Wollongong, Australia - Whale Watching Cruises

A little further south of Australia's Minnamurra Rainforest Center, there is something that children the world over are thrilled by. Dolphins at play.

Take the Baywatch Explorer cruise on their catamaran and go in search of some of the 70 bottlenose dolphins who live in Jervis Bay, an area six and a half times the size of Sydney Harbor.

You can feel the excitement of adults and children alike as the dolphins are spotted, and hear the little ones' shrieks as two of these playful creatures ride the bow wave of our boat.

This cruise takes you to Point Perpendicular with its 100 year old lighthouse, along the shoreline past spectacular sandstone cliffs with sea caves going in up to a hundred meters. These caves and the crystal clear water make the bay the second most popular scuba diving spot in Australia after the Great Barrier Reef.

From June to November the whale watching cruises follow the magnificent creatures as they migrate along the coastline. Visitors to Huskisson can see Timbery's Aboriginal Gallery where they make boomerangs, didgeridoos, spears and shields. You might even see David painting a wooden pelican.

Having communed with nature in the parks and waters of this beautiful Australian region, experience another sort of peace on your return to Wollongong at the Nan Tien Temple - the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere, it attracts 200,000 visitors a year. Its rust colored curved roofs and towering pagoda make an impressive sight from a distance.

Inside the Great Hero Shrine sit five large colored Buddhas representing wealth, beauty, long life, confidence and calmness. Around the walls are 10,000 smaller Buddhas signifying the universal nature of mankind.

Accommodation is available at the Pilgrim Lodge and the dining hall, open to the public, serves a vegetarian smorgasbord.

Within two hours of Sydney, Wollongong and the near south coast provide a chance to escape from the everyday and to experience a calmness which renews the spirit.

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Article copyright © Bruce Holmes
More information on Bruce Holmes, Internationally published Australian freelance travel writer and photographer. He can be contacted about commissioned travel articles and photography at bruce@bruceholmestravel.com