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Ross O'Brien, better known as Captain Rosscoe of the MV Signa, can't get over how many more whales there are off the East Coast these days.
The record numbers since Australia stopped being a whaling nation inspired him to use his 13.4m fishing and sight-seeing vessel for whale-watching. Based in Kiama, a two-hour drive south of Sydney, it's the first whale-watching cruise in the Wollongong area. Cruises are also available from Jervis Bay, from Sydney Harbour and from elsewhere up the East Coast.
Humpback whales were hunted almost to extinction, but over the past 30 years they've come back and now number around 7000 in Australian water mid-year.
Authorities say 4000 humpbacks migrate north from Antarctica up the East Coast twice a year from late May to late July; between September and November they head back south with their calves.
The present winter season has seen an increase of ten to 15 per cent in the number of migrating humpbacks, as well as in southern right whales, killer whales and minky whales, along the South Coast between Wollongong and Jervis Bay.
From the beginning of the winter season until the day we went out - a beautiful still but cold Sunday - O'Brien said, 893 whales had been counted heading north past the Kiama Blowhole. He'd taken a fishing cruise out that morning and had passed several whales, to the great excitement of his passengers.
So we were all holding our breath waiting to see them as we passed Cathedral Rocks and Farm Beach, next to Bombo, heading north from Kiama.
We weren't disappointed on our two-and-a-half-hour trip, soon spotting the first of eight whales. They entertained us by breaching, tail slapping and pectoral fin flapping. Whales tend to hug the coastline to avoid the strong East Australia Current. Boats are permitted to go within 100m of an adult whale and within 200m if a calf is present.
A South Coast local, O'Brien is the grandson of an Eden timber cutter and has done commercial fishing and has run charter vessels from Ulladulla, south of Jervis Bay. His son, Jay, was helping out the day we went.
All bait, tackle (overhead reels and rods) and licences are supplied.
Whale-watching cruises leave at 2pm every Saturday and Sunday. Chardonnay late afternoon cruises are also offered, and other individual arrangements can be made.
Bookings are essential. "Kiama's an ideal spot for family holidays and also good for the cafe latte set," says O'Brien. "There's lots of B&B accommodation. As for the whales, I always get a thrill, every time I see them. I never get sick of it."
On the way back, we pass the famous Kiama Blowhole, which can spurt water up to 60m in the air. Totally freezing but thankful that none of us felt seasick, we decided on a drink in front of the fire and a game of pool at the Jamberoo Pub, about 15 minutes inland. There's usually live music there on Sunday lunchtimes, and the bistro is open for lunch and dinner.
The Kiama region is surrounded by national parks and rainforests, including Minnamurra Rainforest, where you can walk among the trees on the elevated walkway. Jamberoo is also known for its 100-year-old dry stone walls in lush pastures.
Need to know
Whale watching: For details, and bookings on MV Signa, visit www.mvsigna.com.au. Tickets are A$55 each.
Jervis Bay Whales also offers three-hour cruises aboard its 140-passenger triple-deck catamarans at 9.30am each day for $50 an adult including morning tea. Family tickets are A$130. Visit www.jervisbaywhales.com.au
- AAP
Seaside village gets new look
New South Wales' other great whale watching zone is further north, on the Tweed Coast.
There's a whole new look to the seashores around the once quiet town of Kingscliff, in northern NSW.
Long overshadowed by the Gold Coast highrise resorts a few kilometres over the Queensland border, the Tweed has come to life recently, with two major new resorts and scores of holiday homes.
Development has centred on the new Salt Village, laid out over 73ha, 2km from Kingscliff, between the Tasman Sea and Cudgen Creek to the west - not far from where sandmining was for years one of the main activities in the area.
Salt's latest opening was that of the five-star Peppers Salt Resort and Spa, designed to "combine northern NSW seaside-village charm with all the luxuries you'd expect of one of Australia's leading resorts".
Peppers has 346 immaculately furnished rooms and suites - the latter with one, two or three bedrooms and self-contained kitchens, ensuites and flat-screen TVs, many also with sea-view balconies. The accommodation is in seven resort wings and the upmarket Beach House.
Guests don't even have to take the short stroll to South Kingscliff Beach to feel the sand in their toes; they can do that beside the resort's two main pools, the Beach Lagoon.
For the energetic, 6.6km of walking and cycling tracks also surround the village, and you can go surfing, fishing off the rocks nearby, canoeing in the creek and whale watching.
There's a range of massage, therapies and beauty services, with 15 treatment rooms, seven other treatment areas, couples' suites and steam rooms.
Another of the delights on the New Tweed Coast is, ironically, to get away from the coast and head for the Tweed Valley hinterland to find quaint villages where time seems to have stood still.
From a long list of activities, you can climb 1157m Mount Warning, a one-time volcano which dominates the inland skyline for 50km, visit art galleries, local markets and wineries, go boating on the Tweed, lunch cheaply in an old village pub or visit lively Byron Bay, a 40-minute drive away. James Shrimpton
Peppers Salt Resort & Spa: For full details of rates and all packages, call 0061 2 6674 7777 or visit www.saltpeppers.com.au
Tweed Snorkelling & Whale Watching Adventures: Daily whale-watching cruises from Fingal, new Tweed Heads, NSW, between June and November. Bookings are essential: www.tweedoceanadventures.com.au
- By James Shrimpton
