A boat-ride to Cape Pillar
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325759)
Rockingham, Australia
June 29, 2018 4:39pm CST
While in the Port Arthur region we took a boat ride out around Tasman Island and to Cape Pillar. The dolerite cliffs there are 300 metres (about 1,000 feet) high and only accessible via a walking trail. We have it on good authority that the cliffs were once used for target practice by the armed forces.
Our boat was a state-of-the-art affair which could do 25 knots. We were given bright red plastic ponchos-with-sleeves to keep out any spray we might encounter as, although the boat had a roof, the sides were open to the weather. Luckily we’d been warned to rug up warmly.
It was a fantastic boat-ride. We saw whales and one breached right beside us. Vince considered himself lucky to have captured a picture of its tail. We nosed into caves at the foot of the cliffs and saw the winching platform that was used to service the lighthouse that once operated on top of Tasman Island. A bachelor herd of seals could be smelt long before we caught sight of them on the rocks.
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18 responses
my dear friend
@moffittjc (118442)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 Jul 18
I would have been heaven on that boat ride getting to see and experience all those things you wrote about! I love doing stuff like that! I would have been giddy with excitement at seeing a whale breach right beside the boat!
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@moffittjc (118442)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Jul 18
@JudyEv I've never been so lucky to spot a whale from a close distance. I experienced a giant stingray swim under our fishing boat once in the Atlantic Ocean, that freaked me out pretty bad (it looked like a giant flying saucer under the water). I never knew stingrays (or manta rays?) could get so large.
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
6 Jul 18
@moffittjc That would have been pretty awesome. I know some of these creatures are huge. And they used to hunt whales with rowboats. Can you imagine that?
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@snowy22315 (169959)
• United States
29 Jun 18
It must have been fun..We went on a whale watching trip out of Virginia Beach once..and saw a few small dolphins..(cormorant) I believe that had fun following the boat. Maybe they were paid off in fish..to give the tourists a show! lol
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@allknowing (130066)
• India
30 Jun 18
You always take me back to my own memories. Talking of cliffs I had that experience riding on the Narmada river with soft stone cliffs skirting high above some having shapes of celebrity faces such as one of Mahatma Gandhi. Yes. we were told of crocodiles being there and this after we reached in the middle of the river I just wanted to get back
Were you not afraid of Whales? The Great Barrier Reef had us experience the sub marine where schools of fish were seen.
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@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
2 Jul 18
@LadyDuck I'm with you there. You and I would wait in the boat outside until the others come back!
Strangely, I visited the Blue Grotto in Capri without problems. The entrance is even lower but it's light inside.
My claustrophobia has become worse over the years. So this must have been at a time when it wasn't as fully developed as it is now.
Once we were in Rome in a Holy Year on our way back from Sardinia to Germany. We had my mother-in-law and one sister-in-law with us. They wanted to see the underground tombs of Popes in St Peter. I got down the steps with them, too, but had to turn back after some meters. It wasn't easy to get out again. The exit is at the end of the tour. I had to go against the stream of incoming people. The tourists going down must have taken me for a mad woman.
Well, so be it. I can live with that.
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@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
29 Jun 18
What a wonderful trip you are having there....lovely cliffs with whales and seals around! Wow ...now I am thinking to change my mind and should travel to have those life time experiences! Thanks for sharing dear friend! Picture is simply superb!
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
2 Jul 18
Those cliffs are imposing.The whale and seals added to the sight seeing
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@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
30 Jun 18
Hi Judy. Thats awesome! I want to try that one day. You were able to get inside that cave too?
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@JudyEv (325759)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 Jul 18
@mlgen1037 It is allowed but it might be a bit dangerous.
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@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
2 Jul 18
@JudyEv I thought you were able to go inside. But is it allowed?
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@Jessabuma (31700)
• Baguio, Philippines
2 Jul 18
Wow! I am glad to know you had a very memorable experience there..
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@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
29 Jun 18
Did you go through what looks like a tunnel?
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@simplfred (20608)
• Philippines
29 Jun 18
Quite an adventure. Thank you for sharing.
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