After my whirlwind trip around the North Island, I made the crossing from Wellington through the Marlborough sounds, arriving in my home for the next month: The South Island. As I’ve mentioned, the South Island is meant to be the more beautiful of the two. We’ll see about that…
I arrived in sleepy Kaikoura in the afternoon, struck by the massive mountains that loom over the rocky coast. Tucked in the shadow of the mountains lies a town known for both its sea life and seafood. Dolphins, Whales, Seals, and Crayfish are the main draws of the area, and, walking into my hostel, I’d given in to the reality that my lack of planning ahead was going to cost me my chance to do something that’d been on many previous versions of my bucket list: Swim with wild dolphins. While all the tours were booked for the foreseeable future, I was given a glimmer of hope as the hostel receptionist called in to put me on the wait-list. Fingers crossed for good weather and cancellations.
As I walked the coastline out to the seal colony the following morning, I received the call I’d been hoping for. A spot had opened up in the next tour, an hour from now. Naturally, I was 45 minutes out of town, so a brisk (and sweaty) walk was required to make it back in time to hop on the boat and head out to sea.
I’ve been having a difficult time putting words to the euphoria I felt being dropped into a pod of well over 100 dolphins swimming, jumping, and back-flipping all around me. Nearly the entire time in the water, I was border-line hyperventilating trying to keep up with each passing cluster of the happiest animals in the world. At one point, I began spinning in circles, only to have one of my new-found friends follow my twirls for a couple rounds before deciding it was time to leap a few feet out of the water and move on to the next party. The raucous was never-ending, as each time I assumed the dolphins had moved on, I’d pop my head out of the water to see an onslaught of fins headed my way. Pure elation is really the only way I can describe my state of mind.
After being called back to the boat, we watched the pod from a new vantage point, a front row seat to the endless spectacle of flips, spins, and jumps that seem to be the only items on these creatures’ daily agendas.
And I thought I had it good...