We arrived at the unremarkable town of Kaikoura home to thousands of New Zeland's Dusky Dolphins. We pitched tent and with nothing else to do found a pub with a roof terrace for an afternoon in the sun. We were joined later on by a rather interesting Liverpudlian couple.

Into bed by about 8pm as we had to be on a boat before sunrise. We headed out to sea dolled up in wetsuits and still half asleep. It wasn't long before we saw dolphins everywhere and we were eager to get into the water with them despite the ungodly hour, all the jellyfish and temperature of the water. The captain steered us into the path of a pod of approaching dolphins and we donned our hoods, snorkels and fins and jumped into the water. We were all clicking, squeaking and splashing around the water to attract the dolphins but they didn't really need encouraging as dozens of dolphins swam all around us.

It was a strange sensation to be in the water with these wonderful creatures. Being eyeballed by a dusky dolphin is certainly a one off experience. The dolphins would swim up behind you, bump you with their noses and want to play. There ensued an underwater ballet of diving down and swimming round and round with the pirouetting dolphins. Simply magical!

We got called back to the boat, everyone was suddenly awake and full of awe. The captain skillfully piloted us into the path of the dolphins three more times and each time we swam with them was as amazing as the last. Unfortunately we eventually had to call it a day and head for shore with the dolphins surfing in the boats wake.

A truly unforgettable experience.