Samuel was the first domino to fall and announced he was about to puke. Thankfully we still had some hospital grade sick bags with us from our emergency room visit in Melbourne, so we were well prepared. However, these sick bags are plastic and non biodegradable, so pitching them by the side of the road was just not an option, plus we only had 3 of them and plenty more driving ahead. So the bag was emptied and swished out by the side of the road and then tucked under scuttlebug’s windscreen wiper for safe keeping. We decided it was best off out of the car rather than stinking us out of puke!
Back on the road and rolling along we were hoping that nobody else would suffer. No such luck of course. Sophia was next and unfortunately succumbed to motion sickness too. We pulled over again for another stop, a leg stretch, a gulp of fresh air and another sick bag cleansing operation. Needless to say we were now running tight for time for a 10am arrival at whale watching HQ. We made it for 9.58am and Clair dashed in to get us registered.
Disaster, we were deemed too late to make the next trip and were then told that regardless of our arrival time we would not have been allowed to take the twins on anyway. The swell in the sea was at 2.5 metres and the captain had ordered any children under 5 to not be allowed on the boat as children on an earlier trip had been really ill for the whole duration. We argued our case and asked if they would reconsider, but the instructions were direct from the captain and there was nothing to be done. We asked to be put on a later boat, in the hope that the sea would calm throughout the day, but we were advised the forecast for later that day was not good and that they were already considering cancelling the later boats anyway. About to give up and be forced into coming back another day the lady suggested we take the flight instead.
“How much extra is the flight?”
“No extra, we will just transfer your booking.”
“Er, ok then, let’s do that!”
We got back into Scuttlebug and headed for the airport, which was basically a cabin, in a field, next to a tiny runway.
Captain Anthony from Wings over Whales talked us through an educational video about the Sperm Whale and the Dusky Dolphins that we hoped to see, and then gave us a safety briefing. We were then kitted out with headphones and life jackets and walked onto the strip for our awaiting aircraft. Yup, our own private plane! Samuel thought it was the best thing ever and Kaitlyn claimed she felt like a celebrity.
Thanks Anthony, what an awesome experience and all the best of luck in the future.