Koob's New Zealand/Australia Adventures: Albatross. Seals. Dolphins. LOVE.

The South Island is referred to the South Islanders as the 'mainland', I now know why. It is absolutely amazing. Pretty much even before we got off the ferry it had the North Island beat. I was hesitant in believing anything could be better or more beautiful than what we have already seen and done, but it could and is. Holy Crap.

We left on the 7th for the long drive down to Wellington for out ferry the next day. Although the ride was 11-12 hours it really wasn't that bad. We passed through gorgeous scenery, as always, like the Tongariro National Park in Taupo. I am hoping to go back there and climb the volcanoes at some point when we return. We stayed at a 'top 10' holiday park that night that had the best playground ever. Now imagine, 25 young adults (who usually still wish/think/act like they are children) who have been cooped up in a van for 12 hours who are then presented with a playground. FABULOUSNESS. That's what that means. There was this huge bubble/blob thing that was kind of like a trampoline, except way harder and more fun to jump on. You could like catapult people. I'm pretty sure we popped it, or caused it to deflate rapidly...oops. It was really fun though.

The next morning we boarded the ferry. Biggest boat I've ever been on. Gigantic. As in rivalling cruise ship size. It had TEN (count them) 10 decks! Including, but not limited to, a cafeteria, bar, cafe, 2 lounge/observing areas with recliner seats, a 2-story playground, 2 movie theaters and an open top observational deck. All for a 3 hour ride...wow. The trip was gorgeous, especially coming into the Marlborough Sounds.

Once we arrived in Picton, we drove a few hours to Kiakoura. On the way we stopped on the side of the road and saw a tong of seals and pups. SO ADORABLE. I took a ton of photos and videos. The pups were so cute and it was ridiculously awesome.

In Kiakoura we were to stay at a marae for 4 days. Awesome opportunity. The location of the marae was amazing, between mountains and the beach. The mountains were huge and the beach was just a couple minutes walk. The marae itself was astonishing. We were welcomed in the customary fashion, as we did for the tangi in Kiawa, and sang our Waiata. We were then given a tour of the buildings. I cant express or explain the amazement we all had walking into the Wharanui. It was unbelievable. Every inch of the room is decorated with vibrant colors on wooden panel carvings. Each carving or sculpture tells a story. We briefly heard the stories and explanations of each panel. So amazing. Also, this is where we slept for the week. Is there a more awesome place to sleep? I think not. We laid on mattresses on the floor and were literally lined up next to each other, approx. 30 of us in one room. It was great. The beds were unbelievably comfortable too.

The first day we gardened a bit then went to Kiakoura's waste dump. Sounds unappealing but turned out to be really awesome. They have what they call 'innovative waste management' system for rubbish. So basically, everything that can be recycled is and all remaining rubbish is put into a landfill at the community members expense. So, if you dont go through your trash or just separate out what cant be recycled (very few things) then you have to pay for that weight in a landfill (~3 bucks per smallish trash bag). SO AWESOME. As in every place needs to do this. ~75% of their rubbish is diverted and they are working towards 85%. The dump does all separation of recyclables except glass, which they ask people to do beforehand. THey even compost green waste and food scraps. It basically made me think of everything the the US doesnt do, which is a huge fail. So everyone watch out, Im going to be a recycling freak when I get back. :) Be excited.

So that night we were informed that we were going to have a meeting after dinner. Usually this means boring procedural stuff so nobody really wanted to be there. However, after getting the news we got, we all may look at spontaneous meetings slightly differently from now on. We were told, in a calm, collected manner, that there was a good possibility that we would be swimming with dolphins the next morning...WHAT?!?! My jaw literally dropped to the floor and our instructors face in response to ours was great. We were told that there was a chance that we may not see any dolphins or even get on the boat if conditions weren't right. But oh were they right. Not only did we swim with dolphins, we swam with HUNDREDS of wild dolphins. HOLY CRAP!!!! My life is now complete, I am fairly sure.

They were dusky dolphins which are very well known for their acrobatics. They leap, jump, lunge, flip and twist in the air. SO RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING!!!! In the beginning we only saw a few, and after awhile we all were getting ready to accept the fact that it wasnt going to happen. Ten minutes later, the first group (I was in the second) were getting suited up to head in the water. We happened to come across a pod of the epic proportions. In total ~500 dolphins. OMG! It is so amazing how they follow along right underneath the bow of the boat. I cant even begin to explain everything that was happening. Groups of them would jump up together, one would do complete flips 3 times in a row...unbelievable. They were coming in from all directions, it was insane.

The first group was in the water while we watched from above. I was entirely jealous of them for awhile but I think our group got the better deal :) Thats just me though. By the time it was our turn, I was jumping out of my skin with enthusiasm, and as soon as they blew the horn I was in the water. We were told that the best ways to get the dolphins attention and hold their interest was to make noises through the snorkel, dive down or swim in a circle with them. Let me tell you, they all work. SO AMAZING! Right away they were coming up from below me and swimming past so fast. Making noises and swimming in a circle with them was usually the best way to go. This happened several times and I got a couple really cool videos (facebook videos at some point). Making eye contact was also unbelievably awesome.

My favorite part(s), however, was when I dove down. The first couple of dives were unsuccessful but then I realized I was slacking on the noises. The next time I dove down I had 2 dive with me and I started circling with them which was awesome. The next dive, however, was something I am still having a hard time believing myself. I happened to see a couple below me so i decided to dive down (still making noises) to see if they would play around. All of a sudden though, as soon as I dove, there were 7-10 dolphins circling around me. Legit. It was seriously exactly like the fish at Poor Knights I talked about, only dolphins...IT WAS SO COOL! As I said, literally unbelievable. I'm still waiting to wake up from that dream.

Shortly after that they had dispersed and we were called back onto the boat. We watched them flipping in the distance as they swam away. There were SO many of them. Apparently the pod was 800 dolphins. EIGHT HUNDRED DOLPHINS!

Since I haven't mentioned them yet, we also saw albatross and seals which were also really neat. The albatross were huge! apparently their wing span can reach 3m! That's a big seabird. We saw seals frolicking through the water being their normal cute selves.

But, back to the dolphins. Apparently one girl had a dolphin push her which made her swim really fast, so thats really awesome. Nobody can believe our luck though, even the company we were with was surprised. I guess we were the only group that was able to go out due to weather for the next couple days. Good freakin day, that's for sure. :)

Myself and a couple other people are now in Christchurch for the weekend, should be a lot of fun! :)

Warning: If you come to NZ, bring twice the amount of money you think you'll need. You spend more than you think, lol.