Day: October 24, 2025

Jervis Bay isn’t a single location. It’s actually a length of coastline spanning quite a distance comprising small inlets, beaches and developments where houses have been built and small townships have grown up. Because of the nature of the terrain and features, such as creeks and impassable rocky landscape, it often needs a drive of 30 or 40 minutes inland and back out again to go between adjacent developments.

When booking I was directed to go to Fishermens Wharf, Huskisson, which is a fairly major holiday and vacation centre on Jervis Bay, to board the whale-watching vessel. As usual Waze took me straight there and although I’d been concerned about parking I was able to just park the car outside one of the houses that go right down to the waterfront. After checking in we were all instructed to line up for boarding, which we all duly did!

Shortly afterwards, after we’d all taken our places on various levels, the boat’s engine was started and we began to head at quite a fast pace out to the opening of the bay and the open sea. I was on the highest level looking towards the stern and seated with a charming couple from Hanover in Germany.

As we proceeded seaward the water became rougher and rougher and the wind stronger and colder, especially when at one time we entered under low cloud rolling out off the land. We hung around out there for what seemed like ages, possibly 40 minutes or more, but it eventually became evident that our whale-watching trip was doomed to failure.

The waves were rolling in with the wind as breakers up to what I estimate was a height of 2 meters or more caused the boat to pitch and roll like a bucking bronco. Quite honestly with the comparatively low height of the rails around the boat, if you weren’t hanging on tightly when some of them hit it would have been quite easy to go overboard. Anyway, the master eventually gave up as it was sadly evident that no whales were going to be sighted under such conditions and he turned the boat around and began to head back to Huskisson.

So I now have a list of two things for which Australia is famous that I’ve failed to see… Koalas and whales. Hopefully the former will be rectified in due course but I may have to accept that I’ll not be seeing any whales during my trip.

On the southern end of the entrance of Jervis Bay there’s an island called Bowen Island. We were some way to the north of it while looking out for whales but on the way back the boat passed closer to it. The videos I’ve taken show the breakers crashing onto its cliffs on the seaward side and throwing up huge plumes of spray but the conditions to its leeward were far calmer and more placid. The master didn’t recommend landing on the island, however, as he said its interior is full of funnel web spiders and other nasties trying to kill you. Australia… I ask you!

We didn’t return direct to Huskisson. Instead we headed westwards towards the land to then turn and cruise north up the coast in order to view the beautiful unspoilt sandy beaches interspersed with rocky outcrops jutting out into the sea. While I was videoing I noticed that when the waves broke over the rocks they emitted a pinkish hue that you can’t see in the still shots I’ve lifted, but I don’t think it was just my eyes!

The master of the whale-watching vessel said that back in 1957 his grandparents bought a house on the development south along the coast from Huskisson shown in the next image. Apparently in those days it was struggling, the developer collapsed and the whole development was sold off for AU$100,000. Nowadays, he said, that sum wouldn’t even buy you a letterbox there.

We passed sandy beaches and coves one after the other as we wended our way back towards Huskisson.

And eventually we picked up our consolation prize for the trip in the form of a small school of Bottle dolphins criss-crossing and arcing their way through the water as they do. They seemed oblivious to the boat and the master turned around to follow them for a short while before turning back to head for Huskisson.

After we’d disembarked I decided to have lunch as it was approaching 1.00 pm. There’s a small cafe on the wharf where the whale-watching boat docks and I settled there for a Buster Burger and chips and a local lager. And by golly, it was a ‘buster’, let me tell you!

I didn’t stay long in Huskisson as I needed to find a supermarket, which seem few and far between in these parts, to buy stuff for breakfast tomorrow, but anyway, here’s a quick shot of the main street.

I found a Coles supermarket in the Vincentia Shopping Village. It’s only a short distance south of Huskisson but it took the best part of 40 minutes to get there for the reason I explained at the beginning of this post. The cafe where I had my lunch was playing all old 70s and 80s music and I noticed that they were doing the same in the Coles supermarket. I don’t know, though, whether this part of Australia is actually stuck in a time warp, but I have to admit that I found it quite pleasant.