I've had to wake myself up and drag myself off the couch to write this, so it may not be the most stylishly written blogpost of the week, and you might have to wait until tomorrow for photos...
Our first main achievement of the day was to hike the Beehive Trail - more of a vertical scramble in places. It was pretty challenging and very satisfying, with great views of Sand Beach from the top.
In the afternoon we made a major trip - out to sea on board a catamaran for a sunset whale-watching adventure. We travelled hard and fast for an hour out of Bar Harbor. I glimpsed a couple of harbour porpoises along the way (blink and you'd miss them). In the middle of the ocean it was hard to imagine seeing anything - but then we saw spouts, and the curving backs of three humpbacked whales!
The three whales (well known to local researchers and our boat crew as Sigma, Breakers and Notchy. The whales are distinguished by the pattern on their fluke or tail fin and some have been known for thirty years or more) stuck around for a long time, searching for food and evidently not at all bothered by the presence of a whole bunch of people staring at them from a big boat. They came up several times, spouted and flapped their tales to dive down again. Yay! Notchy even breached a couple of times.
It was all great fun, though chilly and wet on the deck, especially as the boat plunged through the darkening waves back to the harbour. The Man and I managed to get pretty well soaked. I feel the cold at the best of times, and by the end of the trip I was looking so frozen (even with two jackets on)that a small child I had never seen or spoken to before turned to me and said "You look really cold!" and I had to agree that I really was. I was more than grateful for a hot shower back at the cottage.
So, *yawn*, an exhausting day. But certainly a memorable one.
Have you recovered?
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