Swimming with dolphins

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Kaikoura, Nov 6 - 11

Swimming with dolphins is something I have wanted to do ever since I can remember and today we did it. What an experience...

Our day started at 4.45am as we had to be at the Dolphin Encounter office at 5.30am. We are not used to getting up so early but soon woke up when it was time to wiggle into our wetsuits - another great fashion moment. During our briefing we were told to sing to the dolphins (underwater and through the snorkel obviously) to attract their interest.

We were soon out on the water looking for the telltale signs of splashing and within 30 mins we had located a huge pod of at least 300 dusky dolphins. It was time to get in the water!

We were both a bit apprehensive before we got on the boat, Simon because he is not a confident swimmer and me because of some irrational fear that the dolphins might attack (I don't know where this nonsense came from). But as soon as we got into the water all our fears disappeared.

You can not imagine what it feels like to look into the eye of a dolphin and swim round in a circle with him holding that eye contact. It is truly spine-tingling.

There were only ten of us on the trip so we had plenty of space in the water and there were more than enough dolphins to keep us entertained. The whole ocean seemed to be full of them. I counted at least 12 in my eyeline at one point. They swam under us, around us, jumped over us - it was amazing. They were so inquisitive and just wanted to come up and take a look at us. They probably think humans are a bit strange because we were all making noises through our snorkels. At one stage I was singing the theme from Flipper but most of the time I was saying 'hello dolphins' in a sing-song voice. Other people were making equally strange noises.

Being in the water was adrenaline-inducing and calming at the same time. Watching the dolphins swimming towards you is such a treat. They are such graceful creatures and they move so fast but they did slow down to come and interact with us. It was such a privilege to be in the water with them. They are, after all, wild animals and if they had wanted they could've just swam off but they stayed with us for the whole time we were in the water. We were in the water on three separate occasions for just over an hour in total. Apparently the usual time is half an hour so we were really lucky.

Dusky dolphins have distinctive black and white markings and we got to see these within touching distance. We were able to make out the different shades on their skin and even scars on some of their bodies. Sometimes they would swim upside down giving us a glimpse of their pristine white bellies. It was phenomenal to be that close and something neither of us will ever forget. Simon says he didn't hyperventilate like he usually does when snorkelling because he was too busy looking at the dolphins to worry about breathing.

It's so difficult to describe what it is like to be looking down into the deep ocean and see shapes looming out of the darkness towards you. It's thrilling and when I was surprised by three dolphins who swam right by my face I actually screamed with excitement.

Once we got out of the water for the last time the cold hit and our fingers became too numb to peel off our booties and wetsuits. It was funny that even though the water was just 12 degrees we didn't notice the cold while we were with the dolphins.

Unfortunately we don't have an underwater camera so didn't get any shots of our swim but maybe it's a good thing that we didn't have a camera to detract from our interaction with the dolphins. It was such a unique experience and it didn't feel like we had been in the water for an hour - the time went so fast because it was just awesome. We got a glimpse of a different world, one that we could never be part of and it was simply magical.

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