Along the Away

This was a day I woke up with excitement fluttering in my stomach. As soon as my eyes opened I remembered what the day ahead held and I jumped out of bed with giddy anticipation, a bit nervous but with a big smile on my face. It was one of those holiday days where you’re going to do something you’ve planned to do before even leaving home.

A once in a lifetime thing.

Like SWIMMING. WITH. DOLPINS.

DUSKY DOLPHINS!

But the Dusky Dolphin pod lives off the east coast, and I was still in Nelson on the northern tip of the South Island. So onto the bus we got for the drive to Kaikoura, back through the Rai Valley and the Marlborough Wine Region. The early morning start was beautiful, I had my eyes and camera pressed to the bus window.

As we drove down the coast we stopped at Ohau Point to watch some New Zealand fur seals. They were cute, but pretty lazy, so we stopped long enough to take photos and stretch our legs then got on our way again.

While most of the bus group went on a whale watching cruise, myself and my new friends Susie, a fellow Aussie from Sydney, and Emma, from England, went out on the dolphin swimming cruise with Dolphin Encounter. It was expensive but worth it for the most amazing day!

‘Most amazing’ is an epic statement to make considering I spent some of said awesome day emptying my stomach into a plastic bucket.

AND into the ocean.

Metres from a Sperm Whale.

This is the price one must pay on intrepid sea adventures.

The sea swell was classified moderate-rough and the pod proved a little elusive to find, so we were on the water for over an hour before we spotted some small groups from the pod.

A lovely girl on the crew, who spent most of the time handing out and rinsing out plastic buckets, said it took us twice as long as normal to find them which would be why so many of us experienced sea sickness, and why I had it even though I’ve never been sick at sea before. Motion sickness has never been my problem, I can read a novel in 8pt font in a 4WD jeep driving on rural dirt tracks and I won’t even notice. But this time, I won’t lie, I felt pretty rotten.

Luckily, I fell into a cycle of 10 minutes feeling queasy, 5 minutes over the bucket, 10 minutes feeling just fine and dandy.

I’m grateful for small mercies, those 10 minute periods of dandiness meant I got to get in the water with the dolphins and have an absolute blast doing so.

Once we found the whole pod the captain positioned the boat a short distance away and we all popped into the ocean off the back of the boat. It took a bit of coordination with all the gear on and the excitement coursing adrenaline through our veins. It was then up to the dolphins to join us – they did not hesitate for a second!

It’s hard to describe, but let me try.

I plunged into the icy water and bobbed between the hectic chaos above surface and the eerie calm underwater. I pushed away from the crowd trying to get away from the flippers kicking my head, the arms splashing air bubbles in front of my goggles, the noise and disturbance all around me.

I swam toward some calm and started seeing flashes past my goggles; flippers of a different kind. Long noses, sleek dusty grey blurs, eyeballs passing right by my eyeballs. My breath caught in my chest, my heart thudded, I couldn’t breathe. The coldness of the water and the adrenaline seized me. A golden moment in time, pure joy, the power of the universe flowing into me and out of me as it does in only the most special of moments.

I bobbed up to the surface to take 10 seconds to pull myself together. I wanted to laugh, to cry, to throw up, to leap, to reach out.

I took some deep breaths. Adjusted my goggles. Calmed the hell down.

I ducked back under and took my time just hovering, watching. There were hundreds of dolphins darting all around me, every which way, it was unbelievable. I was conscious not to touch them but they had no qualms brushing past me, but oh so fast. I probably couldn’t have intentionally hugged one if I tried (I didn’t). I remembered what we’d been told and started to mimic their behavior. We wanted them to think we were just like them, a special kind of dolphin that had come to visit. I squealed through my snorkel, I flipped one hand back and forth and spun in a circle while they did the same around me. I was playing with dusky dolphins! Bloody amazing!!

I’m sure to the dolphins, we’re just indistinguishable to them as they are to us. But there were moments where I locked eyes with one for a fleeting moment and I wondered; what is this connection? Two species playing, one land based, one ocean dwelling. No reason to be here doing this together other than heartfelt curiosity on the part of one with the intelligence and means to adapt to an alternative environment, just for awhile. And the other, heartfelt curiosity and the intelligence to recognise the opportunity.

I was seriously blown away.

It was the best day, ending in a sunset cruise back to shore.

The next stop on my Kiwi travels was the Bay of Islands, on the north coast of the North Island. I travelled up on a backpacker bus which was good as we stopped a couple of places along the way.

The McKinney Kauri Tree in Parry Kauri Park is estimated to be over 800 years old! It’s 125 metres tall and 25 metres around – a bit too wide to fit my arms around!

 

We stopped at Whangarei Falls where it was drizzling with rain, but luckily I had my new goretex rain jacket with me. It was an expensive splurge (even at less than half price in the Kathmandu sale) but worth it.

There is a circular track that took less than 30 minutes to walk with a view of the falls from the top and then from down below.

 

 

The falls drop 26.3 metres!

 

Look how lush and green the forest is, just beautiful.

We got back on board the bus and continued on our way to the town of Paihia, a handy spot from which to explore the Bay of Islands. I had read about an overnight cruise around the islands called Rock the Boat which sounded like a lot of fun so I booked it in while still in Australia, but then I arrived to a wet and windy scene… and the news the boat had sprung a leak! It’a always disappointing when travel plans don’t pan out, but there’s always usually a bright side to find and in this case I’m glad that I wasn’t on the boat while the weather raged (bad) or when it sprung the leak (very bad).

In hindsight maybe the Bay of Islands would best be left to the summer months when the weather is dryer and the water more inviting, however despite the wild start the weather did fine up enough the next day to head out on a cruise around the islands with our eyes peeled for dolphins. The ocean was too rough to go out past the bay so we missed seeing the famous ‘hole in the rock’ but dolphins we did see!

The important question one must ask oneself when returning from an outdoorsy coastal holiday is ‘how many dolphin photos can one person take, seriously?’ The answer is ‘freaking hundreds’. Most of them random shots of water with maybe a hint of a shadow of a dolphin under the surface. After a massive photo purge, I still really want to show these ones.

Look how beautiful the mist looks in the trees on this island, with the first sighting of dolphins in the water.

And then they came closer! Yay!

Beautiful, graceful, happy dolphins.

With a baby!

The skipper spotted a sailing boat moored near one of the islands which is part of a youth support program. Young teens who are selected to be a part of the program live on board the boat for weeks at a time with no phones, junk food or other modern conveniences, while they learn to sail, fish and other life skills.

 

Our skipper pulled up close to the boat and sounded the horn to wake them all up. He said that sometimes the kids come out on board and will perform the Haka for the cruise boat. We waited awhile and then signs of life appeared. A bunch of happy but shy looking kids came out on board, and three stepped forward and launched into a wonderful display of the traditional Maori war dance. It was really brilliant, and so unexpected!

We kept on cruising… and we saw more dolphins!

We had the opportunity to jump off the boat at Urupukapuka Island to explore for awhile.

 

The colour of the water was so beautiful, and constantly changing.

I headed for a water-logged path that ran past a ramshackle building, through a sweet gate and up a very steep hill.

I trudged up to the top and was rewarded with a breathtaking view across the water.

Back on the boat we started heading back to Paiha where we had started the cruise; finally the sun was out and putting a sparkle on the water for us.

We were given the option to hop off at the tiny town of Russell if we wanted. I thought it sounded like a quaint place to visit so when we docked I hopped off with a small group. The skipper gave us ferry vouchers so that we could get back to Paiha when we wanted inclusive of the cruise price we’d already paid.

Russell was a really sweet place, but it wasn’t always that way!  This excerpt from the Russell Wikipedia page sums up some of it’s fascinating history:

When European and American ships began visiting New Zealand in the early 1800s, the indigenous Māori quickly recognised there were great advantages in trading with these strangers, whom they called tauiwi. The Bay of Islands offered a safe anchorage and had a high Māori population. To attract ships, Māori began to supply food and timber. What Māori wanted were respect, plus firearms, alcohol, and other goods of European manufacture.Kororāreka developed as a result of this trade but soon earned a very bad reputation, a community without laws and full of prostitution, and became known as the “Hell Hole of the Pacific”.

Given how small and far away it is from everything it is unbelievable to think it was New Zealand’s first capital! It was also home to New Zealand’s first church and pub.

After about an hour we got back on the local ferry and headed the short distance across the water to Paihia. By this time the day was putting on a fine show for us and I can see how beautiful the Bay of Islands must be in the glory of summer.

Back at Paiha the clear and sunny afternoon was too tempting to stay indoors so a long walk along the water and beach was called for.

 

I’m not sure what the story of these totem-like carvings are, but there was a row of them standing in the middle of an large reserve across the road from the beach.

I walked around the local library which is housed in a heritage home donated to the town by one of the earliest Anglican missionaries in Paihia.

The Bay of Islands was a lovely place to visit, but best when the weather is dry and clear enough to enjoy the beautiful sights of the water and islands.