Monday 25th February

A different day from our routine, finallly! It was the day for Lisa to swim with the dolphins. We had to get up pretty early as Lisa had to put sunscreen on 2 hours before the session starts at 10am but we had to be there by 9.30am. She also borrowed the wetsuit from the hostel as she was told to bring one.

Lisa was quite nervous but excited at the same time. Before we arrived, we were told that Daniel would have to pay for the entrance fee which Daniel don't mind as Lisa wanted him to be the photographer for her swim.

Once we got ready, we setted off at 9am and walked for about 20mins to get there. Once we arrived, we made our way to the admissions and were told where to go. Luckily for Daniel, he was able to come for free which he was happy about! We made our way to the dolphins pool and met couple who were swimming around. we weren't sure where exactly to go as we couldn't see any crews. There was a staff who was talking about the dolphins and then announced to queue up for the free kisses from the seal. As we had time, we decided to queue up but still unsure where to go for the swim. Daniel spoke to the staff and then pointed us where to meet.

After a min or so, another staff found us and told us to follow her. We then realised that they were meeting at the different point to explain how to swim with the dolphins.

After 5mins brief, we followed to the pool which had a mother and baby dolphins in it. we couldn't tell the difference cos it wasn't exactly a baby, they both looked the same size!

A group of us got our kits on and they repeated the brief again such as no patting on the head and nose, only body and under the nose so that way, they would enjoy it.

Lisa was the last one out of 5 people in the group to get in the pool. The instructor had to separate the mother and baby so first we had a mother with us. Most of the time, she was telling us everything about the dolphins but unforutnately Lisa was unable to follow it. We got to touch/stroke the body as it was swimming past us. In turn, we fed the dolphins too. Lisa felt that she was in the best place cos the dolphin alway stayed or stopped at her spot so she got to touch the dolphins more than others which she secretly was pleased about!

Next stage of the session was having a photo taken with them. We were taught on how to get them to give us a kiss and then cuddle for the photos which was successful. For the cuddle session, Lisa was told to lift the dolphin up a bit out of the water but she was amazed how heavy they were!! She struggled at first but got there in the end!

Most of the session was telling us about the markings and the difference between males and females.

Next stage that we were taught was how to pat gently on the head for them to blow the water out of their breathing hole. After few attempts, Lisa finally got it to do it! It was like a mini whale! Then we got to touch their teeth and tongues. We noticed that the others were afraid in case they would snap at them where Lisa was confident and got to do it straight away.

Unforunately for Lisa as she was unable to wear her hearing aid, we were also taught how to get the dolphins to sing. Daniel did hear it and thought they were amazing.

Now it was time to play with the dolphins, in turn we were taught on how to play balls with them. First we got to throw the ball and they had to catch it with their flippers. Secondly, we had to spin the ball on their nose and they would have to keep it spinning.

Others were afraid to put the balls on their nose and they failed or with a very short spin. Lisa confidently put the ball on its nose and it was spinning for a long time and she was pleased. Daniel announced that mine was the longest and successful spin for the dolphin!

We were then told to put on the underwater googles but we had no idea what for. We went under for few seconds but didn't see anything. We think that they were making noises underwater which was no good for Lisa. Then the session was over. So in the term, we didn't EXACTLY swim with the dolphins! She was expecting to swim around, play freely with them but however she did enjoy being close and play with the dolphins.

While Lisa thought the session was finished, we all were told to stay which we had no idea what for and suddenly the seal came in. We weren't expecting to be up close with the seal too! When it was swimming past, Lisa got hit by its flipper quite hard! Then it was time for the kissing session for the photos.

As Lisa was the first one, she wasn't sure what to do so the instructor told her where to stand and suddenly the seal just swam up, kissing Lisa's cheek without her preparation for the photo!! Guess the seal was so excited to do the kissing session so it was doing it in the hurry!! It was a big sloppering kiss! Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to have photos taken so the seal have to give me another kiss and it was a proper cheek kiss one this time along with Lisa cuddling it too. Once that was over, it was time to get out of the pool and get dressed.

We decided to stay around and visited other animals such as Emu, Peacocks, dolphins, Seals, turtles, penguins.

We returned back to the dolphins pool as we saw the staff that was playing with one so we watched through the underwater window. We were given the food to throw which we did. And then the staff told us that if we put the finger on our cheek and then put it near the window, the dolphin would come and pretend to kiss our cheek, which we did. We also played balls with them which most of the time, we got soaked as the dolphins threw the ball back to us and it was full of water!

We then made our way to the major dolphins pool where they would be doing their shows. We hung around there till the show started which was about 1hr & 30mins wait! We got to play with the dolphins, especially with one who loved playing balls! It was never bored with it! We also got to stroke them too. After at least 45mins, we decided to visit the seals nearby and then to the underwater aquarium.

Soon before the show started, we queued up for the free dolphins kisses and had photos taken with them. Then we queued up for the seal kisses which was a big slopply kiss!

We returned back to the dolphins pool for the show which was starting soon. We got to see the sealions singing, playing and same goes with the dolphins. The show was good and very clever! It lasted at least 45mins.

Afterwards, we collected the photos and then made our way back to the hostel. We were back at the hostel by 3pm and we both were knackered but first we had to clear up a bit in the kitchen before retiring ourselves to the beds and relaxed for the rest of the day before contining our evening jobs.