Kyle picks us up at 6:00 AM. We’re going to the town of Hermanus for whale watching on Walker Bay. The drive is normally a half hour, but the Franschhoek Pass is closed for repairs, so we have to take the long way around, two hours each way. The staff at Avondrood has fixed us a breakfast box, and we eat on the road.

It’s another beautiful day, and the weather has been exceptionally warm and sunny during our stay. This is the rainy season, and typically the high temperatures are in the 50’s and low 60’s. Most of our daytime highs have been in the mid 70’s.

As we board the boat in Hermanus, the sun is shining, there’s no breeze, and the water is calm, with only occasional swells. We’ll be looking for Southern Right Whales which migrate each winter from Antarctica to the warmer waters around Southern Africa. There are also occasional Humpback whales and Brydes whales. We might also see pods of dolphins.

The Right Whales give birth during their stay in African waters, nursing the calves until they are strong enough to survive the 3000 mile journey to Antarctica. They don’t feed while in Africa, but they do mate. They survive on the huge stores of blubber they accumulate feeding on plankton and krill in Antarctica.

The boat cruises into Walker Bay, and we can see whitecaps nearer the shore. Then we realize the whitecaps are dolphins rocketing from the water. Hundreds of dolphins.

They start racing with the boat, bodysurfing in our wake. They seem to be having a ball.

The boat glides closer to the shore, now about fifty yards away. The dolphins stay in the deeper water, but there are three Right Whales rolling around in the water- a male, a female and a calf. The whales are huge and the calf is probably fifteen feet long already, and still growing, sustained only on its mother’s milk.

They disappear briefly, then glide up, steamy breath spouting from their blowholes creating rainbows in the air. They seem to be enjoying a day at the beach.

We watch for almost half an hour, then it’s time to go back to the dock. The tour operator has a drone flying overhead, and plays video footage of the dolphins and whales as we head back.

We have lunch at a harbor side restaurant called on the rocks, which is ok, but not great. After our whaling expedition, what could be better than a wine tasting on our way back to Franschhoek? We stop at Hasher Family Wines outside Hermanus. This is a cooler climate close to the sea, and they make very nice Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. The setting once again is spectacular.

After our tasting we continue the long drive back. We drove to Hermanus along the coast, but we’re returning by an inland route through acres of farmland. We see mainly wheat fields, canola fields and sheep farms. The mountains rise in the distance.

Arrived back in Franschhoek we have a dinner reservation at Reuben’s, which is owned by a local chef. It turns out to be great and we enjoy our food. It’s been a long day, and we walk back to Avondrood Guest House and off to bed. The trip is winding down, and we have a free day tomorrow. The day after, we start the long journey home.