Last weekend, my program took us on an "Adventure Weekend". We took a ferry down to Picton, where we went swimming with dusky dolphins:
I got a few pictures of them tagging alongside the boat, but the best views were experienced while swimming with them in the water; couldn't capture those on a camera, but they were surreal. The dolphins were incredibly playful. They would swim beneath us, in front of us, around us in circles, or they would pause for a moment before taking off in one direction, expecting us to chase them. They came within a foot of me multiple times, and I touched one (semi)accidentally as I was reaching out in excitement. I think the fascination was mutual, since the dolphins stayed around us for a considerable amount of time before deciding to leave and begin feeding.
That evening we went to Marlborough to go wine tasting at various delicious wineries. We learned that the South Island is best known for Sauvignon Blanc, although each winery had won awards for various other wines. The clouds cleared and we enjoyed a beautiful day relaxing in the vineyards. Aside from the Sauvignon Blanc, some of my favorite wines ended up being the Rieslings and the Merlots. Maybe as my wine palette develops, so will my taste for red wines... as of yet I'm still a fan of the less bitter whites.
That night, our program directors, Cerys and Kara took us out to a nice restaurant in Picton, where I ordered fish covered in chive creme sauce with jasmine rice. The next morning we went kayaking through the sounds:
Then we headed back to our hostel and changed quickly before taking off to catch our ferry back to Wellington. I got back pretty late, and have been busy making travel plans with my dad, reading, writing papers, and trying to tie everything up for the end of the semester. Another experience I enjoyed but didn't update about was my noho marae, which was similar to what I did during orientation; my Maori Studies class was welcomed onto a marae, we enjoyed dinner and slept over in the whare nui (family house), and then listened to (and even played) some Maori instruments... it was really nice, and I'm glad I got to do it a second time, this time with some knowledge about Maori tradition and culture under my belt.
Most of my friends have been booking flights home and started talking about when they're leaving... it has been difficult. I've developed some amazing relationships here, and my sense of self has developed a lot... I wonder how this will transfer when I'm out of my comfortable kiwi bubble?
4 comments:
Are you blonde again? Looks it in those photos.
Sounds amazing, only dolphin I ever touched was while I was surfing here in SoCal so we still have that to look forward to once you're back :)
WOW!!! Swimming with "Flipper."
Oh my gosh you are having an amazing adventure! Thanks for the postcard. I've been behind in checking your site. Can't believe it's already time for you to head back. And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! My gosh you were 14 when I met you. How can it be you turned 21?
Maybe we can catch up when you are back in LA??
-Megan
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