The Good, The Bad and The Nauseating.

Wednesday 29th April

Today was quite the day, it was both good and bad. It began quite well – I got up quite early, got dressed and then walked through town. It was actually quite a walk – maybe 30 minutes, but I didn’t really mind, it was a really nice morning. Eventually I reached my destination - the Dolphin Encounter offices – yep, today I am going to swim with Dolphins! Yay for once in a lifetime opportunities!

They checked us in and then got us all our gear – wetsuit, snorkel mask, flippers – it was actually pretty fun getting all dressed up! They gave us the usual safety talk and the whole “Dolphins are wild animals so we can’t guarantee that you will get to swim with them” talk and then we got into the bus! We divided into two boats and I was in a boat with a bunch of Irish girls, which was actually quite nice because I had met them before. The Dolphins were swimming really close to the shore so we found them really quickly – the Dolphins I was swimming with were Dusky Dolphins, so they are smaller than the Dolphins you usually see. They are also described as “Dolphins on Speed” as in the drug because they are just so hyper! They are found in pretty large pods – anywhere from 100 to 2,000 Dolphins can be in a pod. We had about 150-200 Dolphins in our pod so that was really amazing. You can’t quite describe what it’s like to see 200 Dolphins jumping in and out of the water.

We all sat along the end of the boat and we drove in front of the pod, then the Captain blew a horn and we all had to jump into the water. You have to be quick or you will miss them because they are so fast and they just keep swimming – they must think that humans are really boring because they don’t take much notice of you. We jumped in and out of the water about 6 or 7 times and we were told to sing and make noise in the water to attract the Dolphins attention. I had a total mind blank and the only songs I could think of were Ave Maria and Jingle Bells – so that’s what I sang, with a snorkel mask on. I looked like such an idiot. I also spend a lot of time diving under the water and doing stupid underwater spins – this gets the Dolphins attention and sometimes they will circle you. Most of the time I just got in their way, but there were a few Dolphins that seemed interested in me – I managed to make eye contact with a few and they swam around and under me, which was really nice. I felt quite bad for the Dolphins – I really did do everything I could possibly do to get in their way – which is totally the way to do it, they always swim around you and they get really close! I bought an underwater camera to take some pictures – but they are soooo fast, I think I have about 25 blurry pictures of grey water!

When we had finished swimming with them we got back on the boat, warmed up, changed, had hot chocolate and took some pictures of the Dolphins swimming beside the boat – then we headed back to the Dolphin Encounter offices. I would really recommend swimming with Dolphins – it is a really nice experience – it isn’t like Seaworld or Free Willy – they don’t swim off with you holding on to their dorsal fin and they don’t let you stick your hands into their mouths – and I don’t blame them. At the end of the day they really are wild animals and you are in their territory, so they don’t really owe you anything. I was just happy that I got to see them up close, they were literally an inch from me and they were just doing their own thing. Also, if you go thinking that you will be able to keep up with them, then you are so wrong. They are incredibly fast and agile and they are just rocking out, in their environment – that alone is worth seeing.
The day has been going really well so I got some lunch (which was horrible – Vegetable Soup, I think not. Vegetable soup isn’t meant to be thick and spicy with bits of Bacon in it) and then headed to the Whale Watching offices. I was meant to go Whale Watching yesterday but that was cancelled so they managed to fit me in.

The boats were late but we eventually go on and everything was fine – until we got out of the harbour. Dear Lord, I am not even joking – this was worse than the Ferry from Hell to Stewart Island. It was, without a doubt, my worst boat experience ever. The water was ridiculously rough – the boat was being thrown from side to side – it was so bad that you weren’t allowed to stand up at all and the back deck was closed off. We couldn’t find any Whales, so we went travelled 20 miles out to sea, just in case one decided to pop in and say hello. No Whales decided to pop in and say hello. Instead Mr Sea Sickness popped in to say hello. Not to me personally, I was focusing as hard as I could on not being sick, it was extremely difficult, but I managed it, but still, there were at least a dozen people being sick, which is even worse when you are enclosed in a small space. I was literally fighting the urge to throw myself off the boat – swimming back to shore would have been a more pleasant experience, even if it was 20 miles away. Eventually the Captain turned back and the journey back seemed even longer. I was literally at the point where I just wanted to be back on dry land – you know when you want something so badly that it actually hurts and you just want to cry, that’s how I felt being on that boat. It was like nothing else in the world mattered, I just needed to be off the boat. This was all made worse by the “Tour Guide” who literally talked the whole way there and the whole way back. I’m honestly not even exaggerating – she spoke the entire time. There was about ten minutes of silence in the two hours that we were on the water. She didn’t even have anything to say. She just talked and talked and talked. Every time you thought she was finished, she started again. She told us everything there was to know about Whales and Dolphins and Birds. She told us that people had often seen Killer Whales (Orca) in the area – raising my hopes, but then she told us that there is no way we would see any today because of the stormy conditions. Listening to her caused me physical pain. The American Government should recruit her – forget waterboarding – try Whale Watching with this lady as your host. But in all seriousness, torture is wrong and it isn’t something to joke about, but really, she would be employee of the month. Right, I’m stopping.

After what seemed like hours we got back to the Whale Watching office. We got in line to receive our refund – and then I found out that they only refunded 80% of what you paid. This made me quite angry. I know that 80% is better than nothing, but I was severely traumatised. I didn’t see a Whale, I had to witness a vast number or people throwing up, the Tour Guide Host Lady made me want to claw my ears off with her nonstop talking and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go a boat again, which just ruins my dream of sailing around Ballyholme Bay. This might also damage my spiritual wellbeing – I will never be able to read the story of Jonah and the Whale, there’s just too much history, too many bad memories.

After receiving my refund and telling the lady that it was the worst experience of my holiday and that I would never be able to go on a boat again, I went back to the Hostel, made some Coco Pops and went to bed. I probably had nightmares about boats, but again, I’m trying to forget about that, it was a very difficult time for me.

Xx

Penguins! Albatross! Dolphins! Awesomeness!

Wednesday 22nd April

Today I got up nice and early, went to the cafe, had a hot chocolate and then I went to the information centre to start my “Village and Bays Tour”. Basically you take a mini bus around Stewart Island and the driver does a little commentary, telling you all about the different places you visit. It’s quite a short tour; it lasts for about an hour and a half, because Stewart Island is so small. Also, there isn’t a lot of road – I think there is only about 27 kilometres of road on the entire island – I’m not sure, I should really check that, but you get the picture, there isn’t a lot of road! We stopped off at a few beaches, hence the Bay part of the tour title – they were actually really nice. We had a decent enough day for the tour, but if you ever have the chance to go to Stewart Island during the summer then do, because it is really beautiful! The driver also told us a lot about the people that live on the island; it’s actually really nice to hear a bit about the locals. Everybody knows everybody on Stewart Island – probably because there is a population of about 400! There is only one Policeman on the island and there’s pretty much no crime – what a cushy job! There also isn’t a doctor on the island, but there are two fully trained nurses and you can get to the mainland fairly quickly if you get really sick. Stewart Island is really popular for hikers, you can go on trips that last for a few days or a few weeks! It would have been nice to do some “tramping”, that’s what they call it, but I didn’t have enough time and I was still getting over the flu!

After our little bus tour I went on another tour, this one was called the “Pattersons Inlet Cruise” and it was actually really good! Basically it takes you from Stewart Island to a few of the surrounding islands, they do a running commentary and tell you all about the surrounding islands and what they are used for. A lot of the islands down here are bird sanctuaries because there are so many flipping birds in New Zealand! We were actually really lucky, we saw some Penguins! I was actually ridiculously happy about that – I love Penguins and I really wanted to see some when I was in New Zealand, so I was really glad that it happened! They are really tiny and there were only about 5 or 6 Penguins – we couldn’t get too close because they were scared of the boat, but you could see their little heads looking around and watching the boat! It was really hard to get pictures, but I got a few! After we saw the Penguins we saw some Dolphins! I’m all about the Dolphins these days! I think we are kindred spirits... I’m really at one with the Animal Kingdom these days. I would love to be a Zoologist or something like that, but I’m not smart enough/I’m too lazy to actually work for anything. After the Dolphins we just cruised around for a bit, saw some more beautiful islands and I had the desire to learn how to sail. I would love to live down here and then I could just get into my little boat and I could just sail around all the beautiful islands and have little picnics on the beach and I could go swimming with my Dolphin and Penguin friends!

After cruising about for a while we stopped off at a place called Ulva Island. Ulva Island used to be where the Post Office was – a little man and his wife were the only people to live here and every 6-8 weeks the post used to be delivered to Ulva Island. Then the little man would hoist a flag and the people who lived on Stewart Island and the surrounding islands would know that the post had arrived. Because it was such a special occasion everyone would get dressed up and then they would go collect their post and have a bit of a goss! The Post Office was in operation until quite recently, well not that recently, I think it stopped about 50 years ago, but I’m not actually sure, I wasn’t really listening... We stopped on Ulva Island and then went for a walk, saw some cool bird – we saw a relative of the Kiwi and a few cool looking Pigeons. My favourite was a little Robin! But it wasn’t like a regular Robin, it was all Black with a White chest! How cool is that! It was also really friendly – it got really close to me and I was clearing the leaves from the ground so it could find food easily – again, I am at one with the Animal Kingdom. We also saw a really cool green parrot – it probably has some fancy name, but it was just a cool looking bird. The beaches on Ulva Island are also really pretty, so it was definitely worth the trip! On the way back to Stewart Island we saw some Seals which was really cool too... Oh, we also saw loads of Albatross, which I was really happy about! One of the crew members was feeding them from the back of the boat – he was throwing them dead fish and they were getting really close to the boat. I’ve always wanted to see Albatross – it all began with “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”! Does anyone remember studying that poem at G.C.S.E? Good times! Nothing beats a bit of Epic Poetry! I took quite a few pictures of them, I think I got a few good ones, but it’s difficult when there flying all over the place! Then we headed back to Stewart Island! I was really glad I did this trip, I was a bit worried about going on the boat again, but it was fine, there were no traumatic incidents and I got to see Penguins, Dolphins, Seals, Albatross, some really cool birds and some amazing beaches! If you ever go to Stewart Island then you should definitely do this trip! There isn’t a lot to do so you should have plenty of time to fit this in!

After that I just came back to the Hostel, had some Coco Pops and then watched some more Home and Away. I’m sure you have heard enough about my fascination with Home and Away, so I’ll just say that it was great and that I can’t wait to go home and watch it every single night! I watched a bit of T.V and then went to bed – I was the only one in the room, which is actually quite strange. You get really used to sharing a room with other people, so it’s really strange when you are on your own. I’m not even going to lie, I was a bit freaked out – the Hostel is pretty basic, they used regular keys for each room, not cards like the city Hostels, so I hadn’t bothered to lock the room during the day, so when I got ready for bed I checked under every bed, about ten times, to make sure that nobody was going to kill me in my sleep. Don’t worry, I didn’t find anyone! It was actually quite nice getting up in the morning and not having to worry about waking everyone up... I was even able to turn the light on, which is such a luxury over here, normally you just get ready in the dark! But that’s literally another story for another day!

Basically, Stewart Island is really small and there isn’t an awful lot to do, but I really liked it. It’s a village and it feels like a village. The people are really friendly and they are really helpful – I think they understand that the only reason Stewart Island still exists is because of Tourism, so they are grateful that you are there, to help fuel their economy or whatever. It’s just a really chilled out place – I don’t think I would live there, because it wouldn’t be practical, but if I ever marry that millionaire then he can buy me a holiday home there. Oh, and a plane so I never have to cross that channel again. Oh, and a yacht so I can visit all the beautiful islands. Not that I’m demanding or anything.

Xx