Day 61

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I went for a "dolphin encounter" with a guy from the bus. I did encounter many, many dolphins (thank god - it was very expensive). We arrived at the centre and were kitted up in full length wetsuits (with little hoods for your head) along with flippers and snorkels. We then sat in afore-mentioned wetsuits for about an hour total (before finally getting in the water). There was a safety briefing (my favourite advice was: don't try and breathe underwater). Then we were driven to the right harbour (not the obvious one in front of us, of course). Then there was a 20 minute trip to get to the pod of dolphins (where they had last seen them). There were about five HUNDRED dolphins. Literally, everywhere you looked there were dolphins. They are dusky dolphins, and are known for their acrobatics... Which means that they were jumping up all over the place, very exciting.

The way it works was that all the people snorkelling lined up along the back of the boat. When a horn blared, everyone quickly had to slip into the water and look down to see the dolphins (although you could also look sideways). We had to make dolphin-like noises to attract their attention and try and behave like dolphins. Also, looking them in the eye can make them stop and examine you closer. They are totally wild, so it's all about you entertaining them to try and get them to stay and play. At first I was a bit scared. They're pretty big and I was worried they would gang up on me and bump into me, or hurt me by accident. They obviously don't though. After they have all passed (don't try swimming after dolphins, they're pretty fast) we get back on the boat and get re-released into the water in the middle of them again, after repositioning. We did this routine about 5 or 6 times (by the end of which I was more than ready for a nap). It was only after about the 3rd time that I felt comfortable and confident. I swam around humming "Yellow Submarine" and playing with the dolphins. If you look them in the eye, they start swimming round you, and you follow them round and round in a circle until one of you gets bored / gets water in your snorkel and nearly drowns. It was fantastic fun. The dolphins were close enough to touch but I didn't because:
a) If I were a dolphin I wouldn't want to be touched
b) They are wild - don't touch them.

We had cups of hot chocolate and ginger biscuits back on the boat. That evening I just chilled with people from the bus, we watched a film but all fell asleep about half an hour in - we're such crazy young people. Tonight I'm back in Wellington - my favourite. I'm going to go out for drinks with some good friends, then tomorrow I'm going to go present shopping. I've got so little time left in New Zealand - but I'll definitely, DEFINITELY come back here.

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Comments

[MAE]

Great great great
Wonderful report.