Yallingup Day 2

I had it all figured out before we headed down to Yallingup what our wine tasting itinerary would be. I'd researched thoroughly, consulted the latest winery ratings using newspaper special inserts and two books about Aussie wines. I'd made a considered decision to narrow my choices down to those few with decently rated Zinfandels, because otherwise there are far too many wineries to try. I had plotted said wineries on a map. I was READY. Til we woke up the second day to the sounds of kookaburras and assorted strange bird noises, greeted the rosy fingered dawn on the balcony breakfast area, and talked to Tim about the lay of the land. Tim suggested that we start our morning on the scenic road up Point Geographe (the French did get to name a few things in AU) and around to Eagle Bay. He mentioned there could be a whale. We proceeded forthwith. And lo - there were whales. My wine tasting plans were immediately scrapped and the whale watching became the mission for the day. We walked along a beautiful beach to a hill above Castle Rock and from there across the wide vista we could see whales all over. The place was lousy with humpbacks! A mother and baby were hugging the shore line. Slightly further out was another large one moving more quickly, and towards the horizon we could see tremendous leaps and splashes as numbers more breached and tail slapped. I was mesmerized. Fortunately we had our binoculars with us but my camera was not adequate for the task so the photos I have are lousy but will have to suffice. (photo 2 below is the spout of the mama whale, 3 & 4 you can see the backs of the whales...maybe. ) We followed the whales from shore for a couple of hours then agreed once more that seeing the coastline was of more interest to us than fighting crowds in wineries. We visited Canal Rocks, GraceTown, and Red Gate on the coast - enjoying the surfers, the perfect weather, the colorful rocks, the sandy beaches. Here's what we saw: