Carrie, Alex and Zoe, wet-suited up for dolphin swimming

Carrie, Alex and Zoe, wet-suited up for dolphin swimming
Originally uploaded by Carrie & Eddie.

On to Kaikoura, where the ocean's canyon system (or something equally technical sounding) makes it a great place to see dolphins, whales and other sea mammals. We went swimming with dolphins and it was just unbelievable. We went out into the ocean, and they go where the dolphins usually are and just hope for the best - they're totally wild so there's no guarantee they'll want to interact with you. But they were very playful and we had about five separate drops into the ocean to swim with them. And there were hundreds! Everywhere you looked there were dolphins - swimming around you, under you, leaping in front of you. It could be a bit frightening at times - the ocean was murky so you wouldn't see them till they were right by you, and they swim right after you and swerve at the last minute, in a bizarre marine game of chicken. Without a doubt an incredible experience.