Akaroa - Dolphin Swim

Dolphin Day :)

sheep and view

Akaroa today to swim with the dolphins. Really scenic drive; through countryside that really reminded me of the Lake District. Lots of green hills and sheep and we went past Lake Ellesmere... I am sure there is one of those up in the Lakes??

The view down into the bay was stunning. It is a huge crater from a volcano, filled with green hills and the inlet from the sea. The town itself is French inspired and very pretty.

I must admit I am not a fan of wetsuits but they do come in very handy when the water is only 15 degrees and make you nice and buoyant. We went out into the harbour area where the hector dolphins come in to be nosey and play with the tourists. They are the smallest and rarest dolphins in the world and can only be found in New Zealand. They are wild and you are only allowed to swim with them if they like the look of you and give the right playful indications. It was good that the company make sure the dolphins want to interact with humans before letting 10 wetsuit clad bods into the sea!

Lake District?

We had a fantastic time floating about and watching them swim past, they liked it if you made noise and came up quite close to everyone in our group. Back on the boat after about 30 mins in the water (as the dolphins decided it was their feeding time again and went off to find fish and less weird looking people probably)

Our skipper had a radio call from the other boat out at the same time that their group was swimming with 10 dolphins, so we went to see and had a great display from this pod. On the way back to shore there were 2 swimming in the waves created by the other boat and we had a fantastic view of one doing a huge flip in the air. ..... once in a lifetime experience. AWESOME!

Lucy, Me and Hector

Hector and a seal :)