First zodiac ride in the Abrohlos Island

It is the time of the year when the whales migrate from the Arctic to the Southern Ocean. They were quite close to the ship this morning and we saw several humpback whales breaching.

A zodiac ride is always an experience and certainly makes you feel you're alive. In stepping off the ship you know you are going to be, usually, surprised and entertained. They will always be something and I try to think about the highlight or highlights of any given day. You never quite know until you get there what you will face. For this trip it is even more true as no one including the captain or the naturalists have sailed in this part of Australia before. No doubt adjustments will be made after the trip. It was quite cool on the zodiac and I regretted not wearing more clothing. At the end of the day I also regretted not applying more sunscreen. It was not surprising that we saw many seabirds, my particular favorite are the terns they are so pretty as they flit across the water and dive to catch fish.

The Abrolhos Islands off the coast of Geraldton consist of some 210 coral atols. Our visit is to Post Office Island. Typically of a coral atol, there is no real sand or Beach to speak of just a lot of coral rubble. So much in fact that the paths are made of coral and wind between low shrubs which somehow manage to survive in this very hostile environment. There are a number of buildings on the island which house the family for a short period of time each year that they are here, not the sort of place you would want to spend very much time unless you wanted to totally switch off from the world.

This tiny island was occupied for the purposes of lobster fishing but lately the family have diversified into Pearl farming. Having heard so many presentations on how pearls are cultured, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of hearing yet another. Much to my surprise, however, the person presenting was excellent and for the first time gave us far more detail about the oyster itself rather than the process of producing a pearl.

Gala dinner and show so back to the shipRead more