The Phoenix Tour

This day would be my absolute standout so far.

Today I found myself smiling with absolute joy. That is something I haven’t done in a long time.

Tasman Islands cruise.
Personally, I wouldn’t have called it a ‘cruise’ as such. The word cruise conjures up an idea of gilding over the water, calm commentary from a disembodied voice, maybe a nice meal and drinks…
This was a sit down, seatbelt on, sea spraying, wind blasting, wave riding, glorious adventure, where the commentary came from the driver, yelling over the sound of the screaming engines and the guide who waited until we were still (or at least slowing down) to talk about what we were seeing.
I was hoping to get a front seat as they explained before we boarded that the front was where you get the most extreme movement, spray and excitement.

Our boat;

I wasn’t fast enough but still got a seat very close to the front.
We headed out to see the amazing ragged cliffs of the edge of Tasmania around the Tasman Islands.

Weather was absolutely perfect, cerulean blue skies, calm seas. The water around this area is incredible- every colour of blue imaginable from deep, turquoise to cobalt swirled together with bright white foam.

Coming around the first corner, you are confronted with the most imposing rock formations.
We saw Cathedral Rock, The candlestick, the Totem and probably others but by this time I was so busy looking and taking photos that I no doubt missed half of what the guide was telling us.

Each formation was different to the last. All were spectacular.
Add that to the adrenaline rush of speeding over the ocean, smashing down waves and powering through gaps in formations and it was a heady experience.

In the picture below is Totem Rock (the skinny one) and to the right, The Candlestick. Our driver told us that climbers will abseil down the cliff on the left, to the bottom of Totem, climb Totem and then rope across to Candlestick. For fun.

We saw Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen from the sea which looked completely different to what I saw yesterday.

As we were looking at the Devils Kitchen,  the driver asked if there was anything else people particularly wanted to see. Of course, a few people said, dolphins.
Driver exclaimed “Well there you go, over to your right” and there was a smallish pod of dolphins dancing and arching through the waves. Within seconds they were headed for the boat to swim and weave and jump alongside. They kept us company for ages, probably about 10 minutes,  just hanging out. So close that it would have been easy to reach out and touch them. Of course that is a huge no no but the temptation is huge.

Around another ‘corner’ and we spotted another pod of dolphins. This one was a big one with what looked like at least 80 dolphins!
They hung out for ages. I’m not sure why but they have such a profound effect on me (and a lot of others on the boat) there is something so special about these completely wild, beautiful creatures choosing to hang out with us. And their seemingly exuberant joy just infects you just by being so close to them.

Further along, we visited a colony of sealions, lolling about on the rocks. They were unbothered by our presence and continued lolling…

We kept moving south. Driver warned us that the next part had some pretty big swell but not to be alarmed as this is very normal for this particular part of the ocean.
I couldn’t wait!
The swell was pretty big. It was a LOT of fun. Watching the churning, wash against the rocks that we were speeding past, waiting for the next big lift and fall from the bow was awesome.

We stopped at the tallest vertical cliffs in the Southern hemisphere at Cape Pillar. They explode out of the ocean at over 300 metres high. Made of dolerite, their fluted walls are home to all kinds of sea birds.
Cape pillar is also a breeding ground for hundreds of thousands of sea birds .

We spent some time enjoying the incredible view of the Tasman Islands and then it was time to head back.

We stopped in to see some fur seals lounging in the sun. As we watched, they put on a concert of barking calls, jumping in and out of the foaming water. Rolling around in the waves.

I don’t think anyone on that boat was ready to go back.

As we were motoring along, heading back towards home, our guide suddenly had the driver stop.
There, about 100 metres away was a ‘blow’ from  a whale. All we needed to do was follow the pod of frolicking dolphins who were riding the wave from the whale to guess where it was heading.
We watched in ridiculous excitement for the next resurface and the glorious humpback obliged, again and again, even adding in a tail flick.
The unbridled joy on that boat was amazing. Every set of eyes trained out to the dolphins waiting and watching for the next sighting of the whale. Meanwhile, half the pod of dolphins had came over to join us, almost as if they were jostling for our attention again.
And then, just because it was our lucky day, another humpback joined the party. I only got one photo. I was just too busy actually seeing it.

Together the whales put on a little show of spy hopping. Unfortunately,  by this time, our driver had to start heading back so we could only watch as we pulled away. I just wanted to stay.

Coming back into the bay was glorious, The sun was glinting off the water. It looked like someone had scattered diamonds on the surface. An albatross followed us for a while, riding the air currents, never once flapping its wings.

What an incredible day. Even the staff were completely hyped on the bus home. They said that it was a very rare day with the weather,  seeing so many dolphins, an albatross and sighting 2 whales.

How lucky we were.