Kaikoura, 180km north of Christchurch and home to an abundance of sea life, including whales, dolphins, seals, penguins and sea birds aplenty. The seabed slopes gradually from the shore to a depth of about 90m before plunging to more than 800m and, as the warm and cold currents converge, it brings nutrients up from the ocean floor, providing a lovely feeding ground for marine life to take advantage of.
We’re here for the dolphin tour which we’ve booked with Dolphin Encounter (www.dolphin.co.nz) . I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins in the wild and this is my chance but I’m somewhat put off when I’m told that I’ll be give a wetsuit, hood, two pairs of gloves and two pairs of (wetsuit) socks to wear and given hot chocolate to drink when we get out of the water. Hmm, sounds like it’s going to be just a little too cold for me, so I opt out of the swimming and decide to just take the dolphin-watching tour from the warmth of the boat instead.
There’s 30 of us on the boat and only 9 of us not swimming, so while the others get fitted up with snorkels and flippers, we keep our eyes peeled for the dusky dolphins that frequent these waters. Within 20 minutes of leaving shore, we’re all yelping with excitement as we spot first a couple behind us, then half a dozen to the side of us and then a huge pod leaping about just a couple of hundred feet in front of us. Our boat pulls up alongside the main pod and blows its horn to let the swimmers know they’re to get out. One after another they plop into the water as the dolphins swim around them…and then zoom off into the opposite direction. The horn blows again and 21 be-goggled swimmers clamber back into the boat. We race after the pod and pull up alongside them some minutes later, the horn blows, the swimmers plop into the water…and the dolphins zoom off again. We can’t help but laugh as we’re treated to the most amazing sight of 150 dolphins swimming past us, as 21 cold swimmers haul themselves back into the boat again.
I’ve seen dolphins before but never this many all together. It’s the most amazing sight as they leap up out of the water and then swim along the bough of the boat, just 3 feet below where we’re standing. A whale-spotting plane spots the pod and circles several times to get an aerial view of the spectacular display and huge royal albatross and petrels join in the swooping around.
We spend a good couple of hours out with the dolphins; the swimmers have been in and out of the water at least half a dozen times and they finally emerge blue around the extremities but looking extremely exhilarated. I’m still convinced I made the right decision to stay on board as I watch them rubbing fingers and toes for the rest of the journey back to shore, trying to get some feeling back.
One of the crew has told us where to get the best crayfish, direct from the fisherman, but we had no idea the setting was also going to be so spectacular. As we follow the curve of the road alongside the sea, we spot a few tables and chairs and a small stall selling, amongst other things, fresh crayfish. The fisherman’s wife cooks us up 2 crayfish, smeared with garlic butter and we sit at the edge of the sea with a wood fire to keep us warm, watching the sun go down as we eat slurp our delicious crayfish and wash it down with a glass of wine. What a perfect day.
With full bellies and happy hearts, we drive a short way to the end of the peninsular and spot seals lazing on the rocks. What we didn’t spot, as we walked along the grass verge, was the seals putting themselves to bed under the bushes and Ruby and I nearly jumped out of our skins as one roared at us, just a couple of feet away. That was us warned off.
We’re back to Christchurch for just one night and a bit of luxury at the 5 star Millennium Hotel before our morning flight to Auckland, North Island.
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