Russell Dolphin excitement

Woke up at 7 am and went into the common room, where Andrea already had coffee made.  A great start to my day.  A short visit and I then quickly grabbed a shower and got ready for my day of Dolphin watching. 

I saw the ferry was letting cars off, and I am not down there.  I was right, I missed the last car.  No big deal.  30 minutes later there is another ferry.

I walk back up to the hostel and say good bye to Kerry and Alex, they are both leaving today.

The next ferry has arrived and the 4^th car picks me up.  For whatever reason, I forgot to ask him name.  He is a kiwi, but is new to the area.  He just got a new job working for a construction company here in Russell.

The ride is only 10 minutes long, and we are in Russell.  He lets me know if I am back from my day by 4:30 pm, to just meet him at his truck and he will give me a ride back.  I say thank you for the ride, and goodbye as I will probably be back after 4:30.  Once again, I meet an amazing person.

I have little over an hour before the boat leaves, so I walk around, grab some food for the day.

Skipping ahead a few hours!

We had been on the cruise now for almost 4 hours and there is no sign of Dolphins.  L I am starting to think this was a waste of money.  This negative thinking is exactly what I want to change in myself. I should be happy that I am getting to see NZ islands from the South Pacific. How many of my friends can say they have been on a boat in the South Pacific?

I decide to get up and walk around, and to stop being so negative.  This really helps, and 5 minutes later we arrive at the Motukokako Island; this is pretty cool as we are going to drive through it.

After boating through the island, the cute Kiwi mate grabs a fishing rod and says, let’s fish.  She catches a kahwai fish in just a minute.  Dad, this is how it is done!  She then hands the rod to me and says, catch one.  Okay, sure!  15 minutes later, still no fish.  She looks at me yells/sings, “Here fishy, fishy, fishy”.  Like that is going to work. “What the!” I catch hook one.  2 minutes of fighting it, and it is only feet away from being in the boat.  It out smarts me and jumps off.   I don’t care; this was so cool, anyways.  I am smiles from ear to ear.

The next guy tries and he has the same luck. 

A 10 year old kid tries, and what, he gets it in the boat.  Show off! Lol.

What an amazing experience!  Loving it and my day has completely changed.  See, there was no reason for being depressed, negative over not seeing a Dolphin. I must change.

We are now on our way to where we are going to have lunch, and the Captain says, he has heard two Dolphins are playing not far from us.  He powers up and gets us there.

OMG, Dolphins!  2, 3, 4 of them!  One swims only 3 or 4 feet from me.  So cool!

The captain says get ready to swim.  So a bunch of people get ready.  The first one jumps in and says, “IT IS FREEZING COLD!”  This takes me from wanting to swim, to only wanting to take pictures and enjoy the amazing views.

Check out the video on my YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsKhwyMIRSrPwd_wTDhWXBg/videos

Dolphins Here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC1yNiWlgGA&feature=youtu.be

After all of the excitement, I don’t regret not swimming with them.  I will do this again when it is warmer and I loved the views.

It is now 2:30 pm and we are taking a break for lunch at Otehei Bay. What a beautiful place.

I head back to the boat a few minutes early and the captain has one of the fish smoked and is eating it. He offers me some.  “Wow, this is so good”, I say to him.  He then grabs a bowl and fills it with fish.  He tells me to go sit and eat it quickly. 

Once again, I meet the friendliest Kiwi.  I thank him a few times for the amazing fish.

We are now headed back to Russell.

If you are ever in this area, I highly recommend doing one of the day trips.  Do a full day, not the half day, because you never know when they will find a heard of Dolphins.  When they do, your life will change.

I am now in Russell, grab a Wild Side Cider, and then toss my thumb up for a ride back to my hostel.  Right away a lady asks me if she can give me a ride half way.  I decide to wait for the next offer.  Only 10 minutes later, Butch and his scruffy dog pick me up.  He is going about 2/3^rds of the way.  I take is offer and we have a really good chat about computers.  When we arrive at his house, he says, “Wait here for a minute.”  He drops off his dog and gives me a ride all the way.   I am starting to repeat myself, but once again, I meet an amazing person.  Butch tells me, if I am town tomorrow, hopefully we will spot each other and we can go for a beer.  I definitely will try to see him again!

Walking into the hostel, Kerry and Alex are both still here.  This is great, as I never got a chance to properly say good bye and to exchange contact information.

We all chat for a bit and Alex is finally off to his next woofing location.  Good Bye Alex, I hope we meet again.

One more amazing day traveling!