So off we went in our bleary eyed manner, slightly nervous about what was about to happen. As we arrived we were told that they were on a "motion sickness" warning of medium to high! So we all popped some travel pills just in case. Next, it was like a military operation; they were very slick. First, collect flippers, then wet suit, then mask (if needed, I have a prescription one so I can see), then get changed, then briefing video. About 30 dozy people went though this procedure. After the video, it was onto the buses to get to the boats. It felt like we were navy seals going off for a recon mission! It was quite a bizarre sight and experience.
So at South Bay we got on one of the boats and headed out onto the rough rainy sea. As we got further out to sea our nerves were beginning to flow fast. Then suddenly there were over 20 dolphins around us! The guide shouted "Everyone get to the back of the boat!". We all ran down sitting there ready like soldiers about to go over top. The horn sounded. We all leaped into the water! (Below you can see Dad, with the float, and Ame at the back with the pink snorkel)
The waves were big and a little scary but as we gazed down into the sea abyss we saw dolphins swimming quickly underneath us and they were very close. They seemed to come out of nowhere. It was pretty special! Then the horn sounded again. We all clambered back on the boat with waves hitting us quite hard. The boat buzzed off. Around us were even more dolphins. HORN SOUND! Again, we dived back into the water.
This time even more activity. We were told if you made noise through your snorkel and swam in circles it might interest the dolphins. So everyone was making funny noises. They seemed playful and responsive. Ame had one circling with her at one point! Then the HORN SOUND. This routine happened 3 more times so 5 swims in total.
We had such fun and it was an amazing unique experience I have to admit me and Amy were both sick but I think that was inevitable. Dad's Achilles heal was he was not that confident in the water so he had his yellow float!
Good on you Dad for going for it! He enjoyed it loads and a lot more than he thought he would at 05:30!
After the swims were over, we got changed on the boat. I felt pretty rough at this point. You can see I'm pale as a sheet!
We then located a full pod of about 100 dolphins. We took some pretty cool pictures. It was brilliant to be surrounded by them.
We also saw an albatross which was really cool! They are massive!
As soon as we were back, we had a warm shower and me and Ame had a pretty nice sleep in the van. The water was freezing and after the adrenalin of the event we were tired (Dad couldn't sleep so he went for a walk).
In the afternoon, we had a little walk on the sea front and took some nice moody scenery pictures.
Then for some reason our wonderful camera gave up the ghost. It's little motor it has to power the focus just died. We're looking into getting it on 1 year warranty as this isn't our fault this time! But in the meantime Dad has kindly lent us his camera. Hopefully we'll sort it out fairly quickly.
In the evening we did a mini-pub crawl of Kaikoura and had steak. Needless to say it was an early night. Crazy day.
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