4/7/10 (kaikoura)
Kiakoura - Hanmer Springs
Epic day. Annie powered through and drove all the way to Kiakoura after arriving for a short while in Christchurch the night before. Kiakoura is an amazing place surrounded by snow capped mountains and located on the Pacific ocean. Kiakoura’s harbor is a unique area because it has a very deep ocean trench that makes it ideal for aquatic sea life including the rare albatross bird, sperm whale, occasional orca, and of course the dusky dolphin. The dusky are quite acrobatic and are know for the summersault flips out of the water and are very playful.
We stayed a very busy Kiwi family park and the morning was a little quieter. We woke up and had breakfast and were then off to the local library to book our hotel near the airport for our final night in New Zealand in Christchurch. When we finished I had to try out my new camera gear I purchased in Christchurch and captured some of the beautiful scenery with a few time lapses. We were then off to the dolphin encounter for our final big New Zealand activity, swimming with the dolphins.
We arrived early and had a quick lunch. Once we checked in they sent us to a room to get some serious wetsuit equipment. The weather was getting pretty cold and this meant the water was going to be chilly. We were a little concerned about Annie because there were no life vests and we would be in really deep water. They did have small paddle boards and that made both of us feel better. They warned us that the water was very choppy and inquired if we were prone to seasickness. After a short safety video, we were off to the bus. We took a short ride to the harbor and they had two boats waiting for us. They weren’t kidding about the choppiness. Our boat was getting blasted with huge swells and I started to get a bit queazy. Fortunately we spotted dolphins quickly and they stopped the boat. The captain sounded the horn to announce the propeller was off and send swimmers in the water. I strapped on my snorkel mask and waddled with my flippers to the edge of the boat to jump in. I was a little hesitant because I knew the water was going to be really cold and after the initial shock I quickly forgot about the temperature. I dipped my head in and five dolphins darted by within three feet of me. We stayed with this pod for about ten minutes as the dolphins took an interest in us and weaved throughout our group of snorkelers. We were instructed not to touch but to make noises to get their interest. It was quite funny hearing everyone as the dolphins checked us out. After a bit, we couldn’t keep up with them and so it was back to the boat to find a new pod.
We repeated this four times and each time you could literally reach out to touch the dolphins as they swam by. The final swim was my best. One particular dolphin took an interest in me as it swam by. We had eye contact for about fifteen seconds as I followed it around and it circled around for another look. I think we became friends on some level and it was a pretty amazing experience I will long remember.
This was a really big moment for Annie after all her hard work learning to swim this past year and she did great. It was very hard for us to stay together while in the water. The waves were quite large and it made it very challenging but she handled it all very well. She got a chance to see many dolphins on her swims. I am very proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and swimming in the deep water with these large animals in the wild. She had a really good experience but by the end of the day the sea water and rocky boat added up and she felt pretty sea sick.
Once back on land, Annie started to feel better and we decided to make a run for Hamner springs. They are know for there hot springs and it was about an hour and a half away from Kaikoura. I am glad we made the trip because the landscape was quite striking as the sun set. We arrived in Hamner springs and found a camp site, quickly ate dinner, and were off to the hot springs. The place was packed and fortunately Annie somewhere in our travels had collected a coupon for a free upgrade to a private pool in the spa. We checked out the regular pools and then spent the rest of the evening in a private pool. It was really nice to get away from the crowd and have a little quite after our big day. When we finished, we were off to our final and very cold night in the the Hippie Camper.
New Zealand, South Island in Daily Adventures
Reader Comments (8)
Yep, I was doing a bit of joking.
Cheers!
No proposal currently because our trip isn't finished here in Australia. We will be off to Asia for further exploration. I will take it under consideration. I am pretty fortunate, she is a wonderful girl.
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