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Australia - 2005-04-05 - 2 - Queenscliff - Swimming with the Dolphins & Seals
Since I have dreamed about coming to Australia there has always been 2
things I absolutely had to do. #1 was swimming with Dolphins & #2 was
diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Having already divided 10 times on the
reef I had only the Dolphin swimming to do. When we went to the visitor
center they checked on the details and knowing that they had seen dolphins
the day before, the temperature was good & that there were spots still
open we decided to go. Adrian was not going to go with, but decided to
do it at the last minute. I also wanted to say thanks to my brother who
gave me cash for my birthday & told me to do something that I really wanted
with it. I was thinking about not doing it because of the $100 cost, but
decided to use the money he had given me to pay for it :) Once there we
went through the details quickly with the people on the boat. We then
got fitted for our wet suit, snorkel, & mask. We also had to pay & get
everything all signed. We then headed out to the first site which was
a snorkeling place to get people used to snorkeling & the wet suits (for
those who had never been in the water before). I almost skipped this part
because there was supposed to be much to see. I decided to get in & was
happy that I did. I saw some really cool fish by the dock area & once
we went around the corner I saw a huge jelly fish. I was not able to get
pictures of either because my underwater camera would not work. So once
on the boat I decided to get another one so I could try to get some other
pictures. On the way to the seal spot which is what they usually do second
they heard that dolphins had been sited. So we broke for that area & after
looking for a while found some pods of dolphins. After chasing them for
a little while the dolphins decided to chase us. The second & third row
are pictures from the front of the boat where the dolphins were swimming
& jumping at. It was actually the coolest part of the trip. I was so close
to them, if I hadn't been taking pictures I could have gotten really close
to touching them. The swam with the boat for quite a while. In the meantime
people had been being drug behind the boat & dolphins had been swimming
by them. What you do it hang onto a rope with one hand & look underwater
while the boat is moving (so the dolphins will come to see what you are
doing). After being at the front for a while I decided to go try my luck
with this. A little into the first time I figured out how I could use
my legs to wrap in the rope so I had both hands free for pictures. Although
I am not too sure that I will have any good pictures. I saw quite a few
dolphins during my turn which was really cool. They would swim right under
of in front of you. I never got to touch one but it was really cool. After
coming back up I was thinking that I might be done, but I got to go 3
more times as there were openings on the lines. I saw 12 dolphins while
I was being drug behind the boat. There were a couple that were pretty
close, but they go by really fast. The whole process was different from
what I had envisioned, but still very cool. After a while the boat took
us to see the seals. The seals were all on this built place & they stank
so bad. The cool thing about this part was that you got to get out & swim
around (not within 5 meters of the platform). I was the first one off
the boat & had seals around me the entire time. I followed this one around
for a while who was basically playing in the water. After that I worked
my way around the platform. I got to see one seal do a sea dump, which
was interesting. At one point I had 5 seals swimming almost in reaching
distance. Although you are not supposed to touch the seals & I did not
it was cool because they didn't really seem to mind you being there &
you got to see how agile they are underwater. After the seals we went
back towards the harbor, but we did some fishing along the way. I caught
2 fish of decent size & reeled in one. We them ate one of the fish raw,
which was interesting because I had never tried raw fish before. It was
nasty & I would not do it again, but at least I gave it a shot. We also
met a girl from Oz who was going to college in Ballarat, so that was nice
to have another younger person to talk to. The crew of the boat also gave
us a lot of information about the town including where we could get free
showers & park for free. It was well worth the money & was such a unique
experience :)
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