Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

Darth Vader playing the violin; a one-man steel band playing Johnny Cash; a spliff-smoking hippie offering the antedote to George Bush, Tony Blair, Steven Harper and the Pope; (the antedote was a bottle of what he called 'hippie juice'?!?) a girl who mistakes waving her arms around and accidentally hitting someone as "unconsciously freaking out and attacking a victim"; and more than a Slip Knot concert's worth of goths.

If that had been your yesterday you too would want to try and escape it even for a few short hours.

We are in Vancouver Island at the moment and apart from dodging odd people, the main thing to do here is to go whale watching for killer whales. Last time we went in New Zealand we spotted only 2 sperm whales so this time we were hoping the killer whales would come out in their droves.

Last time we went some people got sick. Not us but others. Apparently if you feel seasick you should get in a position where you can see the horizon. This was easy today as the vessel of choice was a 12 man Zodiac. For those who don't instantly know what that is I will give you a brief description. Inflatable, rigid hull, bench seats, 2 x 135Hp engines and the key to avoiding the sea sickness...completely open air. Fortunately we remained a vomit-free vessel which is strange because our driver Mike enjoyed accelerating to reach top speed over the waves which resulted in an airborn boat and a lot of bumps. Luckily this also meant a lot of fun too and at one point I was laughing so much I didn't even care whether or not we saw any whales.

In New Zealand only one company go whale watching out of Kaikoura. Over here it's a little bit different. If you were at any point wondering where to find the killer whales the answer was easy. Look for the 10 tourist boats floating around in a circle and that is a pretty good guide.

We weren't disappointed. The first of the resident orcas to visit us was Ruffles the largest of the pod who apparently was one of the stars of the film 'Free Willy'. (Does that count as a celebrity spot?) We then stalked a group of about 4 orcas keeping a distance of about 100 metres. Being curious however they eventually made their way closer to us and surrounded the boat. We were even fortunate enough to watch one swim right underneath our boat...magical! There were no other boats around at this point I am smug enough to say. It's quite strange when you can see something bigger than the boat you are in swim directly under your feet.

The whole experience dispelled a long held myth for me. I thought killer whales just jumped through hoops, pushed people in wet suits around a swimming pool, nodded on command and splashed people in the 'splash zone'. I'm happy to have seen the error of my ways.

http://www.oceanexplorations.com