Whale Watching Off Sydney – We had been out on the water quite a while. Numerous sightings of distant plumes had raised shouts of excitement from the watchers, several ‘blink and you’ve missed it’ call outs, usually with me looking in the totally opposite direction, and a couple of sightings as a whale made for a deep dive. A few hastily grabbed photos were taken but ultimately disappointing – for as soon as you’ve pointed the camera in the general direction of the latest surfacing whale the bloody thing had slipped under the water again.

It was cold and blowy up on the top deck; and rather choppy too so a few moments respite below decks seemed a good idea. A slurp or two of coffee and the captain announced it was time to return to Sydney. A last stroll out on deck, thought I. So out I swayed, raised the camera for a vane sweep across the Pacific; and then, feck me, if one of the little buggers didn’t surface right in front of me – full tail in the air stuff and everything….