Whale Watching & Camel Riding

Day 2: Port Stephens day trip to watch some whales aboard a luxurious catamaran in Nelson's Bay, and camel riding around the sand dunes and along the beach of Anna Bay.

Port Stephens is nearly three hours north of UNSW. But we had a great guide for the day, Tristan, who had a strong Sydney accent, much to Josh's liking. First on the day was camel riding. We stopped at a beach with sand dunes for as far as the eye could see. The options were either sliding on sand dunes or riding camels - unfortunately, there wasn't time for both. Josh and I opted for the camels. After a quick walk around the beach, we snapped some pictures with our respective dromodaries (mine was named Sid, I can't remember Josh's) and got on the saddles. The instructions were: when the camel stands up, lean back and hold on. So I leaned back and held on. They didn't tell me anything about this giant animal making it feel like the earth was shaking! But it was pretty sweet, the big guy getting up and all.

Then, since we asked a lot of questions along our ride, we got to do about a 45-minute circle. The last ten minutes or so was on the beach, where our camels waded through four or five inches of water. The waves had nothing on these guys. What I thought was hilarious was that the camels made no effort not to splash - it was splash central up in there.

The Australian who was leading our camels told us some interesting stuff about our particular group. He was in the business of racing camels. And not only that, but Daisy, the third camel in the pack, was the fastest camel in Australia for the past two years running! We were riding with a champion in our midst.

After the camel riding, it was a twenty minute drive to Nelson's Bay. Josh and I grabbed some sea sickness pills, just to be on the safe side, and some lunch. Looking to stick to Australian traditions, we each bought a meat pie. Thinking perhaps it might be ultra-Australian, I got the kangaroo teryaki. It was awful... But primarily, I think, because of the gravy, leeks, and mushroom, or whatever else was in it.

Then it was all aboard Ives' catamaran for a leisurely afternoon's whale watching! His guarantee, our French skipper, was that if we didn't see a whale, we would all get a voucher for another cruise. He personally guaranteed, though, that our chances of a free ride were very slim. In fact, within fifteen minutes of being out on the water, we had already spotted some whales! It was so cool. Two whales, which were swimming at the surface and even jumping out of the water from time to time.

Since the cruise was three hours long, we also saw a pack of dolphins and three seals, amidst the beautiful islands, rock crevasses, and open seas. Loads of people were sleeping inside the ship, as they'd become sick from the waves - 'twas good thinking on Josh's part to buy those sea sickness pills.

All in all, a pretty spectacular day, I'd say.

#camels #whalewatching #portstephen