Home » New Zealand » Flipper, eat your heart out!

I broke a new personal record last night, sleeping in a 28 bed dorm. Packing us in like sheep, I felt used and degraded, ah but it was cheap, so who cares?! I challenge anyone to find a larger dorm. It was in Picton, the gateway to the South Island, surrounded by the picturesque Marlborough Sounds. I got the ferry over a few days ago, meant to be one of the most scenic in the world, and I wouldn't doubt it, drifting past the numerous sheltered bays and inlets of the wooded Sounds. It's a big transport route, and whole trains even chug onboard the ferries to make the crossing.

Flipper, eat your heart out!

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 18:15:14

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surrounded by the beautifully ambient Kaikouras Mountains. There was just one main reason for stopping here - it's one of only 5 places in the world that has an underwater canyon (>1500m) so close to the shore, which means lots of flippers, which in turn means lots of humans making fools of themselves in the water to attract the flippers. Being fully booked, I was hanging on by a waiting list, but fortunately being one of the few to have the patience to check for cancellations, ended up being one of these humans.

What an experience! As I write this, I'm still on a high from swimming with them. The weather was perfect, the sea calm, and coming to near-shore was a 200-strong pod of Dusky Dolphins. Found only in the Southern Hemisphere, the Dusky Dolphin is of the toothed variety of cetacean known as Odontocetes (keep up at the back), which includes the sperm whale and are known as the aerobatic leaders of their species. No one really knows for sure why (sexual attraction, shedding skin, disturbing fish, an itch, for fun etc) but boy did they love doing jumps and backflips. It was a sight to behold just watching them from the boat.

Then, donning our very sexy wetsuits, we dove in and swam into the thick of the pod. It must've been a funny sight from the boat, not only in watching us spin round in circles in the water, but for the squeeking noises we were all making to attract the dolphins to us. It was probably a practical joke the crew say to us naive tourists, but it seemed to work, and at times I would have up to 5 dolphins swimming round me in circles, curious and playful, as I try and keep up and dive down with them. It was truly mesmerising, seeing these most graceful of mammels up close, and left me speechless, which as most of you will know, doesn't happen very often.

The rest of the 2 days in Kaikoura somewhat pailed in comparison, but were still active, walking round the Peninsula catching close glimpses of albatrosses and seals. Lots of photos again, sorry, but in a place like this, it would be a crime not to. As this is my last blog before Christmas, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and hope you all stuff yourself full of chocolate and mince pies. I'll personally be in Mount Cook National Park, so will probably be feeling a little lonely out here (*little violin plays*), but before that I have a driving experience with a difference to attend to in Christchurch.....

Best Wishes, Simon x