M1 went whale watching several weeks back! How exciting. When she first saw this weekend activity listed and told us about it, I insisted that she must go. It is a very good experience.
I must say whale watching is on my bucket list of things to see/do. And actually, I have gone whale watching before only that the whale didn’t look like a whale and I didn’t have a whale of a time, pun intended.
It was donkey years back and I was in New Zealand, traveling with a girlfriend from my high school days. For this trip, we did only the South Island and one of the highlights was to Kaikoura. It was touted as THE destination for whale watching. We both decided to go for this experience.
I remember the quaint coastal town was typical of many coastal towns, full of tourist attractions, restaurants and souvenir shops. We had lunch at a seafood restaurant and I had something light while my friend had clam chowder.
After lunch and a stroll along the shops, it was time to head out to see the whales. So exciting! But when we got there, we were told that the waters were too choppy and it was not safe to go out on the boat, furthermore we may not spot any whales. Instead we were given the option to fly in the tiny Fokker 9-seater plane. At an additional cost! Did we have a choice at that point? To come so far and this?
So we climbed into the plane. The pilot was friendly. I remember he climbed up to 150 feet above sea level and doing big circles in the air, trying to spot a giant below. The minute he spotted one, he did an abrupt sharp turn and tried to dip slightly lower so that we could all have a decent view of the whale. But he said we should not go any lower as the engine sound will scare it off and it would go under, rendering his efforts unfruitful then.
It was rather nauseating. Every time, he maneuvered the plane in dizzying little circles, my tummy churned. When I finally did see the whale, it looked more like a four-inch squid than an actual whale!
I was disappointed and semi-nauseous. My friend was disappointed and totally nauseous. With the whale watching experience ending like this, I decided not to strike it off my bucket list yet until I can see the real thing, closer perhaps and at a less nauseating pace.
Angieneering 
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