Despite having a little too much to drink last night, I manage to get up in time for my swimming with dolphins trip, for which I have to get to the ‘Dolphin Encounter’ office / shop for 5:30. I will be a dolphin swimmer with a hangover, though I suppose the sea water will perk me up.
Out on the boat, which is full of a party of university age girls from Denmark, we quickly come across a large pod of dusky dolphins. There must be at least 150 of them, and they don’t just jump out of the water in a merry dance, many of them do full 180° plus back flips and 360° somersaults. At about two metres, they are larger than hector dolphins, but not as large as bottlenoses, which I imagine are nowhere near as acrobatic these are. Why are they so displaying? It may be a form of flirting with the females, as scientists have discovered that males do a lot more of the acrobatics than females. It may just be play. It may be that they do it just because they can.
I have hired an underwater camera for the trip. We are kitted out in wetsuits, masks and snorkels and when we get close enough to the dolphins and they play around the boat it is our cue to join them. We are told that we need make noises and movements to get their attention while in the water if we want them to swim around us. I quickly get a group darting past me. I am desperately trying to get a good picture, but they are far too quick for the camera’s digital delay. I start swinging my arms and legs and shaking my booty to attract them. A few circle me briefly, but all this means as that I am spinning around in circles trying to get a picture while also making nonsense wibble wobble noises and shrieks. Finally, I put the camera on video setting, so that I can at least pull some stills from that.
The water is bracing and I am conscious that I am swimming in sea a couple of kilometres deep, so I am quite relieved when we are called back in. We dive in for 20 minutes or so a couple more times, but I have to admit that I preferred watching the dolphins from the comfort and relative warmth of the boat. While they do get close to you in the water, they don’t stop to shake fins or anything. In fact, you are officially not allowed to touch them, although you would have to be fish shaped to be able to do so I feel. And that would mean that they would probably want to eat you. From the boat, I can see endless dolphins leaping, flipping and spinning about and they often come right up close to it. I get the feeling that they are showing off to us at least as much as flirting with their females.
After the last swim, there are a lot of young Danish ladies getting changed out of the wet suits, so I have to find a corner somewhere in which to avert my eyes.
Back at the dockings, the boat, which is big enough to carry over thirty people, is lifted out onto a trailer towed by a tractor, as with in Abel Tasman. It saves mooring costs I suppose.
Tomorrow we will be catching the ferry to the North Island, so we drive up to Picton through Marlborough wine country. We had considered doing a wine tasting tour, but someone would have to drive, so we decide it would be unfair on whoever that would be. We stop to have lunch at Sea Views beach which we reach by driving down a steep dirt track. The beach is occupied by a bunch of fishermen with run down cars and beat up 4x4 vans. We had some concern that Olive wouldn’t be able to make it back up the track as she is resolutely not four wheel drive. However, I have faith in her and she makes it up without much protest.
Driving through Picton, it looks much as you might expect a working port town to look, but as we drive up the valley overlooking it, the scenery is much more attractive with views over the bay surrounded by forest laden hills and mountains.
We camp at Aussie Bay DoC campsite, which is another picturesque site by a lake.
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