Dolphins/Bridge Jump

The next events may or may not have occurred in the order they are written because I have lost track of time.

The next day the Germans were leaving and they had one more thing to check off on their bucket list; to jump off the bridge. I decided to wait until they jumped in to see if it was safe before I jumped in after them. I went twice and just remember my legs flailing everywhere until I hit the water. Then I went to the beach and swam/tanned for a while. Later Christian and I hitched over to Wakaiwa, the next port over from Picton to see if we could get a place on a sailboat for the race. We got there kind of late so most of the seats were taken. Because he had some experience, he got to go on before me and I ended up not getting to go at all, but it was fine because some other girls who were staying at the Atlantis offered to drive me back. First we went over to a café on the waterside and had some drinks. They were from Ireland and were going to try to find jobs in Melbourne.

I made paella for dinner again and met Yakir from Israel,.Then I played  cards with Christain and some other workers in the lounge area. Yakir told me about this hike he was going on the next day so I told him to find me in the morning and I would go with him.

The next morning I slept in until 9:30 because I thought breakfast was served until 10. When I went to the kitchen I saw some bread and started reaching in the bag. I hear an English accent say, “Oy that’s my bread!” I apologized and put the bread back, explaining that I thought it was the communal bread. We both started laughing and he offered me some oatmeal that he was making. It was really good with banana and maple syrup. We went into the lounge and after some small talk he asked me what my favorite food was. For some reason he looked up at Chloe and suddenly said, “ice cream.” I asked if she had mouthed the word to him, but he said no it just suddenly came to me. Chloe and I started laughing because throughout the whole trip if I ever told anyone that I loved ice cream I always ended up being pushed to finish the carton. So I made a pact not to tell anyone else that I love ice cream and told Chloe not to tell anyone either. We started laughing at the funny coincidence that he had just guessed my favorite food or dessert. My favorite food is probably sea food and vegetables (not necessarily together)….and no not “see” food.

Around 10:30 the next day I packed up lunch and went on a hike with Yakir. He told me about some traditions in Israel and what kind of food they eat, how he used to play in the rivers, etc. We found the beach and got our lunches out. I had left over paella, but no utensils so I used a mussel shell. On the way back we walked along the water line rather than go back up the trail. I started cracking open the live mussels and playing with the snot-like interior. Apparently he took this as me leading him on and tried kissing me at which point I said “no” and kind of started laughing at about the situation. I mean what is more romantic then mussel guts? And no offense, but he was at leas 4 inches shorter than me and most importantly I had no interest. I just wanted to be nice and meet someone from another country geez! He asked me why not so I told him I was uncomfortable and just didn’t want to. I think its hard for girls to say no to things they don’t want sometimes, but it is something we need to practice and we don’t have to have a reason other than not wanting to do something. Needless to say, it was a slightly awkward walk back. On the way back to the hostel I saw a sign for swimming with dolphins and decided to check out the prices. It was slightly expensive, but I thought it would be a cool experience so I signed up to go out the next day.

I got to the harbor around 8:30. There were only five other people going on the trip and only one other couple were going swimming. Usually, there are about 18 people I was told. The conditions were perfect; there were only a few people, it was a beautiful day and the dolphins were super playful. I was also just excited to be on a boat and to see Marlborough Sound. We spotted the dolphins and headed in their direction. They swam next to the boat, doing flips and splashing their flippers. Eventually we found a place to get out. I wore a wetsuit and snorkel gear. We were told to look straight out and continually look around. Amy, the deckhand/instructor gave us directions, explaining different hand motions for when she blows the whistle and told us to sing a lot and clap the rocks together. The first time she told us to get in, we were all a little dumbfounded and took too much time to jump in so we didn’t see any dolphins. We got back in the boat and moved locations. This time, we sang really loud and clapped the rocks together. I sang a country song by Toby Keith and “yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.” They were so close that if I reached my hand out I could have touched them, but you’re not allowed to because your nails can damage their skin. They kept circling around me and the other German couple. When we got back in the boat, the German girl started talking really fast in German because she was so excited, but when she saw our blank stares she reverted back to English, laughing about how excited she was. There were “heaps” of dolphins everywhere. It was such a fun experience!!

After I walked around the town and bought some hokey pokey ice cream. It’s a vanilla base with hardened honey and is delicious. As an ice cream connoisseur I would also recommend kiwi swirl. Then I went grocery shopping for wine and chocolate because I had no plans for the night. Crimson Cabernet, Banrock from Australia is the best tasting and cheapest wine I have found so far.

After finishing the bottle ( don’t worry it was only 4%) and chocolate I wandered to the Irish Pub and started talking to a guy who I saw in Waikawa (sailing place), he invited me to go diving for crayfish the next day but I had plans to hitch hike to Nelson. I wish I would have gone because little did I know I would be spending a week in Nelson after evacuating from Christchurch.

I meet some rugby guys because I just walked up to them and said, “hey, do you play rugby?” I know I stereotyped them, but they did look like rugby players. They said I was very bold to go up to a bunch of guys and start talking to them. “Is that an American thing?” I think it was just because I was slightly tipsy and thought, what’s the worst that could happen? Really, its quite silly to see someone in a bar and spend the entire night debating whether to talk to them or not. Listen to Nike and “just do it!”

I hung out with them for most of the night. I may have been 1 out of 3 girls in the entire place! There was music and somehow I got pulled onto the dance floor by some old men where I was tossed around, dancing really fast and being dipped. Everyone was clapping and loud. It was so fun! I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire night.