Kaikoura

Kaikoura, located on the east coast is a small coastal town known for its aquatic life. We'd always planned to go there but things had become a bit trickier since they had a huge earthquake back in November 2016, reaching point 7 on the ricter scale, and in turn causing serious destruction to the epi-centre that was Kaikoura. The earthquake cut the town off from the rest of the country initially by damaging the major highway either side of the city (repairs still happening now and travelling north is still blocked off). They've now reopened the route from Christchurch which we'd take, however there is no access north from there still, unless you take the inland scenic route, a mere 7 hour drive.
As you can imagine we wondered whether we should go because of all the extra travelling it would mean for us. But we went for it!

After a windy and slow drive as the road is barely open we arrived to a ghost town. Many hotels, shops and buildings being held up with scaffold or condemned completely. It was also very quiet, although some tourists, not the bustle it would normally have in summer. We ended up down the chippy and wondered how this town was feeling after its recent disaster.

The next morning we were booked in for a seal swim experience in the morning and a dolphin experience in the afternoon. Sadly even though the sun was shining on the morning, the seal swim was cancelled due to poor visability and water conditions. So instead we went on the hunt for seals on our own. They have a resident seal colony that live on the corner of Kaikoura penusiula which sticks out just round the corner from town. Remarkably the earthquake raised the sea bed by 4 metres (!) So now there is a huge rock formation that stretches out to sea for a long way. Originally it was just a small rocky area so you could see seas from the land/car park. Now you must clamber out further onto the rocks if you want to see them. It wasn't too long before we stumbled onto a big fat seal having a sleep on the rocks. He seemed completely unfazed by us as we got closer and closer, practically in touching distance! We went on further finding a curious but very shy baby seal who ultimately ran away, and then many more all lounging around in different ways. We felt adventurous so we scrambled out over some mostly submerged rocks to get even closer to the colony. We then saw a seal rolling around in the water and he swam right up to the edges of the rocks to look at me and continue playing. It was amazing. Another seal took quite an interest in us and even did this weird body dance when we walked by, very funny to watch. They are such cute and fun creatures, I can see why they are nicknamed puppies of the sea.
As we headed back we realised the tide had ridden and suddenly we looked cut off from the rest of the rocks, whoops! Off came the shoes and socks and we waded about calf deep through the water and made it back. Need to remember for future though how fast water moves!

We went a short drive from here to the Dolphin Encounter office and ate a picnic lunch by the sea while we waited to be called for our tour. We got all our snorkel gear and jumped on a bus to the harbour. The harbour was badly damaged and they have only recently got their experience trips back up and running, with the help of a tractor, that brings he boat in and out of the water while it's been repaired. Phil and I were on the smallest boat where there were 14 people all swimming, and the skipper and deckhand. We'd been warned that the sea conditions were 'moderate' so we prepared with sea sickness tablets just in case. There was a fairly large swell of waves (3-4 metre high) but we tried to ignore it as we hugged the coast in search of New Zealands Dusky Dolphins to swim with. We spotted a 'nursery' pod which had several babies but we weren't going to swim with them, as it's not appropriate so moved on but our anticipation and excitement grew.
We went further out into open sea and got prepared perching on the edge of the boat ready to get in. It was crucial we got in quickly and tried to interact with the dolphins immediately to get some interaction back. They are wild and will only stay around if they are interested in us, funnily enough it's more like we entertain the dolphins rather than the other way round!
Suddenly a pod appeared and we jumped in. The water was colder than expected and it's very full on to jump into those sea conditions, with dolphins underneath you. The dolphins swiftly swam on as we all got used to the water rather than focusing on them. No matter though as we got back in the boat and sailed on.

Not long later we came across another pod and dived in determined and excited. Within seconds we were amongst them. I can't even describe the feeling. These majestic creatures were gracefully gliding through the waves and coming straight up to us. We'd been told to be as "dolphin like" as possible and to dive down, make eye contact and try to swim alongside them, circling with them if they start to circle you (which they loved and turned into a race!) And to also make as much noise as possible through your snorkel, sing, shout, whatever you can as they are stimulated by noise. The more we did this, the more likely the dolphins would stick around and play with us. We went for it, literally singing at the top of lungs and being bold. They loved it, and so did we. They'd come so close to you, I could just reach out and touch them (I never did though as you shouldn't).
They'd keep coming back and forth, appearing next to you, below you, jumping beside you. It might have been scary if it wasn't so exhilarating and knowing they are friendly animals. They stayed for ages and we constantly engaged with them, I swear I've made some deep bonds with some of them! There aren't really many other things to say except it was magical. I didn't even think of anything else, just got lost in the moment.
The boat sounded it's horn which meant we were to come back in, me and this Irish girl came back slowly as the dolphins didn't leave our side so it was hard for us to leave theirs. Once back on board we were on such a high but was greeted with a weird sight. Everyone else was out of the water already, either lying on the ground or having heads in buckets. Out of 14 people only Phil, the Irish girl and I were the only ones fine and not sea sick. Horrendous! I just felt so bad for them as they had just missed out on that amazing interaction.

We sailed on, with the small pod following us and suddenly the amount grew... the skipper slowed the boat right down as we were in the middle of the entire pod and they were all swimming around us. The three of us who were feeling fine climbed onto the roof for a better view, and what a view it was. Three hundred plus dolphins in all directions. My first words I remember was 'oh my god there are so many'. Now Dusky dolphins are known to be the most gymnastic of all dolphins and love jumping out of the water. They absolutely lived up to their reputation. They started jumping, somersaulting and flipping in the air much to our awe. We started cheering and hollering which only encouraged them and soon they were all doing it, coming closer, jumping higher and doing more tricks. It was like our own personal show. One dolphin even did a loop round the boat of somersaults, no question that was for us. The atmosphere was electric and we never wanted to leave. It was like they put on this incredible finale of what they could do for us. That moment will stay with me forever, what amazing animals.

Sadly we moved on, I think mainly for the poor people dying on board. The waves were even worse on the way back so we focused on chatting and animal spotting also seeing albatross and seals in the water. We were very lucky to not get ill I think.

Phil and I were buzzing when back on land and both concluded it was one of the best experiences, not only on this trip but in our lives to date.

That evening we went out and had some delicious fresh seafood, great way to end a wonderful day.

The following morning we were due to seal swim again but sadly it was cancelled once more and we had to move on. Although disappointed, we'd had such an amazing day previously it still felt very worthwhile to visit Kaikoura and felt happy to drive on. Maybe one day we'll go back and see it recovered and back to former glory. We hope their earthquake recovery continues to go well.

BethRead more