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We've had a wonderful day of whale watching here in Hermanus. It's only a shame we can't stay longer because it is a beautiful spot. Yesterday morning, after checking out the city centre of Stellenbosch we drove to a few different wineries that mum had chosen who supposedly had the sweet wines she liked. Some did, some didn't but she managed to find a couple she liked enough to buy. She's going to have fun drinking them before we get on a plane!! It did drizzle with rain yesterday morning and it was overcast for most of the day which was a shame because Stellenbosch is in a beautiful setting surrounded by vineyards and mountains.
We left around 4pm for our drive to Hermanus down Route 44. It hugged the coast so there was more beautiful scenery to check out but it started to get pretty windy. We stopped quickly at the penguin colony at Betty's Bay but almost got blown away so didn't go and see them. Driving along the main road, we stopped so I could get out and take a photo of the water because the wind was just whipping away at it. Getting out of the car was fun... I was worried the wind was going to take the door off the car. In the end I had to get mum to pass me the camera out the window as it was safer than trying to get out of the car with it. I walked around the car and then almost got blown backwards the wind was so strong. We have since been told there were gusts of around 50kms p/h. It was nuts. I've never felt wind that strong before. I got back in the car and mum started laughing at me and that was the end of me, I got the giggles as well. We were laughing so hard we had to find somewhere to stop for a toilet.
I saw a sign for Kleinmond so turned off and we stopped at a cafe which was right on the water. We ordered a hot chocolate and then looking out the window there was a whale and then the next thing I knew, it was breaching, and it did it about 5 times. What a great pit stop. As much as we would have liked to stay we had to continue to Hermanus to get to the backpackers. Hermanus is known as the best place in the world for land based whale watching. False Bay is well known for the whales coming in close to shore and that they did. There is a 10km walking path along the cliff if you are up for it.
We cooked some dinner and had an early night, going to sleep to the sound of the wind still gusting away. Woke up this morning and thankfully couldn't hear the wind. I was hoping to go sea kayaking and there would have been no chance yesterday but I was in luck for today so booked it for 11.30am.
We headed out in the car and happened to come across a lookout point that we pulled into. As I got out of the car someone told me there were two sets of mums and calves in the bay. We hung out here for over an hour and saw 8 pairs including an albino calf. The man's name was Dave De Beers and he is a wildlife photographer and has studied these whales for about 6 years so he could tell when they were going to breech, where they were, etc. It was a good find.
Back to the harbor so I could head out on my sea kayak trip while mum watched from the cliffs. They were double kayaks and I was in the kayak with the guide who was really knowledgeable. You are meant to stay 300m away from the whales in a kayak but obviously the whales don't read the rule books. We couldn't exit the harbor straight away as there was a whale close by breeching and we needed to wait for her to move along before we could start on our way. The waves were about 2-3m but the paddling wasn't too hard. It was really beautiful being out on the water knowing there could be whales around. We had another mum and calf close by and the calf breached for us. There is also quite a kelp forest by the cliffs which the whales like to rub their skin on. We tried some of the kelp - it is good for the thyroid apparently and has as many nutrients as broccoli (I think). We were out paddling for about 2hrs and it was well worth it. Glad I did it, something different.
After getting changed, we went and bought some fish and chips and watched whales while we ate lunch and then we headed back to our morning spot and spent another couple of hours there, quite happily watching the whales pass by, some as close as 5-10m from the cliff. Would love to spend more time here but unfortunately our schedule does not allow. We will be up early tomorrow to get some whale watching in before heading off to our next destination. The hostel is putting a Braai on tonight so no cooking for us but I think it will be an early night.
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Jag Typical of you, love the wildlife, got to be right near the action. Reminds me of your time in W.A. diving with the whale sharks. keep enjoying the tour. Dad