Whale Viewing Season 2004 & Chinta Tours: In the West Coast region of South Australia

Our adventure began early in the morning at Ceduna Airport as John Veerhuis got our light aircraft ready for the trip of a lifetime. We were about to meet the giants of the deep - the whales that come to the waters of the Great Australian Bight each winter.

“The last I heard there were around sixty-five whales out there,” John told us. ”So we should see a few.”

We flew over the mangroves at Davenport Creek and tracked along the Far West coast of South Australia over the patchwork quilt of cereal crops. There was plenty of anticipation as we approached our encounter with the whales.

We flew over Point Sinclair and then one of the best-known surf beaches in Australia - Cactus Beach. And every so often we flew over giant cliffs. But John told us they were nothing compared to what lay ahead. “These ones are babies compared to what we'll see later,” He told us. “But you can see what's coming - this one’s called Eyre Bluff.”

The explorer Edward John Eyre completed his crossing to the West in 1841 and, like us he was struck by the awesome sight of the jagged cliffs plunging into the sea.

“It's almost as if the continent of Australia is trying to work out when the land ends and when the sea begins,” said John. “It’s a bit of a work in progress.”

This is a landscape in transition as the relentless pounding of the Southern Ocean continues to undermine the very edges of continent. Further west the howling winds sculpt and re-sculpt the magnificent Illcumba Dunes.

It's at about this point that we began to spot the Great Southern Right Whales who again have made the pilgrimage to the Great Australian Bight.

The view from the air is stunning but once you land and head to the boardwalk you begins to fully comprehend just how close these leviathans come to the edge of Australia.

The Great Australian Bight is aptly named - everything is great. Giant sandhills stretch largely unbroken for about a hundred kilometres towards Ceduna and the Southern Ocean stretches all the way to Antarctica.

And, of course, there’s the Bunda Cliffs, which run from the Head of the Bight two hundred kilometres to the West providing a magnificent haven for the mums and dads and their new arrivals.

“The Southern Rights breed every three years. And they grow to seventeen metres long and weigh eighty ton.”

The males are usually about thirty-ton lighter and the parents will often herd their young to the base of the cliffs. The water's a lot warmer than the Antarctic and they have spent many months heading north into the Bight.

And they're very obliging as far as the public is concerned. “It seems that when you get a boardwalk full of people a few more turn whales turn up. It's as though they know that they're watching them and they come in and put on a little act for us. Another viewing platform will go in soon - down a bit lower to the cliffs. I think when that's done that'll make it even better.”

Visitors are always thrilled with their whale-watching experience:

“It's just so beautiful. The water is so blue and the cliffs just blow your mind - how they drop into the ocean.” “Absolutely sensational. I've seen them at other places in Queensland and at Warrnambool in Victoria but this is probably the best.”

Chinta Tours takes return flights to the Head of the Bight from Ceduna and take in some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in SA If you have any further questions please email chinta@tpg.com.au

The Nullarbor Hotel Motel has double rooms for $96 and they will take you out to the boardwalk.

Whale Flights through Chinta Tours - Amity Aviation
Ceduna to Head of Bight and return $415 per person
For bookings:
Phone: 0428 244 682
Fax: +61 (0)8 8625 9053
Email: chinta@tpg.com.au

Nullarbor Hotel Motel
$96 per double
Bookings (08) 8625 6271
Web: www.sahotels.com.au/nullarbor

See Postcards' last visit to The Great Australian Bight