Entries about tours

Kaikoura has an abundance of sea life just off the coast, and there's lots of opportunities to view them or even get up close and personal! Last time I was in Kaikoura I went whale watching, wandering with seals, and through the lavender gardens, this time I had the chance to check out some dusky dolphins...

The day started with the van picking us up at 5am. Ouch. After getting kitted up with mask/snorkel, wetsuit, fins, etc we watched an introductory video about the dolphins and safety.

Dusky dolphins are generally the most acrobatic of the dolphins and luckily hang out near Kaikoura all year long. Encounter Kaikoura has been in business for over 20 years, and they have all sorts of permits specifying and limiting how many people can be in the water with the dolphins and how many tours they can do. They don't feed the dolphins or encourage them in any way.

They have a general idea of where the dolphins will be hanging out and 'socializing' when we head out on the water, but it takes some time to actually find them. Luckily it was a beautiful, relatively calm, day and the scenery was spectacular. Unlike bottlenose dolphins (and my general thoughts on dolphins) these guys don't have specific pods that they stick too, so you never know how many you'll actually see in one area.

For awhile I was just on deck, watching as everyone else hopped in the water. They told us that we were here to entertain the dolphins. The dolphins didn't have to stick around, they could swim away. There was nothing keeping them there aside from their curiosity, so we had to try to be engaging to keep them around. They suggested diving down, trying to swim with them, (they're so fast though!) and also suggested singing to them. Dolphins live and communicate in a world of sound, so that makes sense. Also it's amazingly entertaining for everyone else around when you try to sing through a snorkel underwater...

After awhile it was my turn to get in the water. I'm not sure how cold the water actually was, but I'd say it's the coldest water I've ever been swimming in! The visibility wasn't the greatest, so you couldn't always see the dolphins coming, and then all of a sudden, one would swim by! They'd usually do a circle around you to check you out, before continuing on, or sticking around for another circle. They certainly weren't afraid of us, and didn't mind getting real close.

I didn't know whether to look under the water or above the surface!

They were so quick of course, I just kind of waved my camera around and hoped I got a picture of one. Compared to the slow swim of the Minke Whales, there was no waiting for these guys to stop for a photo!

I did take two videos that I might as well post, but I'm spinning in circles for the first one, so try not to get dizzy with me! The second one is a little shorter and maybe better. I think I'm talking to the dolphins too, or just making random sounds anyway.

In the end everyone was cold, and some were starting to get seasick so after stopping just to view a large pod of maybe 200 dolphins, we headed back to shore. The jumps and flips always make the dolphins look like they're playing and having fun, and it was neat to be in the water trying to play with them too. I wonder what they thought of us...

There's a lot of different tour companies when it comes to diving the Great Barrier Reef. There's a variety of boats ranging from half day trips to liveaboard multi-day trips with several dives a day, some go to one area, some go to another area, this section of the reef is known for one thing, that section is more popular (does 'more popular' mean over-visited and destroyed?). Some websites advertise that they're more environmentally conscious, while others try to optimize timing (and cost).

If you put too much thought into it, it can become overwhelming very quickly! Although there was a company or two that seemed to have been able to lower the cost and provide more of a budget trip, Anna and I were afraid of what that meant when it came to diving. Too large of a boat with too many people all getting seasick? It was easy to imagine the horror stories we had heard.

So we committed to spending a bit more money in hopes of a better experience. Then I found a company that had a special permit allowing swimmers to be in the water (with snorkel gear) when there were minke whales nearby! Suddenly the question of money didn't seem relevant anymore, how could we turn down the possibility of being in the water with whales?!

We closed our eyes, handed over our credit cards to Deep Sea Divers Den, and let the reality sink in as we booked the trip aboard Taka. We were going diving on the Great Barrier Reef. With whales. Well, with the possibility of seeing whales anyway. We crossed our fingers. Or the Swedish version, we held our thumbs.

We then anxiously counted down the days while we made our way up the rest of the coast towards Cairns. We'd booked the trip almost a month away so that we had better chances of seeing some Minke Whales, since their migration through the Great Barrier Reef is June-August.

So. Fast forward a month of waiting and we were finally on the boat! The trip started in the evening of the first day, with motoring out away from Cairns and towards the Outer Reef and Ribbon Reefs where we'd be doing most of our diving. The crew gave us the rundown of the plan, the boat we were on, and the schedule for each of the days. We'd be aiming to do 5 dives a day, for 3 (very full) days to get as much diving in as possible. We were on the boat a total of 4 nights, but only 3 full days.

Each day we'd wake up to a schedule written up on the whiteboard that looked something like this.

Wake up call
Dive
Breakfast
Dive
Dive
Lunch
Dive
Dinner
Night Dive

It was a pretty flexible schedule allowing for if whales showed up or if weather conditions changed.

They also gave us the minke whale talk, explaining how there was a good chance we'd see them, but they couldn't guarantee it. When a whale is spotted, they'll get another crew member in the water right away, and then if the whale sticks around and is seen again, they'll make the announcement and we can all get suited up into wetsuits and snorkel gear and get in the water with as little splash as possible. We were then required to hold onto the rope that was out, ideally spaced out along it, and try not to move as much as possible. The whales would be curious, but more skeptical is someone is flailing and splashing their fins about.

We all went to bed that first night super excited about the possibilities of what we'd see over the next couple days and yet, not quite ready for that 6am wake up call (or at least I wasn't).

When the wake up call came, it came with the phrase "Wake up. Whales are here." Repeated as they knocked on all our doors.

Wait. What? They're here? No..they're just trying to get us up. That's clever. But maybe. Whales are here?

Although I didn't hurry, I didn't exactly take my time rolling out of bed, throwing on the bathing suit and stuffing contacts in my eyes before heading upstairs. And sure enough, half the people were already in the water, the other half still struggling and hopping about trying to get wetsuits on and masks fitted. The sun wasn't even above the horizon yet, but the whales were here!

There were three whales swimming around us. They'd pass by and then circle back to get another look. It was an incredible feeling to see these guys swim by, and then because they wanted to, swim by again. They stuck around for over an hour, and eventually we were ready for breakfast (and getting cold from just floating) and got out of the water; I'm sure they would have stayed a lot longer if we'd stayed in the water with them.

Minke whales are one of the smallest whales in the baleen whale family, but they can still be up to 35' long. Small for a whale, but still giant when you see them swim by just a few meters away!

After the first whale encounter we were all required to fill out survey information sheets that described our experiences, how many whales we saw, how close they were, any specific behavior we saw, etc. Taka (Deep Sea Diver's Den) is able to have a permit for us to be in the water with the whales under the condition that we are helping 'research' and 'gather data' for the whales, since so little is known about minke whales. Although I didn't really trust my judgment in being able to say the whale was '3' meters away, I certainly did the best I could and was willing to submit any pictures I took of the whales for the researchers to try to identify them based on their coloring.

Some whales were just curious and would swim back and forth, checking us out. One time we were joined by this playful whale that was just having some fun being a whale...

The rest of the trip blurred together of putting wetsuits on and taking wetsuits off, only to put them back on again, diving and whales. I was also doing my Advanced Open Water Certification which meant getting together with other students and discussing the lessons, taking quizzes, and doing specific skills while on the dives to show that we've mastered 'peak performance buoyancy' or 'navigation'. We also did a deep dive where we went down to 90 feet (similar to Adrenaline's Dive).

Anna and I were able to dive together some when I wasn't doing skill dives, which was neat too. We saw turtles, moray eels, cuttlefish, puffer fish, and clown fish. And of course so many other fish that I didn't recognize having never swam with them before.

We also did a couple of night dives as well. Not quite as scary as I thought, but I still wasn't a huge fan of it. Perhaps that's because the first night that we did it, our group ended up getting split up some when someone wasn't paying attention, so then the rest of the dive was just stressful in trying to keep track of everyone and then it's hard to relax and look for lobsters and sharks. The second night we did a 'shark dive' where our plan was to (intentionally) try to find some sharks. No such luck. But I was ok with that; I'd rather see them when it's daylight instead of when they're hunting at night. Other groups seemed to have lots of luck with the night dives, coming back with all sorts of stories of creatures they saw (or fish they saw get eaten). So perhaps I was just always pointing my flashlight in the wrong direction.

One day while we were travelling to the next spot we were joined by some dolphins. That was just amazing. They must have heard the boat in the distance and came RACING over to join us in front of the bow.

There was one special dive that we did as a group...this place was known as Cod Hole, home of the very large and somewhat friendly potato cod. We dove down and settled on the bottom in something resembling a circle with one of the instructors in the middle with a bucket of fish for the potato cod.

I'm not sure why there were no sharks attracted to the chunks of fish that were being thrown through the water for the potato cod, but the instructor went around the circle and fed the fish in front of each of us. The fish didn't seem to care for anything but the food and waited patiently each time for it's snack.

This fish was HUGE! The video of Anna and the fish shows the scale (no pun intended) of the fish.

There was an awesome group of people on the boat (luckily it wasn't even full) and we all got along really well, which was amazing. We'd usually end up sitting wherever there was an open seat available so we got to chat with everyone and there wasn't the annoying clique feeling that some large tour groups end up having (noticed that on my Fraser Island tour). We'd swap dive stories or just travel stories, or even stories of home since people were from all over. At the end of each day we were all exhausted though so we didn't really hang out too much before all heading to bed at the end of each day. Everyone looks out for eachother when they're diving, which leads to a sense of closeness on the boat I guess. No one really bragged about wildlife they saw that other people missed out on. Even the loveable “Shark Boys” that managed to see sharks on 90% of their dives were inviting other people to come dive with them and see a shark because they just always saw a shark.

There were a couple other people doing the Advanced Open Water class but luckily it was a small group.

Towards the end of the trip my ears started to bother me. Nothing major, but I'd certainly irritated it by doing all the diving in quick succession after not diving for a long time. I don't know enough about ears to say what the problem was exactly but just that it felt like I had water in my ear, not quite painful but certainly uncomfortable, and everyone told me I should probably not dive anymore. Only I could make that call and it was a hard decision. I did do one more dive (to complete my Advanced Open Water) but I couldn't enjoy it while worrying about my ears the whole time.

Without a doubt, the highlight on the trip was being able to see the minke whales swim by underwater again and again. And taking a million pictures of them, of course. In the end we ended up seeing 10 whales! In pairs or two or three usually. And they always hung out with us for as long as we were in the water with them, usually over an hour.

I never expected my Great Barrier Reef diving experience would be centered around minke whales, but I'm so glad I was there when they were migrating through and that it worked out that way! Taka was a great boat to be on, with an enthusiastic staff that loved what they did, which always makes a huge difference.

And now for some more whale pictures if you're not tired of them yet...

Photo credit to Anna and myself, but since we swapped and shared cameras, I cannot say who's is who's.

First of all, a huge apology to anyone that cares that this post is almost 3 months overdue! Mostly Cape Trib Connections, I'm sorry! (My main excuse is that someone sat on my computer and the screen cracked. So I couldn't access my pictures and had to carry a broken computer around for awhile before I could get around to fixing it. Sad day.)

There may not be much to do in Cairns aside from go out and party every night at the same 4 or 5 main bars and then sleep off the night before at the lagoon. And repeat.

However, there's a lot of things you can access from Cairns, such as the Great Barrier Reef (just wait, that story is coming next) and Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest. Both of these are a must do when you're in the area, and Cape Tribulation was actually pretty awesome!

Anna and I opted for a tour that seemed the most personal and a smaller group. We also picked one that let us spend the night up in the Daintree Rainforest, there's not really a “town” but a collection of a couple hostels that you can stay at. Unfortunately we only had time to stay one night, but two or three would have been better, if we'd planned it out better (timing and food-wise) and if we'd known how much we'd like it there!

Cape Tribulation was named by James Cook in 1770 when his ship hit a reef, he wasn't in a good mood at that point as shown by other names in the area, including Endeavour Reef and Mount Sorrow. Surrounded by the Daintree Rainforest, which is the oldest rainforest in the world, there's lots to see and do.

We stopped at several lookout points along the way, and our driver / tour guide told us about some of the history and stories along the way.

We went for a brief “rainforest walk” which, though it was on a boardwalk, was still informative on the plants we could see. The guide pointed out some of plants were several years old and still only a meter tall but since a storm had blown down a bunch of trees and opened up the area to sunlight, it was now quickly growing as fast as it could in just a short couple months. The new leaves were still a light / bright green and very obviously new growth from the rest of the plant.

We then got dropped off at our hostel, a cute sprawling place with bungalows that were within walking distance to the beach. After a quick lunch we headed out to the beach and to explore.

Since we had a choice of hostels, not all of us from the bus were at the same hostel but we saw familiar faces as we wandered the beach and nearby boardwalks and paths.

We were warned about crocodiles in the area, and kept a wary eye out for them, and unfortunately avoiding wading in the waters.

When we first crossed this, the tide was out so it was relatively shallow, but still gave us some pause. On our way back it was a lot deeper with the tide coming in and after staring at it for awhile, decided we'd better not and turned around to take the long way back.

This area is particularly special in that it's the only region where two 'world heritage areas' meet, the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.

That night we decided to splurge and do a guided night walk. It was cool to be walking around at night in the forest, but unfortunately we didn't see as many things as I was hoping for. We saw a lizard or two, and could certainly hear owls hooting nearby.

The next morning we were up early, no time to sleep when you're exploring a new area! Though it was tough to drag myself out of bed, I knew if I didn't, Anna would see something cool! Like that time I took a nap and she went and found wild koalas on Magnetic Island...

We met up with a couple of other people from our bus (they also did the night walk) and we went off exploring down a dirt road that eventually led to a trail and a river. Supposedly you could swim here, but we didn't have time and the water was pretty chilly too. Also it definitely looked like crocodile territory!

Luckily we were at the right place at the right time walking down the road, and we were lucky enough to see a cassowary!

I wasn't able to get a good picture of him on my simple point and shoot camera, but this is what they actually look like: (google image)

On the way back, someone suggested we walk along the beach instead of back along the dirt road. Ok sure, that sounds fine. We just have to be back to our hostel in time for the bus back to Cairns (he'd already told us he wasn't going to wait for us if we weren't there).

In the end, the beach wasn't the best way to go back, it ended up being very rocky, to the point where we were climbing over boulders as well. Anna and I felt frustrated and super rushed since we didn't how how long it would take us to get back and we didn't want to miss our bus. It would have been a lot of fun if we'd been able to take our time and enjoy it, chasing crabs and I always love rock scrambles. But this was more 'look out crabs, we're coming through' and then Anna throwing in some Swedish phrases.

We did however make it back to our hostel. And then the bus was late (they apparently tell you an early time on purpose, hmph). Once back on the bus we headed back across the Daintree River, this time on a boat, looking for crocodiles. We managed to spot several of them and learned about a lot of the problems crocodiles are facing. Crocodiles have lots of problems with hunting and baiting in the Northern Territory and other parts of Australia, but luckily they're protected along the Daintree River. (If I'd written this 3 months ago, I could have included the crocodile names, yes they had names since the tour guides see them almost daily and get to know them and where they live, but unfortunately I didn't write them down.)

We also stopped by the Mossman Gorge, and had a little time to wander the trails and explore.

There was a beautiful sunset and moonrise as we headed back into Cairns. I loved our trip with Cape Trib Connections and the combination of freedom to do what we wanted and explore, but the commentary of a guide on the small bus giving us history, information, and stories. I'd highly recommend these guys!

Another 'must-do' as you travel the East Coast of Australia is go sailing in the Whitsundays. Made up of 74 islands, it's simply gorgeous, and the Southern start of the Great Barrier Reef. Featuring one of the purest, whitest beaches in the world, it's the kind of trip you cross your fingers for full sun!

There are many boats and tours to choose from, day trips to overnight or even two or three night trips, from party boats to hopefully non-party boats. Ansley (another American that I met in New Zealand and have kept in contact with) had recommended Ragamuffin (a 3 day, 2 night trip), as that was the one she'd done and had loved it. It's a 53' Admirals Cup yacht, and it looked awesome. Although I did actually choose this one and reserve it, it ended up being a slow week and there wasn't enough people booked for that boat to sail, and I got switched / upgraded to Solway Lass. Built in Holland in 1902, she's a classic tall ship with lots of history and the tour was for 3 days and 3 nights!

We boarded after dinner the first night and motored out of the harbour and into the Whitsundays for a couple hours, before anchoring for the night. Obviously rooms and beds are small, since we're on a boat, but luckily we were only 13 people, on a boat with a capacity to sleep 32. This meant it was mostly 2 people to a room of 4, and gave us a little more room than if it'd been packed. The boat itself is 127' including the bow sprit, and 20' beam, two masts and 12 sails (though the most we had set were 3).

Hmm, I can't believe I didn't take any pictures below or of the berths!

Since it was dark when we left the harbour, we were anxious to wake up and see where we were. We woke up to this...

Our first stop of the day was Whitehaven Beach. The pristine, super white, famous beach I mentioned before. We anchored on the other side of the island and hiked over to the beach. We got to wear these awesome, sexy, stinger suits for the water since it was still stinger season. There are some intense jellyfish (such as the box jellyfish and the irukandji) that you don't want to mess with.

The clouds and sun alternated, providing us with everything from storm clouds (complete with rain!) to sunshine and blue sky. It was great to see the difference the sun made, all in just a half an hour!

After we'd spent some time at the beach, we headed up to a lookout point. Unfortunately, there were tons of people about and everyone was so focused on 'getting that perfect picture' that no one seemed aware that everyone else was trying to do the same thing. Which led to lots of frustrated people. We were also on a time schedule because of the tides, we had to get back to the beach or we wouldn't be able to get back to the boat!

That afternoon we set the sails and the sun came out for a lovely afternoon sail. Off the bowsprit was a net you could hang out on, though it wasn't the most comfortable, it was certainly the most awesome place to hang out, and that's where I spent most of my time!

Our second day was the snorkeling (and diving if you added that extra) day. I'd been very torn with the diving option, it was additional money, but I'd heard really good things about the area (again, from Ansley). I did decide not to dive, and save that for when I'm farther north, and from what everyone who went diving said, I totally made the right call. Apparently there was barely any visibility and they didn't even see many fish.

We did do a bunch of snorkeling and saw tons of fish. The fish were definitely used to people, some boats (including ours) were even feeding them (at least it was “Great Barrier Reef Approved Fish Food”). I was a little disappointed in the state of the coral, it didn't look so good. My guess was it was too popular of a place with all the boats going there and people not used to having fins continually got too close. Our boat didn't even give out fins to swim with, saying most people damage the coral with them.

That afternoon we went to another snorkeling spot, but this one had less visibility and we didn't really see much. By that point we were also getting cold and a lot of us didn't stay in the water very long.

Our third, and final day, involved a bush walk up to a lookout and then an afternoon sail back to the harbour. The weather didn't really cooperate that day and was pretty overcast and rainy. But still such an awesome trip! And of course I felt like I was on a boat still that night and even felt like I was swaying the next day

When travelling in Australia, particularly along the east coast, it's a must to see Fraser Island. While I didn't want to miss out on Fraser Island, I was skeptical after hearing some of the stories about the different companies that run tours. You can do anything from a day tour to a three day tour, ride in a bus or do a tag along 4wd tour (where your group is split into several vehicles, depending on the size and everyone can take a turn driving). I certainly didn't want to do a day tour and the bus was definitely out, but there were several tag along tours to choose from. I turned to TripAdvisor to see if anything stood out. Many of the companies recommended by travel agents (such as Wicked Travel had mixed reviews, however one company immediately stood out. Dropbear Adventures. Out of the 188 reviews on tripadvisor, 181 were excellent, 6 were 'very good' and only 1 negative review. I was astonished by the reviews and immediately decided to go with them. Best decision ever.

From being picked up at the hostel by the owner himself, to how smoothly the paperwork, safetly introduction video and vehicles were sorted, I was impressed.

As quick as possible we all packed our stuff up in the cars and left Noosa for a two hour drive from Noosa to Rainbow Beach, where we'd catch the ferry to Fraser Island. This 2 hour drive was a good opportunity to chat with the people you were in the car with and start getting to know some of the people you'd be spending the next 3 days with. Unfortunately, I ended up in a car made up entirely of Swiss who all knew each other and though they tried to speak English, they inevitably slipped back and I was left on my own. The following days some people switched around in cars and so I was able to be in different cars.

Once we got to Rainbow beach we hopped on the ferry and saw our first glimpse of Fraser Island.

It was a short ferry ride and soon enough we were driving on the sand, where all normal road rules still apply, such as speed limits and driving on the left.

I had no idea Fraser Island is as big as it is, it's almost 80 miles long! The eastern beach goes most of the length of the island and is the main driving area. It seems to go on forever!

Our first stop was our campsite so we could change and have lunch. One of the reasons I'd chose Dropbear Adventures was that food was included, which is a nice change for backpackers.

We were right next to the ocean, just a sand dune separating us from the water and you could always hear the waves.

Our tents were already set up with sleeping pads and sand already in them. You just had to claim one, but make sure you didn't keep any of your belongings in the tent when you weren't in it, dingoes are very present on the island and never hesitate to steal a tent if they think there's something good in it.

Our afternoon adventure was to Lake Wabby, one of the many freshwater lakes on the island.

The water was chilly, but in a refreshing kind of way.

We headed back to camp for dinner, drinks, and then I spent the night laying on the beach looking up at the sky. The stars were absolutely incredible!

And it was so great being so close to the ocean, but unfortunately due to stingers, sharks, and rips, you couldn't swim in it.

But you could watch the sunrise!

We did a lot of driving that next day, since it was our only full day on the island.

And spent some time at Eli Creek, another freshwater spring (where our camp drinking water came from).

We went to the Champagne Pools, where water washes over the rocks and there's lots of little fish in the water.

We hiked up Indian Head, which was a sacred area for the Aboriginals and had gorgeous views, we even saw a shark swim by down below!

There's a famous shipwreck on the island, called the Maheno. You can read more about it here.

Fraser Island wouldn't be complete without some dingoes!

Our last day a storm came in, but we were headed inland for some bush driving and a rainforest walk anyway. Though we did stop at Lake Mckenzie which certainly would have been better had it been warm and sunny.

It wouldn't be Australia without a ridiculous sign.

We took a walk in a rainforest and there was another freshwater stream, this one almost difficult to see as it flowed over the sand.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Fraser and head back on the ferry.

Though since I was headed all the way back to Noosa, my trip wasn't done. After we dropped some people off we headed for another beach drive along Rainbow Beach.

Right at the end Mark got stuck and we all got out to push and eventually had to tow him out. It would have been disappointing if no one had gotten stuck the whole trip, so this was good timing. And he was very stuck.

But we pulled him out, no problem.

We took another ferry and watched the sunset and then we were all ready to be home after a very long three days.

I would highly recommend Dropbear Adventures to everyone. It's an unforgettable trip!

The following photos courtesy of Dropbear.