Wednesday morning consisted of running errands such as trying to locate a post office, trying to find somewhere to donate our tent and sleeping bags too, locating a Hurley and then buy socks! All done and dusted by 11am and then we were headed to Newport Beach. Why? Whale watching!!
We arrived in plenty of good time. I mean we were too organised today and turned up two hours early. By the time we figured out we could pay by card on the parking meter on the road, we had about an hour and three quarters to kill. Luckily, Newport Beach has plenty to offer!
To start with, a random alley was chosen to walk down which took us to a marina. The houses were situated right on the beach with a narrow promenade separating them allowing us to walk down and admire. They actually had their own private beaches!
The boats looked very inviting as did the idea of having a porch three steps from your own private beach! Idyllic to say the least! As we continued sauntering down the promenade we came across the fairground rides, the beach-shack style restaurants and the numerous beach gift shops.
I needed a beverage so swung into a BBQ food joint to grab a Pepsi then we checked in to Davey’s Locker and headed over to the beach before joining the queue.
It was a very beautiful place and we’d have explored more if we had time but we ventured back to Davey’s Locker to join the queue. We were soon boarding our boat. A pelican accompanied us.
We were soon heading out of the harbour and past so divine looking houses sitting on the shores, including Shirley Templeton’s house, the green-rimmed one in the below bottom photo.
The clouds, as expected, were starting to fill the sky. The California weather definitely hates us that’s for sure. As we got further out to sea, there were boats in the distance which was where we were headed. Before we reached them though, Captain Dave found a pod of common dolphins and sea lions. So we stopped there.
They were very playful swimming all around the boat in and out of the wake. You don’t see these dolphins in captivity so it was great to see them! As we headed closer to the other boats, we saw a huge spout of water blown into the air. That was it. The water from the blue whales blowholes can be seen from miles away. We were probably two miles out at this point! Exciting times! We were actually going to see the largest animal on the planet. Then the tail came out of the water and down it dived.
It was incredible. This whale had been diving down to depths of about 1200ft then surfacing timely every 12 minutes! Like clockwork. It was just amazing. The guys on the boat were fantastic, ensuring they got as close as possible and giving us enough time to admire this creature. We were so lucky we saw its tail fluke four times. They have hearts the size of a Volkswagen bus, main arteries wide enough for a small child to crawl through and a tongue the size of an elephant. Whilst we could only see it as it came up to the surface, it left a massive slick in the water after its 20ft wide tail went down as it dived. You really have to check it out if you’re in Newport Beach. Definitely one to tick off the bucket list.
As we headed back to shore after two hours out on the water we passed a buoy covered in sea lions.
Theyre actually able to jump up onto these objects! Crazy considering how little room there is. There was a big boy in the water trying to get up but the others were just casually ignoring him and carried on sleeping. They must all be women 😊!
Our time had come to an end and we walked back to the car before heading to our absolute hovel of a motel. I mean yes we’re on a budget but crikey this was probably the only place I haven’t felt truly safe. It didn’t help there was a knock on the door at 1145pm and no one there…
Until next time…