Boats, boats and more boats!

Boats, boats and more boats!

It is always a special week here at Cottage by the Sea when we welcome schools from the regions devastated by Black Summer bushfires. This week was no different and we had plenty of special activities on the program. Each day we had a group out on the beautiful Port Phillip Bay, our first boat trip was the boys fishing trip. They braved the cold wind and rain showers to chase some whiting with skipper Chris from Gone Fishing charters. They didn’t catch as much as they hoped but everyone managed to reel in at least one fish!

On the Wednesday, we had a picture perfect afternoon on ‘Maureen’ the Sea all Dolphin charter boat. Not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind. We were on the hunt for dolphins early and sailed across the bay looking. We reached the ‘Chinaman’s Hut’ where the Australian fur seals live, this was our first snorkel stop.

The seals were extra playful today and were swimming right underneath us as we snorkelled around the hut. As we drove to our next spot along the Mornington Peninsula we all participated in the boats activities, including ducks bath off the back of the boat, relaxing on the net, rope surfing and jumping of the roof. These were all a highlight for most!

On the journey home we stopped past the famous ‘Pope’s Eye’ reef for our last snorkel. There were thousands of colourful fish and someone spotted an eel hiding amongst the kelp.

Our last boat trip for the week was the girls fishing trip, they were on a mission to catch more fish than the boys and did they ever! The girls arrived back with around 60 squid! Bags and bags full. They had so much fun reeling in the huge squid and watching them squirt ink all over each other as they entered the boat. The girls had so much fun and enjoyed eating all of the calamari for lunch. YUM.