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Up and out the door early today as we had to be at the dolphin encounter office by 8am. After checking in there was just enough time for a hot chocolate before being called through to the fitting room to grab our wetsuits, flippers and masks.
We quickly changed and then went to a briefing which told us all about the morning we had ahead of us and about the animals we would see and how to interact with them.
A 30 minute boat journey later we were perched on the edge of the boat waiting for the siren to signal that we should enter the water. As we plunged in there was that breathless sensation as the water was so cold! After asking it turns out the water is colder than 10 degrees which exams the thick full wetsuits, gloves and socks. However once I looked underwater the thought of the cold quickly disappeared as I was faced with a pod of dolphins circling, swimming, playing and leaping around us. We spend over half an hour in the water with these gorgeous creatures who were very interested in us which made for some great pictures!!
Back onboard we changed I to some warm clothes and enjoyed some hot chocolate and biscuits in an attempt to warm us up.
We began the boat ride back to Kaikoura feeling very lucky to have had such a brilliant encounter when over to our left we saw a sperm whale crash down then spray out water! Deffinately picked the right say to see these magnificent creatures! Such a lucky group!
This afternoon we don't have a lot planned. Pop to the shop then back to the hostel for lunch I guess. We both have a lot of photos to go through this afternoon so that could take a while.
Tomorrow we plan to do the peninsula walk to the seal colony to see yet more of the local wild life. We have read that it's a 3 hour round hike, so should be a good way to see the sights and get some exercise!
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