In Akaroa we put on wetsuits and hopped on a boat to look for the famous Hector dolphins. These are extinct miniature dolphins and are only a few feeet long. There are only 7,000 left of them in the entire world!
These wetsuits were a good inch or two thick and they were soo tight, but apparently they were supposed to keep us warm in the freezing water.
This is us on the boatride out to look for the dolphins. The plan was to swim with them if we found some "suitable, friendly ones". It is illigal to swim with the dolphins who are either feeding or that have babies with them.
Well, as it turned out, none of the dolphins weres suitable enough for us to swim with. We did get to see a whole bunch of them though. It was a slight dissapointment (especially to Katie who is in love with these little creatures), but the water was freezing and we got a partial refund.. so I was alright with it.
Anyway, I tried to take some pictures of them, but it was extremely hard because they moved so fast! We also saw penguins, eels, and a bunch of birds in the water. I was mostly fascinated with the Albatross, which is the great, mythical bird that you read about in all of the legends and stories (like the Rime of the Ancient Mariner). I would have put up a picture, but since it is from so far away it looks like a seagull... and I just didn't think that would be appropriate for such a grandoise bird.. they deserve much more than a simple seagull status!
Finally we got back to the little town and got out of those wetsuits. When we could finally breathe again we stopped at a Mr. Whippey's ice cream van and got some dipped cones. They were amazing!
We spent the rest of that day walking around Akaroa. Katie and I bought a bunch of fudge that we sharred with everyone when we got back to our hostel that night in Christchurch. We got flavors that included Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor, Caramel, Rocky-Road, Passionfruit, Andes Mint, and just chocolate.
This is us on the boatride out to look for the dolphins. The plan was to swim with them if we found some "suitable, friendly ones". It is illigal to swim with the dolphins who are either feeding or that have babies with them.
Well, as it turned out, none of the dolphins weres suitable enough for us to swim with. We did get to see a whole bunch of them though. It was a slight dissapointment (especially to Katie who is in love with these little creatures), but the water was freezing and we got a partial refund.. so I was alright with it.
Anyway, I tried to take some pictures of them, but it was extremely hard because they moved so fast! We also saw penguins, eels, and a bunch of birds in the water. I was mostly fascinated with the Albatross, which is the great, mythical bird that you read about in all of the legends and stories (like the Rime of the Ancient Mariner). I would have put up a picture, but since it is from so far away it looks like a seagull... and I just didn't think that would be appropriate for such a grandoise bird.. they deserve much more than a simple seagull status!
Finally we got back to the little town and got out of those wetsuits. When we could finally breathe again we stopped at a Mr. Whippey's ice cream van and got some dipped cones. They were amazing!
We spent the rest of that day walking around Akaroa. Katie and I bought a bunch of fudge that we sharred with everyone when we got back to our hostel that night in Christchurch. We got flavors that included Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor, Caramel, Rocky-Road, Passionfruit, Andes Mint, and just chocolate.
This is Ashley and I in our matching New Zealand jackets. It was really cold in Christchurch and I got plenty of wear out of mine for the rest of the trip!
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