Days 87 – 88
Today we went with FFR2 to see Whale World. This is a museum situated on the site of the old Cheyne Whale Station. This area now is pristine. Beautiful clear blue waters, sandy white beaches and all based in a picturesque bay with views to small islands.
We had a look around the whaling boat on display and it all looked very nice. The crew seemed to have decent sized rooms (especially compared to the bunks on the naval ship I saw in San Diego), good views from the deck and comfy chairs in the mess. So comfy we sat down around the table to watch a video. This was a documentary on the whale industry and also explained why the whale station was shut down. The kids lasted about 5 minutes – once that first harpoon went flying into the whale and they cut off its fin they left with cries of “Yuck”, “that’s gross”, from Chris “that’s just barbaric!” and Bubba (dredging up memories of the beheading of his Great Great Grandfather in WW2 ) “I hate those Japanese!” It was fairly gory.
After that we decided to take the free tour so we could see everything in the right order. This was a great idea as the guide turned on audio in different areas and you could hear what the station would have been like when it was working. Photos at the flensing deck and above the cookers were very graphic and the children are now all prepared to man a Greenpeace ship and stop whaling forever. I am not game to take them to an abattoir or they will surely all become vegetarians and I like meat too much to start cooking legumes now! It was also here that we learnt that the beautiful white sandy beach we were looking at was actually called Misery Beach because when the whaling station was operational the water there ran red and was infested with sharks looking for an easy meal – yuck!
There was also a bone museum where they had a “pygmy blue whale” (it was the size of the entire shed so the actual blue whale is just enormous, “sperm whales”, dolphins and various others. After that we watched 3 films in 3 different theatres that have been set up in the old oil silos. These were great and the kids watched them all with no complaint!
After this we drove to the blow holes. Only problem was it was about an 800m walk down to them and when we got there the tide was wrong and they weren’t blowing! We had to walk back up hill and it was a little reminiscent of that horrible steep hill in San Francisco – sore calves for all. To preserve our sanity we sent the children on ahead so we didn’t have to listen to Madi whinge.
On the way back to the park we drove around the beach to get a better idea of the town and to see where we stayed 15 years ago – they’ve knocked it down and now it is an empty block waiting for redevelopment; how rude!
Later that afternoon I took Madi to the shops. Whenever we get somewhere that has something resembling a shopping centre she is so excited. She took her wallet and bought herself 2 dresses and a skirt. We also got Bubba a birthday present as he turns 7 this Friday.
Next day we spent on the beach, riding scooters and bikes and playing mini-golf at the park (although Madi went shopping again with FFR2). On the beach the boys found a baby seal lying on a rock. They watched it for ages to establish it was breathing and then they were worried it was stuck so they went to ask the Park owners if they should call someone but found out it was probably just getting warm. Apparently in the Seal world it is ok to leave your kids alone for hours on a beach might take a leaf out of their book!
Today we are off to Esperance so we can be all organised and set up ready for Matt’s birthday!
