nemo says: everyone, swim down!

in the morning we donated some of stuff to the hostel kitchen. we left behind some utensils and stuff we didn't want to carry around. then it rained. hard. not a good thing 'cos this is the day that i have been waiting for - the day to swim with the dolphins. it wasn't like i thought it would be. it wasn't magical. signed up for a trip where you ride out to spot the dolphins, then swim with them, conditions permitting (no juveniles in the pod). they provide a wetsuit, masks, and snorkel. i used them all. what i wasn't expecting was to jump into a net and be treated like a fish.

first of all, everyone rushes at once to swim out to catch up to the dolphins so you gotta watch yourself and not get trampled by others. then while you are trying to find the dolphins, try not to bump into others. while this is going on, the dolphins swim away. so you swim back to the net. you hold on for dear life as the boat tries to catch up to the dolphins' new location. you attempt to swim out again. repeat! it was very tiring. i only swam out from the net twice. again, a lesson in how out of shape i am. i can swim alright, i get by in a pool, but swimming in the ocean is a whole different ballgame. i did swallow a bit of sea water, gross! twiddle thumbs had it much worse though. upon impact with the water, she swallowed so much sea water that she felt so sick she never bothered to leave the net. the first time i left the net, i was able to see a dolphin swim maybe 15 feet in front of me. however, that was the only one i saw. others saw dolphins swim below them. others didn't see anything at all. a mixed bag. i got much better views of dolphins from the boat.

dolphin experience collage

after swimming, everyone got excited because a new pod swam by the boat and there was a juvenile, so it was a good thing we got out of the water when we did. then we proceeded with the tour portion of the trip. we went out to what is called the hole in the rock 'cos there's a hole in the rock. it was raining now and then, which wasn't so fun but at least it was the day we're on the boat, when you're getting wet anyway. i'm glad our perfect weather day was yesterday during the trip out to cape reinga.

piercy island AKA hole in the rock

cape brett panorama

as the afternoon dragged on, i was getting pretty bored and twiddle thumbs got sea sick so things just weren't much fun. i was glad when it was over. then we got back on the kiwi experience bus to head back to auckland. it was pretty much a straight trip back. we checked into base backpackers because i wanted to check it out after reading about it on the net. seems like a clean, decent place going by the description online and it is. except the kitchen. sure most backpackers are young kids and they don't do a very good job of cleaning up after themselves, but this place also has cleaning staff every time i turn my head. it's unfair to make them clean up after people, but with so many staff i wondered why the kitchen is in such a state. other than that, i would only make a few minor improvements.

during the drive back, saw hole in the cloud