A whale of a time!

Although it began as a cloudier and cooler day than of late, we couldn't stay in Monterey and pass up the opportunity to go on a whale watching trip. So after Skyping home and having an early breakfast on the terrace, we drove down to Fisherman;s Wharf and made it to the ship, the Black Fin, with only minutes to spare. Fortunately, the ocean was calm as we headed out into Monerey Bay for the four-hour trip. Before leaving the harbour we had sight of seals and a sea otter and whist we expected a wait of around an hour before sighting a whale, we were seeing humpbacks as soon as we were in open waters.

The ship pushed out to sea and our on board marine biologist provided interesting and informative commentary. He was quick to spot the presence of whales and during our journey we spotted a number of humpback shoals and  several blue whales, the biggest creature to inhabit our planet. We were also fortunate to witness  blue whales diving!

Having docked in Monterey we sat at the Old Colonial Office and shared a crab sandwich, before heading back to do our first laundry run of the trip. The laundry was located a few minutes from our hotel and it was at the cutting edge of efficiency. Situated next to a bakery, all the machines were in action, under the direction of the manager and his helpers. No need for coins, the machines could be fired up using credit cards! And the Laundry had wifi.IT was a popular venue. Washing and drying completed, we hit the Del Monte Mall, again. We went to the cinema, to see The Hitman's Bodyguard ..... least said etc! Tomorrow we pull out of Monterey, a place we hold dear. Today's musical footnote is a toughie, but I've gone for a 67' Monterey Festival classic, Pictures of Lilly, by the Who.