Swim with the seals...
Started driving to Kaiteriteri,to met the guide to take us on a trip to swim with the seals in Abel Tasman Park. We took a wrong turn, backtracked, stopped at visitor center and got the right directions. They even called ahead for us to inform the tour company we'd be a bit late!
Our tour guide was John "The Walrus". He was a really cool older guy with a Santa Claus beard. He was a born story teller. There was one other participant besides John and I, a woman, joined us for the trip.
We took a very fast (225-HP outboard engine) water taxi and made a few stops along the way for John "The Walrus" to point out features and share stories. "Split-apple" rock is like it's named, a rock dramatically split in two. John told us the Maori tale of how the rock came to be split in the conflict between a water god and a land god. We later stopped to view a replica of one of the traditional Maori rowing boats, now manned by Maori guides as the helmsman and the cockswan and tourists for the rowers. You have to pay to get the privilege to row! Looked kinda fun.
We finally arrived at Turtle Island where we were supposed to swim with the seals. It was no problem finding them. We saw about 20 or or so, some on the shore, others in the water. We donned our wet suits and snorkeling gear and swam to them. They came to join us. The seals were most active when we elected to grab a breath and dive under for as long as we could hold our breath. There were usually two or three of them swimming close to us during the entire hour we were there! I had some problems with my gear, a faulty snorkel, a not well-fitting mask and then my wet suit was just a bit too small, but it was still an amazing experience. John was the best in diving and interacting with the seals. One of the seals did a complete out of the water leap about 3-feet from John's head! The water was quite clear and quite chilly. We finally had to leave our wild friends and head back to the boat.
We landed at the beach, grabbed a bite to eat and John told us stories and did two puppet shows, one with a Tuatara (lizard) puppet and the other with a rat and a stoats puppet. He sang a song for the interaction between the rat and the stoat that was quite funny! Both puppet shows were both quite entertaining.
We had a fast trip back on this gorgeous, sunny day along the awesome coast of Abel Tasman Park. Our final night of chealp Thai food and got ready to leave the next day.
Started driving to Kaiteriteri,to met the guide to take us on a trip to swim with the seals in Abel Tasman Park. We took a wrong turn, backtracked, stopped at visitor center and got the right directions. They even called ahead for us to inform the tour company we'd be a bit late!
Our tour guide was John "The Walrus". He was a really cool older guy with a Santa Claus beard. He was a born story teller. There was one other participant besides John and I, a woman, joined us for the trip.
We took a very fast (225-HP outboard engine) water taxi and made a few stops along the way for John "The Walrus" to point out features and share stories. "Split-apple" rock is like it's named, a rock dramatically split in two. John told us the Maori tale of how the rock came to be split in the conflict between a water god and a land god. We later stopped to view a replica of one of the traditional Maori rowing boats, now manned by Maori guides as the helmsman and the cockswan and tourists for the rowers. You have to pay to get the privilege to row! Looked kinda fun.
We finally arrived at Turtle Island where we were supposed to swim with the seals. It was no problem finding them. We saw about 20 or or so, some on the shore, others in the water. We donned our wet suits and snorkeling gear and swam to them. They came to join us. The seals were most active when we elected to grab a breath and dive under for as long as we could hold our breath. There were usually two or three of them swimming close to us during the entire hour we were there! I had some problems with my gear, a faulty snorkel, a not well-fitting mask and then my wet suit was just a bit too small, but it was still an amazing experience. John was the best in diving and interacting with the seals. One of the seals did a complete out of the water leap about 3-feet from John's head! The water was quite clear and quite chilly. We finally had to leave our wild friends and head back to the boat.
We landed at the beach, grabbed a bite to eat and John told us stories and did two puppet shows, one with a Tuatara (lizard) puppet and the other with a rat and a stoats puppet. He sang a song for the interaction between the rat and the stoat that was quite funny! Both puppet shows were both quite entertaining.
We had a fast trip back on this gorgeous, sunny day along the awesome coast of Abel Tasman Park. Our final night of chealp Thai food and got ready to leave the next day.
posted by Chris at 11:00 PM
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