Part 14: Whale Watching in Andenes
The wind had finally eased off, and the whale watching boats for tourists were going out to the Sea again. Very early in the morning, I left the husky farm to drive to Andenes, which was an hour away. Katrin and Uwe had promised to go for a walk with my boys, so that I could spend the whole day in Andenes, if I wanted to! That was so kind of them to offer!!
On my way to Andenes I also had company: Robert, a Swiss guy, who had been working on Katrin and Uwe's husky farm years back, was there for a short visit. He had just returned from a research trip, where he was studying whale activities and behaviour. Robert also used to work as a tourist guide in Norway or as a helper on a husky farm in Finland. He was quite the traveller - obviously he had my admiration. :-)
Robert wanted to visit some friends in Andenes and also to hand in his research results about the whales. So I gave him a lift. And that was like winning the lottery! ;-) On the way to Andenes, Robert revived his tourist guide skills. He talked nonstop and explained and showed me things around me... It was really nice!
When we arrived at the whale watching centre, he showed me around, told me a lot about whales and gave me instructions about the best locations on board, so I wouldn't puke... :-D Generally, he was talking a lot about sea sickness, which I thought would be a little exaggerated.
Because the tourist boats hadn't left for a whale safari in days, there was a long line at the registration. Robert waited there with me and kept on informing me about whales and stuff. Some of his friends were the guides on our boat, but Robert refused to come with us on board - he had other plans, he said. Later, I assumed he just knew better. :-D
Before going out to the Sea, we first visited the museum. It was super interesting to hear so much about whales - in particular about sperm whales. The guided tour was offered in 4 languages! Norwegian, English, Spanish and German. Not bad!
And then it was time to watch sperm whales!!
We had just left the mole behind us, when I realised that all the talking about sea sickness may have its justification... Katrin had kindly given me some pills against motion sickness, and I had taken them even though I was pretty sure that I wouldn't need them. I'm a Mecklenburger, come on!! ;-) :-D But when the boat went out to the Sea, I had to realise that I'm nevertheless no fisherman...
I felt sick pretty fast. The waves were very high and the boat was moving so much that I couldn't focus on the horizon as you are told when you feel sick on a boat. The horizon disappeared all the time from my field of vision. A couple of times, I was even afraid that I would just fall over the rail - the boat was almost lying horizontally on the water...
I just sat very still, clinging on the bench and trying not to puke. Every other person on the boat was throwing up already. I took the rest of the pills Katrin had given me - but 5 minutes later, I was one of the 'pukers' as well... Boy, that didn't feel nice. But I must say that the guides were very nice. They made us feel like it is the most normal thing to throw up in public, they distributed sick bags and also collected them again. After a while, I wasn't embarrassed any more. ;) But I wasn't too interested in watching whales either. All I could focus on was the many hours I still had to spent on that boat...
I tried to capture it, but it's not really possible to see from the pictures
how shaky the boat was and how high the waves were...
So when we found the first whale, I was the only one who didn't get up to see it. I was too busy feeling sick. Plus the whale was on the other side of the boat and I didn't want to cross that shaky boat. Again, one of the guides came and convinced me to at least sneak a peek on the sperm whale... :-D He walked with me to the other side of the boat and only left me when I looked at the whale... :-D
Well, I must admit that was pretty cool! It was very close, and even though you can see only a small part of the whale, it is still impressive. And just when I was about to forget my sea sickness, the whale dived back to the bottom of the Sea...
After this, I felt a little bit better. But mostly I called myself names, because I had missed the opportunity to properly see the whale. ;)
Our guides tried to predict the places, where the whales would come up to the surface, by recording their sounds. After we had seen the first whale, the guides enabled the speakers, and we could all hear the clicking sounds of the whales beneath us. That was super cool! And then it didn't take long, and another sperm whale appeared at the surface! And it was on my side of the boat! Then I was finally as excited as I was supposed to be. ;-) It was very impressive!
Ladies and Gentleman, a male sperm whale!! :-)
diving back into the Sea
a cartoon to illustrate what whale parts you are looking at
in the photos above :-D
As soon as this whale went back hunting in the Sea, my sea sickness was miraculously cured as well. I felt totally fine! I walked around on the boat, took pictures. And when they served us the most delicious soup ever, I was eating with big appetite, greatly enjoying being on a boat out on the Sea! It was a little strange that I wasn't feeling sick any more. Some of the other sea-sick people, with whom I had been suffering together, where looking at me as if I had made up all the puking before... ;-) But if you feel better, you don't care for the "why"! :)
beautiful Andenes
After 4-5 hours we arrived back at the harbour. Robert was waiting there for me, and his first question was "Did you puke??". He seemed pleased when I confirmed... :-D
He then invited me to ascend the lighthouse! He'd knew somebody, who would give him the key, and we could climb up, if I wanted to. THE LIGHTHOUSE! :-) I love lighthouses, and of course I wanted to go up! :-)
The evenings before, I had told Robert that it was strange that I was a little bit afraid of heights when hiking - something I had never been before. He probably still had that in mind, because when we were about to climb up, I got a lot of instructions on how to do so. Every other floor, he asked me how I would feel and whether I would need a break... :-D It was a little bit funny, because I had absolutely no problem ascending the lighthouse. But just to do him the favour, I walked and breathed slowly and showed him that I wasn't yet panicking. ;-) Robert was taking his responsibility as a guide - if only for one tourist - very seriously! :-)
The view from the top was awesome. Robert even organised big binoculars, with which I could spy on little fisher boats. :) While we were up there, the whale watching boat went out again, even though the waves were even higher then when we had gone out. The tourists were still happy and laughing - not yet knowing that the sea sickness was already waiting for them... ;-)
After the lighthouse visit it was time to say goodbye to Robert, and I went back to the husky farm. There, I was told that Katrin couldn't go out with my dogs, because one of them had been hiding under the bed when she entered the room, and the other one showed her his teeth and growled threateningly.... I assume Charlie and Stöpsel were really stressed about the huskies around, and that's why they didn't let anybody near them.... I felt quite bad, because I had been away for so long, assuming the boys would be doing well. But after a walk, they were just happy to be reunited with me and fell asleep instantly by my side.
On that evening, I was quite sad that I had to leave Vesterålen the next day. There was still so much more that I would have wanted to see and do on this beautiful archipelago!! I'll definitely need to go back there!!! :-)
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