Kaikoura

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We first by passed Kaikoura on the way south to christchurch for the cricket....which we won't talk about in much detail...ahem. On the way down we booked our activities to do for the next week as its all very popular at the moment!

Coming back up the beautiful east coast of the South Island we headed back to Kaikoura. We had booked 4 nights stay in a back packers in town so we could get everything done. The first day we were up at 8.30 to go swimming with seals. We were amazed at how cheap it was, only 33 pounds. We were taken along the coastline to a boat that would go to the seal colony. We all jumped off the sides of the boat with our snorkling gear and full head-to-toe wetsuit to get closer to the seals. Most were sunbathing on a rock and occasionally some would jump into the water to cool down. This is when we could swim next to them and see them most clearly. They weren't bothered by us swimming with them, even though they were totally wild! Jumping from the boat into the sea was quite a shock to say the least but it was an amazing morning!

The next day we went whale watching. On average the trips see 1-2 sperm whales but we were lucky enough to see 4!! They were massive and our boat cruised along side them so we could get some good shots including the famous tail shot when they dived!! They only surface for 10-15 mins at a time and dive for up to 50 mins after so we were really lucky to see 4 in the 3 hours we were on the boat...

The third day was the dreaded 5.00am wake up to go swimming with the wild dusky dolphins, only native to the southern hemisphere. Once on the boats with the sunrising in the background, we were split into 2 groups. Luckily we were in the first and got our gear on and climbed on the back of the boat ready and waiting for the siren blast that told us to jump in! The captain drove us near the pod of dolphins and when the blast went we all jumped in and swam to meet the dolphins. It was incredible, they we all swimming around us completely unfazed by our presence coming really close to us!!! The crew told us to try and get their attention by making funny noises through our snorkel and when one came near us to spin round or dive down and they would try to immitate us. The whole experience was one of a kind and we both loved it, on top of that the sea was nice and warm!!! Definitely a highlight so far.

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Photos

Mine...mine...mine
Scary seagulls that would try and take our lunch!

Dusky Dolphin
Known as the acrobats of the sea...

Comments

[John]

Dusky!
Been too jealous to look on here too often, but the occassional check shows me you're doing well and having a great time! The Dusky dolphins were probably one of mine and Heathers favourite too - absolutely amazing. Have a great last week!