This morning the wind and rain had stopped, the sun was out and we were lucky enough to swim with over 300 wild dusky dolphins!

All kitted up in out wet suits, masks, boots, hoods, gloves and snorkels we made the plunge from the boat in to what felt like minus degrees waters! After catching our breath and now being numb from the cold waters we were able to swim. We were now all alone in the middle of the ocean with these very curious and playful creatures. Our guides told us that the dolphins are attracted to singing and to be as 'dolphin like' as possible to entertain them as much they entertain us. So, with Claire singing songs from the Little Mermaid and Dave doing the 'Jaws' theme they soon started darting round us both in circles, coming up from underneath and swimming right at us until the last moment. It was magic! Claire was totally overwhelmed! They came really close to us, but not quite close enough for us to touch them. The whole pod of dolphins swam past us, more or less all of them having a look at us. What an experience!

We were soon back on the boat warming up with a nice hot chocolate, where we could see all the dolphins ride the bow of the boat and occasionally jumping out of the sea doing flips. A seal even came over and decided to join in the fun and started showing off by jumping around. On the way back to land we saw albatrosses chilling in the water and we even managed to see the tail of a sperm whale as it plunged vertically down to the depths below. Kaikoura is definatley a place we won't be forgetting in a hurry!