Swimming with the Dolphins

Hey everyone!

We drove to Kaikoura yesterday and woke up this morning to go on our "Dolphin Encounter" tour...they suited us up in wetsuits and snorkels and flippers and took us WAY out in the ocean. And we would literally just find a pod of Dusky dolphins and they would be like - get out of th boat fast!!! So we would all get in and swim in the middle of 40 - 50 dolphins!!!! It was INSANE!!! It is so hard to descride because it was just the coolest thing EVER :)

The crew tells you to make noise so it's hysterical all 15 ppl we were swimming with are making squealing noises through their snorkels :) The point is to entertain the dolphins so they want to hang around us. They don't use any bait to get them to come close - it is all about seeing them in their natural environment.

Then they dolphins would swim away and we would follow them in the boat and then do it all over again :)!

After about 5 swims, we changed out of our FREEZING wetsuits and started the hunt for Orca or Killer Whales. We saw about 6 of them!!! They usually don't do whale watching on the tour but our guide was awesome so with a little bit of pleading from us, he gave in :)

If you EVER get a chance to swim with the dolphins - DO IT!!! I can't get over how awesome it was!

Next up - Queen Charlotte Track. It's a 3 day hike so I might be out of pocket for a few days but I'll be back with pictures and more adventures to share :)!

Love,
Alley