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Published: February 10th 2007
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Morning Wood
Glynn admires a nice log in the petrified forest at Curio Bay. Before we left England on this epic adventure, I remember hearing something on the telly about things people would like to do before they die. Not the most cheerful of topics granted but it was interesting to discover that the number one, top of the list thing to do before you die is swim with dolphins. Well, I hope that doesn't mean that Glynn and I are ready to kick the bucket just yet even if today we got to fulill that very dream - yes, we got to swim with dolphins!
Our day began with an enjoyable clambour on the rocks at Curio Bay where fossilised trees from the Jurassic period have been unearthed through gradual erosion by the sea. We honestly weren't expecting much of this petrified forest but it was actually rather interesting. Lying on the bed of rocks was a scattering of timber remains that looked perfectly wooden, even down to the detail in the tree bark but try and touch them and you find they have been completely transformed into stone. Curio Bay covers quite a large area and we must have spent a good hour or so peering at ancient tree stumps, climbing over
Tiny Volcanoes
Actually, they're not mini volcanoes but in fact the remains of some fossilised tree stumps. Fooled you! big boulders and occasionally poking at some odd-looking seaweed that was like a cross between sauerkraut and white grapes. As you do.
Next up was the big event - the moment we got to swim with the dolphins. The weather wasn't brilliant for it but at least it was warm and dry even if it was pretty damn windy. Glynn and I had made up our minds yesterday to come back to Porpoise Bay early in the day to try and have the dolphins all to ourselves but given the freezing temperature of the water, we very nearly didn't go in at all! Knowing that this would probably be the one and only chance we would ever get to swim with dolphins without paying a penny, we put our swimwear on and marched down to the beach with an air of quiet determination. Getting into the water was no easy task and it must have taken us a good 10 minutes to coax our bodies in to at least waist height. I felt as if I was going to develop with hyperthermia at any moment but somehow I knew I had to keep going. We finally emerged ourselves up
Look At Me, Mum!
Glynn declares his love of all things fossilised. to chest height .....and waited.
To our chagrin, another bloke and a German girl saw what we were intending to do and both joined us in the water. We were a bit miffed at first because we had been hoping to enjoy this experience on our own but just then, the first of the little Hectors Dolphins came swimming over for a closer look at these crazy humans in the ice-cold sea. Hectors Dolphins are the smallest in the world, measuring only about 1.5 metres when fully grown. They are also some of the rarest dolphins with only about 2,000 thought to be left in the wild. Porpoise Bay apparently is also the only place in the entire world where there is a resident family of dolphins and this year, they had a baby!
At any one time there were two or three dolphins darting about and surfing the waves in and around the four of us. They would come really close, to within a metre of one of us (we were all spread out so as not to crowd the little fellas), and then swim off and frolick about in the bay for a bit before returning
Barking Up the Wrong Tree
It looks like wood but feels like stone. Spooky. to the crazy humans again. A group of 3 dolphins took a particular shine to Glynn and circled him a few times coming close enough that he could have reached out and stroked them; the baby dolphin even swam right around his legs! When the other two people eventually got out of the water, Glynn and I managed to brave the cold a little while longer so we could get some alone time with our new friends. Glynn then got out of the water before me so that I could experience the dolphins up close completely on my own (isn't he the best husnad?). It was an overwhelmingly magical experience and I don't mind admitting that I was crying tears of joy at being so close to these friendly wild animals. There's no doubt in my mind that swimming with dolphins really should be top of the list of things to do before you die :-))))
When we finally dragged ourselves away from the beach, we faced the weary search for somewhere to camp again. Heading south, we drove to a campsite marked on our map that turned out to be a scout camp. Unfortunately, neither of us had
Gale Force
Poor Jude on the receiving end of Glynn's gastric delights. remembered to pack our scout uniforms for the round the world trip so we had to move on. Leaving the Catlins, we made for the very bottom of South Island searching unsuccessfully for somewhere free to park at Tiwai Spit, Bluff and Omaui. We travelled a hell of a long way and with all our ideas exhausted, we finally admittted we would have to pay for a site in the city of Invercargill.
The Timber Tops campsite was lovely and the facilities almost brand new. The heavy rain that had set in as we left the Catlins followed us into Invercargill but luckily let up in time for us to take a wander into the city centre in the evening. Back at the campsite, we got chatting to a really friendly Geordie chap who had been rescued by emergency helicopter from Stewart Island to the mainlaind after his brother sprained his ankle on a wilderness trek. Ouch. The rain kicked in again later on, but not even that could dampen our spirits because today we got to swim with dolphins!
P.S. Sorry that there's no photos of us swimming with the dolphins - the sea was just too choppy to risk taking a camera into the water with us :-(
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Linda
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Hooray!
Hooray for dolfins! We saw some in America, but the captive kind you see interacting with humans who are studying/playing. How utterly cool to get close to wild ones! Shame about the lack of photos - guess that's one experience which will have to be retained in memory and words.