On our first night in New Zealand Ellen and I set up camp in a remote campsite (read: abandoned parking lot) and prepared our first meal of the trip (read: instant noodles). Things were rather quiet until a friendly Kiwi rode his bike into camp. We got to talking -- him telling us about all the cool things to do on the North Island, us taking notes -- and eventually he asked, "What are you doing tomorrow?" "Well, we're going to go sailing and . . . ," he quickly cut in, "You're swimming with the dolphins, aren't you?"
Yes! And so what if it's the most ultra-touristy thing to do on the North Island. It's swimming with dolphins!
Very excited!
Truth be told, it's not "swimming" with dolphins per se. It's more sailing around for hours looking for dolphins, watching them from the boat for another hour, and then getting in the water on a tow line hoping that the dolphins find you interesting enough to swim by. And, unfortunately, dolphins do not find me interesting.
It didn't matter though. We found a huge pod of dolphins -- maybe 50 in total -- and they swam with us for hours. Our fun only ended when they left to feast on a "fish bowl" -- a sight we got to witness -- before heading off into the abyss. Here are some pictures:
The crew:
One dolphin!
Many dolphins!
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