Day 38, in which we hunt endangered dolphins

After a mammoth amount of sleep, we slipped into wetsuits and joined the Black Cat Cruise company for a tour of Akaroa harbour. We were on the hunt for Hector dolphins (named after the marine biologist Sir Hector Dolphin, a noted dolphin). These are a particularly small breed of dolphin unique to New Zealand which – despite being entirely wild – have a soft spot for the old humans and like to come say hello when they can.

There were ten of us crammed in the boat, each eagerly on the look out, and although we spotted the occasional group of dolphins, when we stopped to see if they wanted to come and play they invariably circled the boat a couple of times and then vanished again. Still, even this was more wild dolphin that I'd ever seen before, and it was quite magical seeing these stubby little animals jumping gleefully through the waves and dancing around in small groups.

Hector dolphins have been dying in their hundreds of thousands over the years. They get caught in local fishing nets and then drown (a Hector dolphin can only hold his breath for four minutes under water, which you'd think he'd take as a hint that he's not meant for aquatic life). Although there are now over seven thousand dolphins left, most of them didn't appear to be in Akaroa harbour.

Dark clouds began to billow over the mountains and the water became choppier, which we were told is superb weather for the dolphins, who see waves as a sort of adventure playground. Our leader soon heard over his radio that another group had found a friendly group further out in the mouth of the bay, so we were driven over there and we all climbed into the heaving waters. Almost immediately my head was under the water and I was so cold I couldn't breath. I tried swimming in light circles but it wasn't helping at all, and deciding it was a bad time to test whether dolphins really do save drowning humans like they do in Greek mythology (and with the tiny Hector dolphins, I'd have needed a whole school of saviours) and climbed back out. Still, while I failed to get close to the dolphins from the comfort of the boat, everyone else failed to get close to them from within the choppy waters (except the lucky lady in the photo above).

We also saw a penguin, who wasn't curious about us in the least and seemed to be just drifting on his tummy wherever the elements might take him. The weather worsened as we returned, and the waves grew huger and more violent as the driver hit full throttle and we bounced home across the waves. This made for an excellent fairground ride home, and we got NZ$100 back as a refund for the poor turn-out.

In the evening we went to the somewhat flamboyantly named La Vie En Rouge – a rather ordinary French restaurant – followed by a stroll around the harbour, where the storm clouds were swirling around all pretty.