While signing up we learned that the dolphins were much more present and playful early in the morning and tend to feed later in the afternoon. Therefore, (because we wanted to get the most out of the experience) we scheduled our snorkel time for 5:30 am, which we soon regretted at 5:00 am the next day. However, we made it on time to the Dolphin Encounter building where we were fitted into wetsuits, flippers, and snorkel gear. We next went on a short bus ride and boarded the boat.
It took about 25 minutes to a see a dolphin, but once we did....They were everywhere!
Doug and I were ecstatic to learn that there were roughly 400-500 dolphins surrounding our boat. Quickly we slid off the back of the vessel and into the ocean.
Within seconds we saw dolphins swimming underneath and all around us!
It was unreal! The dolphins came up so close to us we could have touched them. I just could not believe how many there were. It was one of those moments in life where you think to yourself, " oh my gosh, is this really happening right now?!?" And it was really happening.
There we were in the middle of the ocean, making silly noise in our snorkels (the dolphins were super playful), and swimming in fast circles like a bunch of crazy people trying to keep up with these amazing creatures.
The dolphins we swam with are known as Dusky Dolphins. They are fast, playful, and famous for their repetitive jumps out of the water. Doug and I loved watching them from the boat just as much as we enjoyed playing with them in the water.
In all, we got in and out of the boat three separate times to swim with the duskys. By the third time Doug and I were both exhausted. We slid ourselves back into the boat and took off our gear before rinsing off in hot water. We changed quickly and were given ginger snap cookies and hot chocolate from the crew.
And then it happened...we both got a wee bit sea sick. I spent the remainder of the time sitting in the front of the boat with my eyes closed and my head down. Doug, meanwhile is at the back of the boat nibbling on ginger snap cookies. We basically did the divide and conquer method. We split up to take care of ourselves, because if one of us puked-the other was definitely going to. Looking back swimming in circles while whistling the theme song to jeopardy in my snorkel probably wasn't the best thing. And Doug diving in and out of the water filming with his go-pro probably wasn't his smartest decision. Nevertheless, we had a blast and the dizziness soon subsided. We had a wonderful experience and are thankful to have shared such an adventurous time together.
After the snorkel trip we went back to our hostel and took about a four hour nap. We didn't mean to, but it was necessary after such a crazy morning. Later on we went for a walk to a supposedly "near-by" seal colony (we walked over 6 miles).
We only saw a few seals but it wasn't a total bust. We had great views of the ocean and got to see (a lot) of Kaikoura.
That night we had dinner with our friends Chloe and Danielle whom we unfortunately had to say goodbye to the next day. Side note: my parents actually got to meet Danielle one day while I was face timing them and they accidentally hung up on her (which I found hilarious).
Anyways, Kaikoura proved to be full of marine life and we very much enjoyed spending a couple days there. Kaikoura was our very last stop in the South Island. On February 4th Doug and I took the 3 hour ferry ride to Wellington. Currently we have been in Wellington a few nights and will soon be heading to Taupo. The next blog will be all about our time in Wellington :)
Enjoy your day and be nice to people! :)
Until next time --Doug and I wish you all very happy days.
No comments:
Post a Comment