Like the Dolphins Who Guide You. . .

So, the Dolphin Encounter in Kaikoura might have rocketed to the top of my favorite activity of the trip so far (although, frankly, it is competing with several great activities in the Queenstown area).  It's number one in Carol's book

And this is not some “get in a large pool and swim with a dolphin or two” activity like at a Carribean or Disney resort.  This is swimming in the ocean (wearing a wet suit because it’s too cold otherwise) with 80-100 dusky dolphins zipping and cavorting around you.

It’s a magical experience and one that anyone who comes to New Zealand has to do.  This is a six star out of five activity.  Again, this is NOT Disney’s dolphin stuff (not that we’ve ever done this).  This is real, this is wild, and it is amazing.

(It also has the capacity to be very disappointing.  The dolphins are not fed, not touched, not trained.  So, they might not show.  But, at least you get nearly a full refund if there are no dolphins.  Interestingly, both Matthias the German and the fellow from Paris I talked with had been in Kaikoura recently to do the dolphin trip, but it was cancelled due to bad weather or rough seas.)

Anyhow, going back to the beginning of the day, Christchurch added insult to injury because the hotel served us the most underwhelming meal we’ve had in New Zealand.  The good news is, it was only breakfast.  The bad news is, it was pretty darn bland.

Getting out of the city in the morning was much easier than getting into it the night before.  We were heading north on the aptly named North Road.  The Christchurch city limits are quite large geographically, and it is funny to see farms inside the “city” of 336,000 people (give or take).

The drive down was pretty – more snowcapped mountains, winding hills, plenty of large sheep stations with a million lambs and sheep, some cattle, and a few horses.  We passed some wineries (sorry, Reid, didn’t stop!).  I stopped for gas at a small petrol station in the middle of no where – had a nice chat with the owner about the NZ banking system’s superiority to the US.  I did point out (because I just remembered) that US banks want to switch to the chip/PIN system, but the restaurants and retailers are resisting.  It was a pleasant chat about nothing.

The last 20 or so miles into Kaikoura were a roller coaster until we got to the coast – and then it was an amazing drive along the Pacific on one side and sheer cliffs on the other.

Here’s a sentence you can’t write in California – I’m sitting here writing, watching the sun come up over the Pacific Ocean!  And, to the North along the coast are a series of stunning snow-capped mountains.  I am not sure this scene exists anywhere else in the world – snow capped mountains right next to the sea.  Think of a Coors commercial with the ocean too.  I will post some pictures.

Anyhow, we pulled into Kaikoura and found the cottage we are renting for two nights.  It’s connected to another house and an art gallery, although it is very private here.  The views from the back deck are stunning (see previous paragraph).  Kaikoura is as pretty a small town as we’ve ever been in.  It’s a notch below Queenstown, but not far.  Take notes if you are going to NZ – Kaikoura is CERTAINLY worth two to three nights.

According to the NZ gov’t website, 3,621 people live in Kaikoura – so it is MUCH smaller than Qtown.  The entire region is just 0.1% of New Zealand’s population  We relaxed for a few minutes (let’s not get carried away) at the cottage, before heading down to the dolphin encounter.

The cottage has no doors on the two bedrooms – although there are privacy (pronounced “priv-a-sea” NOT “pry-va-sea”) screens.  Even the shower has no door.  We can certainly work around it, and it is quite charming.  The best part is the deck, which overlooks the town, the ocean, and snowcapped mountains!

I had been purposely vague with Carol and Maddy about how cool this dolphin activity could well turn out to be.  I’ve included the link so you can check it out.

First, in the centre, they call you into the back, where they handed each of us flippers, water gloves (still soaking wet), a pullover hood, and booties – all wetsuit-esque.  Then we get our wetsuit, go into the changing room, and put everything on to make sure it fits.  We left the wetsuit on, and tromped to the briefing room for the film/powerpoint that walked us through the time on water.

We did not have time to eat the lamb pies we ordered – lunch wouldn’t be until we were back at the cottage at 4:30.  I’ve never had my dad’s saying – “the rich eat late and so do we” apply at lunch so many times as it has in NZ (the glacier hike, which I still have to write about, also applied).

The film gave tips on attracting dolphins – either dive, make noise/sing through your snorkel, or circle with them, maintaining eye contact.  It also stressed that there is no guarantee of seeing dolphins, or of getting into the water.  However, the seas were characterized as “slight to moderate” for the afternoon, which was perfect.

We tromped out to the shuttle bus, carrying a million things and moving slowly.  That’s where I met Matthias the German and we chatted for the relatively short bus ride (ten minutes max) over to the southside of the peninsula, where the boats are.

They have two boats, and assigned us to one.  We hopped on board and headed out.  The views from the water of the mountains, and the water birds, was stunning.  We saw multiple albatross, as well as giant petrels, seagulls (okay, nothing special there), and other sea birds I’ve never seen before.

Then the boat slowed down, and we saw the dolphins knifing through the water.  The skipper cut the engine, and we all went it.

Describing the beauty and majesty with words can’t do it justice.  Words fail me.  The dolphins zipped and played around us.  Sometimes it was one, sometimes 10-12 dolphins would fly past.  Maddy had her Go Pro with her – hopefully she got some good pictures (she left the cable for downloading in Sydney).

We had been advised to keep our hands/arms at our sides, I did most of the time.  I didn’t try to touch them (that understandably scares them off, which would be counterproductive), although sometimes I found myself using my arms to spin or change direction.  I spun with some dolphins for a while, but had less than zero interest in diving.

As advised to do, I hummed, made strange noises, and even sang to the dolphins.  The song?  Hail Calypso, of course!  The first few times I sang it (remember, this is through the snorkel, so my historically bad singing was probably even worse, although it may have been better than normal!) dolphins flocked to me.  It stopped working after a bit though.

Anyhow, we had four times in the water.  For me, the first two were the best – the number of dolphins was incredible.  Each time the captain would sound the whistle to return to the boat was disappointing.  The third time was a washout – I didn’t see a single dolphin, and the skipper called us back quickly.  Part of the problem was that my mask was suddenly leaking the third time, so I was futzing with that for a bit.  By the time I started looking, the dolphins, like Elvis, had left the building.

The fourth time was much better than the third, although I didn’t think as good as the first two.  Maddy said her experience on the fourth time in the water was really good.  On the way back to the boat after the return whistle, I had three swim right underneath me, so the dolphins weren’t ready for us to leave.

Everyone on the boat enjoyed it very much.  I got to talk to Carol for the first time since before we got in the water the first time.  She loved it, and even saw a seal.  (There is a swim with the seals experience here as well, but I opted for the dolphins.  Wish now that we signed up for both!)

We then changed out of the wet suits and gear, and followed the dolphins so we could take some pictures.  I took far too many photos – they jumped and spun and did backflips for us.  Even if that’s all we did, the adventure was fabulous, but swimming with dusky dolphins in the wild is a sublime experience none of us will ever forget.

They gave us more time to follow and photo the dolphins than we expected.  Finally, it was time to return to port.  All three of us agreed that it exceeded expectations, as did the others I talked to.

After we came back and had a late lunch, Maddy and I took a walk/hike along the peninsula, first up top and then down through a field.  Her efforts to entice a sheep or lamb over so she could pet it failed miserably.  Apparently they are afraid of people.  Or of overenthusiastic blonde 20 year olds who think petting a lamb in NZ is a birthright.

We were afford beautiful views back across the bay of the mountains, and the hike had its strenuous uphill moments.

After a shower and a glass of Pinot (the Madeleine from Aurum) we headed to the Green Dolphin for dinner.  Alas they were sold out of the crawfish (which is the NZ word for lobster) by the time we got there for our half past seven reservations.

We headed back to the cottage and read for a bit before calling it an early night.