Wednesday 5th October

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Today was the last day of our adventure. We had decided to go whale watching, so our first job of the day was to book the 1 pm sailing online. Then we had to start the dreaded packing, although at least it isn't as bad this way, whatever is there has to go in somewhere and it doesn't matter if it gets creased. We also had to pack away all the crockery etc. into the large box in which they had arrived and either pack or dispose of all the remaining household items.
We then set off to walk the 1.6 miles to the harbour. After crossing our old friend PCH, we crossed over a bridge onto the Balboa Peninsula. This was a very attractive area and we soon found ourselves walking along the water front with our jaws dropping at the properties with their private moorings and boats. Many of the houses were already decorated for Halloween and their gardens were beautiful, with lovely flowering roses and lime trees. We reached the ferry, which continually crosses from the peninsular to the main land, and boarded as foot passengers for the princely sum of $1 each. The ferry could take up to three cars at the price of $2.25, which was obviously a bargain judging by the number of cars using it. After our crossing we located the offices of the whale boat company, Davys Locker, then had a walk across to the coast. Here again we found a beach stretching as far as you could see in both directions and after a walk along Balboa Pier, we ate our lunch sitting besides it.
Then it was time to return to the quayside to collect our tickets, where we met up with two other couples from our tour, who were also booked on the boat trip. As we waited the 10.00am sailing returned and several other couples from our party walked past. "Did you see any whales?" They ruefully shook their heads, although they had seen some dolphins.
We boarded the boat and set off in brilliant sunshine and unlike most of our previous boat trips, we never had to resort to any more layers. We had not travelled very far out of the harbour when the captain cried out "Whale at 11.00 o'clock". Luckily it was on our side of the boat, as we just spotted the Minke whale dive above the surface, before it disappeared into the ocean. The captain explained that this species of whale may not reappear again and as he had a report of a sighting of a humpback whale further out, that was where
he was going to head. A little later we were all sitting staring hopefully at the sea when the Eagle eyed captain spotted the tell-tale spout of water and with another shout of "Whale at 11.00 o'clock" there he was a 30 ton humpback whale. We then spent the next half an hour or so tracking this whale. He was called Felix and was one of a couple of whales that have been swimming in this area for a few weeks. The expert on board explained that they could identify the whales by their markings on the underside of their tails and they used the information on their whereabouts to aid in research into their habits etc. Felix was proving to be quite a star, as he flipped his tail high out the water and then disappeared underneath for 4-5 minutes looking for food, only to reappear some distance away, where the boat would immediately head for once the spout of water had been spotted. It was very exciting and the captain was very pleased as he explained that the whales had been proving to be a little elusive over the last few days. As the trip was only scheduled to last for 2 hours, we reluctantly had to head back to base, spotting sea lions sunning themselves on a buoy on our way. We all really enjoyed the trip and of course, on our return to the campsite, members of the morning group came rushing over to ask whether we had been successful. They said they were very pleased for us, through gritted teeth!!!
Then it was time for a final clean up of Ellie, a shower and change of clothes ready for our farewell dinner. This was a lovely buffet meal, with a few speeches and a relatively early finish, as we had to vacate the room by 9.00pm. We were not bothered as we had an early start the next morning. We were with the first group and had to be at the rental depot just after 8 am, about an hours journey away. So we all said our goodbyes to those in the later groups and retired to Ellie for the last time.
This update is a actually being written in Los Angeles airport, where we arrived at about 11.00am for our flight at 6.00 pm. We have said all our goodbyes, as no one else is flying American Airlines, who use terminal 4, there being 9 terminals at this airport !! Apologies for no photos as my kindle is refusing to charge up. We have had a brilliant holiday, seen so many amazing places and had so many different experiences. It truly has been a California dream adventure. Thank you for sharing it with us. See you all soon.

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