Whale Watching & Seafood Linguine (Part 1)
June 23, 2007 | Tips from Travellers > Victoria, Whale Watching Victoria, Whale Watching
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On June 15th, we headed to Victoria for the last stop of my BC book tour promoting
Whale Song , my new bestselling novel. We spent the day settling in and enjoying the sunshine--the ONLY full day of sun we had on our entire trip. And thank God, because that was the day we planned to go whale watching.
So we sped off the ferry in order to get to the hotel, check in and then find the whale watching office. We reached Five Star Whale Watching Expeditions
When I reached Five Star's office, the man behind the counter said we were scheduled for the NEXT trip out...in 2 hours. Yikes! Somehow I was sure the gal had said 2 pm on the phone. And I had that terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach--the kind that says 'oh boy, did you screw up...and Marc is going to be sooo happy.'
Then the very nice fellow behind the desk said he could get us on the 2 o'clock tour! YES!!! Marc showed up after finally finding a parking spot and off we went down to the boat dock to board a 45-passenger catamaran. On the way to the dock I let it slip that we had luckily been squeezed onto the 2 pm tour. I think it's a good thing they did squeeze us in. I have a feeling I would have been swimming in the bay.
The cruise was breath-taking. We sat outside at the bow, the wind whipping at my hair, the sun on my face, the smell of the ocean all around us, while glistening diamonds covered the surface. We hit a few choppy patches and the boat bucked, slapping the ocean and sending huge sprays over the stern. In some areas the currents clashed and swirled and it looked like we were speeding over mini-whirlpools.
For three hours we looked for whales. We saw sea lions, seals, porpoises, many different species of birds (seagulls, bald eagle, cormorants and more), lots of seaweed...uh, driftwood...a couple of buoys...but no whales.
I was disappointed, as were many of the people on the trip. In the end, the only whales we saw were the photographs that one of the gals showed us and the whales on my bookmarks. However, I did enjoy the trip and the time 'off', so it wasn't a complete waste, but it was the whales--in particular, the killer whales--that I wanted so dearly to see.
Although I completely understand that Five Star and the other whale watching tours can't really guarantee we'll see whales, I was surprised that with technology these days there wasn't a more reliable way to know where they were hiding. And yes, there was a part of me that thought those darned whales should have stayed where they were that morning and waited for me! :)
Oh, well. Now I have an excuse to come back. (Not that I ever really need an excuse to come to Victoria.)
To read the second part, look for my blog post in the dining blogs.
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention
http://www.cherylktardif.com/ http://www.whalesongbook.com/
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