Akaroa - Swimming with the Dolphins

My parents stayed in Christchurch and explored the city while the five of us took a drive down to Akaroa to go on a boat ride out to go see/swim with some Hector Dolphins. These are very little dolphins, only found in NZ, and are totally wild, but very friendly, and enjoy swimming around people. The drive down was very windy and hilly, but worth it – as we approached Akaroa the views were beautiful, and we had an amazing time with the Dolphin Experience. Tony, Maddy, and Jordy got into their wetsuits, were given flippers, and we all went onto the boat. We went out a bit, and before we knew it, we came upon a bunch of Hector Dolphins! They were so cute, swimming all around the boat – they would come around in small pods – 3, 4, 5 together at a time. We stopped at one point and the swimmers got in. Zeke and I stayed on board pointing and screaming to the others to show them the direction from which dolphins were coming. It was a great day – Maddy’s best day of her life! That night back in Christchurch my mom stayed in and got fish and chips to go with the kids while Tony, my dad, and I went out to dinner at a place called Le Bon Bolli, rated the Best Restaurant in NZ for 2005 – it was very delicious.

View pictures from our trip:
December Slideshow
January Slideshow