose high and then crashed down making my stomach churn uncomfortably. I kept staring at the horizon and let the cool air sooth any growing nausea.

After what felt like a too-long pirate ship ride, we arrived in open ocean. A pod of whales had been spotted up ahead, so we raced to check it out for ourselves. No luck! I had low expectations of this trip, big waves obscuring any view of spraying, the previous boat had only seen a measly 3 whales, "humph!" I thought. "Maybe I'll just rebook another time on my last week in Aus." Then...
Splash!
Out in the distance we saw the tell-tale sign of a whale, the spray of misty water shooting up in the air. The boat zoomed full speed ahead and then came to a halt where we could see the whale's spray between us and another boat.

Before long we were pointing and calling frequently as more and more sprays showed themselves and gigantic dorsal fins were slowly exposed. As quickly as it came, the whales vanished out of sight but the disappointment didn't last long. An enormous pod of about fifty dolphins began to surround our boat. They zoomed beneath the boat and dove gracefully through the waves, sometimes two or three at a time. A couple of dolphins jumped through a wave, twisting and turning to land dramatically in the water below. As we watched them,

the whale's splash returned not too far from the dolphin's playground. The skipper told us how the dolphins and whales often play together and hoped it might encourage a couple of them to breach.

It didn't take long, 25 tonnes of whale leapt out of the water and crashed back down creating an almighty splash. We waited and then he did it again, and again! His enormous body rising high into the air, it takes him only 3 wags of his tail to create enough power to thrust himself up like that... smash! White waves bubbled and sprouted like a volcano around him. The skipper explained that he thought it might be a calf from last year's breeding as he wasn't yet full sized. An adult humpback can weigh up to 45 tonnes!
We watched them coming nearer and nearer, at one point we thought they might come up close to our boat but unfortunately, they had other ideas and we were out of time. As we turned our boat and headed back one of the whales flashed its tail as if it were waving us goodbye!

On the way back it looked as if the boat had been transformed into a ward for the sick and dying. Green faced people lay in the foetal position while pale faces threw up into paper bags. At one point the captain shouted, "Anyone feeling sick with your face in a paper bag, take your face out the bag and go and look at some whales!" But I don't think many of them followed his advice. I asked James what had happened to the group of annoying girls and then, there they were, colourless zombies, huddled together in joint misery as each one clutched a sick bag.

Luckily, we all felt fine and I happily enjoyed drinking the complimentary tea and fruit cake on offer, the grey faces looked at me with envy in their red, teary eyes before continuing to wretch and shake.

Once we had landed I begged James to go to the gift shop with me so I could buy a whale, he reminded me that I am "Not a child!" but was dragged reluctantly along anyway! I found the most amazing whale -unicorn or 'whale-corn' keychain and knew it was the one. James asked the man at the counter if my purchase was usually bought by children instead of adults to which he politely stated that it was a very popular item that has been, and I quote, "flying off the shelves!" I think this just proves how hip and down with the kidz I am!
The best part is, when you press its body it makes a magical musical sound... (imagine me with the extreme happy face emoji and James with an exasperated face emoji). Haters gonna hate!