Dolphin Glee
I entered the South Island, exited the ferry and had every intention of completing the 6-7 hour drive to Christchurch–a destination. Instead, a couple hours down the road I became sleepy, or bored, or impressed with the scenery, or just distracted, and stopped in Kaikoura. I’ve been here almost 5 days. Five days for biking, walking, sunning, watching surf competition, chatting. Today, however I finally completed the main aspiration that kept me hanging on–SWIMMING WITH THE DOLPHINS. Too many other travelers gushed in foreign accents about this experience for me to pass it up. I was on the waitlist for two days. I almost went yesterday. Unbendable wetsuit squeezed on, intro video watched, and then they cancelled due to relentless winds. So, wetsuit peeled off and I was rescheduled for today. Today—glorious, sunny, smooth teal waters, and HUNDREDS OF DOLPHINS. They tell you that “you are the entertainment” for the dolphins and forget to mention how hard the people on deck will be laughing. Our snorkels spouted coos, catcalls and trills; our butts in the air as we tried to be “dolphin-like.” And, for the most part, it worked. I played circle games with a few dolphins until I was too dizzy to keep up. Another swam right at me, suggesting a blunt-nosed collision, then slid right under my body. At times there were hundreds around us, busy with their flipping and finning, at other times you only saw empty water until 5 darted around you…. Amazing. If reincarnation is true…..
Tags: kaikoura, New Zealand
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