It is time for us to leave Christchurch and head north up to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is translated directly from the Maori language as "eat crayfish", a little weird until you here the full name of the town, which is Te-Ahi-kai-koura-a-Tama-ki-te-rangi, meaning "this great traveler stayed here and lit a fire to cook a meal of crayfish! Shame Luton and Bolton don't have that much imagination behind there names.

When we arrived at the coastal town the bus took us to a known seal colony where we could get up close and personal with some wild seals. I say up close, it was as close as you dare get, as seals although playful animals in the water have a bad temperament on land. As devoted as we are to making sure you see the best photos we can get, a few growls and seal stampedes were directed at us!

As we only had one night here and arrived, mid-afternoon we weren't sure what to do. There were two main attractions, whale watching and swimming with dolphins, but they were both expensive and money was getting a bit tight. In the end, we decided to bite the bullet and book the trip to swim with the dolphins and we were so glad we chose to. It is now one of the best experiences of our lives.

We headed to the Dolphin Encounter office where we were briefed and shown videos of how to act in the water and what to expect. We were even offered sea sickness tablets for a dollar, but we were on a budget and wouldn't need them. We were taken to the jetty where the boats were docked and with our wetsuits and snorkels ready, we headed out to find a pod of dolphins. The dolphins we were looking for are called Dusky dolphins and are renown for their acrobatic prowess. They are social creatures and instead of sticking with their family in a pod they group together in groups of up to a thousand.

The trip to find our pod took about 25 minutes and the sea was quite choppy, those tablets were looking rather more attractive now. The boat stopped and we went to the back where we were greeted with near to 600 dolphins leaping, jumping and somersaulting out of the water right in front of us. It was an incredible sight and we hadn't even got in the water with them yet. We soon were and words cannot describe how enjoyable it was. In the water wherever you turned you could see a dolphin, they would twist and turn around you and even play chicken with you, swimming right at you then turning away at the last second. They would circle you in the water and if you circled too watching their eyes you could keep the same dolphin entertained long enough to have the same one for a few minutes. The water was so cold, but you barely noticed and time just flew past.

When it was time to head, back to land your stomach felt a little bit like a washing machine and for one of us the journey back was a little less enjoyable. I've been told though that the dolphins were following the boat flipping and diving out at the front of the boat showing off. At this point, in hindsight that sea sickness tablet was now worth $10!

Overall though it was an unforgettable experience and one that we almost missed out on. That is the beauty of travelling; you never know what is around the corner and what else the world has to offer.

Adam & Adam