• Australia 2024
    The cruise/tour boat with granite mountains backdrop
    Map of our cruise todayOld granite quarry with kayakers braving the chilly/windy conditions.Fur seal struggling to stay awake 🥱Fur Seal regulating his temperature with exposed fin (or is he maybe waving at us?)Passage to the Tasman SeaEagles nest (chunk of branches in middle of that "Y"-shaped tree)Nest close-up: that's mama's butt (right) and the little baby's head (left)(jw) A whale!! Ok it's not much, but it is MY first real sighting aside from just spoutings!how cool is this!!!!I'm dying here --- my first whale tail!!!!Not entirely sure what all this is, but I think I have 'more whale' here than in any pic!View down the coastThe beautiful depth and colorful breadth of the graniteWineglass Mountain where we hiked yesterdayhard to see, but ~3:00 from that 'divot' in the mtn was the lookout spotClockwise fr L: oyster, periwinkle (spiral), urchin, abalone, granite, 3 scallop shell variations

    Cole - Cruise on Tasman Sea

    October 11, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    Today we took a 4-hour cruise starting in Coles Bay into the Tasman Sea. Tasmania is mostly dolerite and granite, but the shoreline of the cruise was mostly granite. In the 1920s they mined granite, but this ended in the 1950s. The granite was used in Empire State Building. We started the cruise with no wind which helped in finding a few whales, but the wind increased as the throughout the cruise. 😕

    The crew was very knowledgeable and friendly. It was interesting talking to some of the crew that free-dives daily in the summer for local seafood. We saw a couple of whales, seals, & a variety of birds. Other than TAS spring-like conditions, it was an excellent cruise.    Read more