A day to remember

So, yesterday was a huge day. Finally, after years of dreaming about it I would finally get to do it and probably also at the best place in the world for this kind of activity, Kaikoura.
We set off early in the morning, after Donna, Nathe and Donna's uncle picked me up we went to Jucy Rental at the airport, to pick up our hot wheels for the day. A tiny, red Daihatsu with a not so impressive no of horsepower under the hood.
Anyway, it would transport us the 150 something k's to Kaikoura from Christchurch and me and Donna liked the color. Which is possibly the most important quality to look for when browsing he vehicle djungle.

As we (slowly) made our way through winding mountain roads to Kaikoura we started to worry a bit (well, me and Nathe did, Donna was enjoying a series of dates with Mr Sandman in the backseat) about the weather. As we approached our destination the clouds had gathered and formed a grey mass of boredom and perhaps even shattered dreams.
Me and Donna had already clearly indicated that we would be heartbroken if the weather would put a stop to our plans.

As we entered the office, we anxiously asked the staff whether our boat was going out or not. Luckily it was, however including a strong seasickness warning due to some big swells out on the ocean. Eagerly assuring them of our great swimming abilities and endurance, we agreed to go on the boat and pay the 130 dollars, plus one dollar for seasickness pills.However, Nathan didn't something he would deeply regret...

After an informative film about the events to come and how t make the most of it, we finally got on the bus that was gonna bring us to the boat.

A few minutes into the boatride we realised that they hadn't exaggerated the size of the swells, and some people were already looking for the buckets so to speak, but somehow that braught us all closer together I guess.
After a 40 minute search, just as I was starting to get nervous we wouldn't find them, we were suddenly surrounded by them. The acrobats of the sea. Our playmates of the day (and no, don't even let Hefner cross your mind here). The lovely, charming and playful Dusky dolphins!
I must have presented the biggest smile in the southern hemisphere. The dolphins were literally making the sea look like a boiling pot, their numbers being well above 200. And we got to jump straight into it!

Before I got in the water, I had to stop for a moment, and take a look around. The dusky dolphin is the most acrobatic one, also very curious and playful. All around me I could see them doing somersaults, backflips, sideway jumps and what not. It was so amazing!

As soon as i got in the water I could se several of them, suddenly coming up from underneath me, from left to right, from right to left and also towards me. They would circle around me for a bit, then disappear into the blue just to be replaced by other curious dolphins. They were as close as 20-30 centimetres and if we would have been allowed to I could easily have touched them.

The guides at Dolphin Encounter Kaikoura are all marine biologists or have similar education and training and are really looking after the marine life in this area, which is quite unique, because of a continental shelf that's really close to the shore and therefore creates a very nutrient rich environment for whales, seabirds and dolphines.
They told us a number of times that these dolphins are wild, not trained and are not in an enclosed area, therefor there are no guarantees and if they don't want to play there's nothing to do. We were also told that we were the ones who had to entertain the dolphins and keep their interest up, rather than the other way round. So they taught us some good tricks in order to do so.
(Of course the wannabe in me saw an opportunity to get a crowd going, I don't mind if they're a bunch of krill-eating rubber-mammals!)
Making funny sounds in the snorkel, swimming in circles, diving down and try to be dolphin-like was a few. I felt a bit intimidated and also too astonished to do any of that at first. Therefore the dolphins probably found me boring and went on to the next attraction. After about 5-10 minutes they had left our group to go look at another boat, and we had to get up in the boat again to follow them. We did this about four times in total, once again reminded that they are wild and do as they please!
The last time I went in I decded to put on a good show for the little dolphin that was checking me out. I started doing somersaults (kullerbyttor) in the water, spinning around, and diving down (which was easier said than done because the buoyancy of the thick wetsuit would bring me up quickly!). Suddenly I realised I had 5-6 dolphins circling right below and around me, and I could really see that they were wondering what kind of weirdo I was, they were really curious as I kept refining my routine..
For some reason they stayed with me for several minutes and I just can't begin to put this feeling of interaction in words. It's just mindblowing. I felt like I had a connection with the coolest animals in the world and felt so honoured that they chose to spend some time with me and give me all their attention. However, I couldn't help but feeling a touch of performance anxiety, as I hade these five intelligent mammals watching me, waiting for my next funny move. I just didn't want them to get bored with me!

When I came back up to the surface, one of the guides had seen the whole thing and congratulated me on a really good swimming experience!
I almost thought I would faint from the excitement, and couldn't really speak as I got up on the boat.



After about an hour with the dolphins we were given hoses to put down the wetsuit, giving us a nice warm shower to warm up. The water was about 15 degrees, but I couldn't even feel the cold. I was too absorbed by these amazing creatures!

As we were changing into dry, warm clothes, we could see the dolphins jump around, following the boat and it was probably the best cup of hot chocolate I've enjoyed in my life. The captain took us to a nursery spot, where the mothers and calves hang out to rest during day time. It's the middle of the mating season now and the baby dolphins were so cute.

On the way back we also got to see fur seals chilling beside the boat, as well as the biggest albatross, with a wing span of a staggering 3,7 metres.
Altogether, yesterday made it all the way to the top three of my most memorable moments list.

I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!
For film clips, check out my youtube account. For some reason I didn't take many pictures. I was too busy enjoying, imagine that. Guess I've lost my Japanes mojo?


(The boat we went on)

Today I'm just chilling in Christchurch, at 5am tomorrow morning I have to take the bus to the airport and fly to Auckland.


Au revoir!