Snorkeler Level: Expert

I had never been snorkeling before and was chomping at the bit to do it on this trip (read: obnoxiously pestering Kelly, Erin, and Ben all throughout Australia). I finally got my chance in Coromandel in the north island of New Zealand! We rented our gear, including wet suits, from a guy with questionable foot hygiene and ventured off. To say I was confident I'd rock at this is an understatement. How hard can it be? Likes swimming for dummies, am I right?

Haha.

When we got to the rocky beach that's known for it's clear water, beautiful reefs and bountiful fishies, we suit up. I get my feet in the water and have a full-on, three year old, don't make me do this, I'm so scared, meltdown. Ben is pretty much just standing there in confusion, while I try to coax myself into the water. That worked for a hot 10 minutes, and then I was done-zo. No thank you.

There are no pictures of this because I successfully convinced Ben to delete them all.

A measly 2 days later, we arrive in Kaikoura for our very first dolphin encounter. As we go to check in, we fill out the classic "you can't sue us" form, and at the very top it says "Snorkeling experience strongly recommended." Oh, yes. Perfect. Immediately underneath it offers a few options to indicate your comfort level, along the lines of "Expert," "Novice," and "I can't swim."

We'll skip that question for now.

I see Ben look up at me and give me the "oh shit eyes," which triggers the "I'll show you" hand twitch, and so I mark "Expert Snorkeler." I also consider penciling in "I have arrived" but abstain. 

The dolphin excursion was one of the best things we did on sabbatical. They take you out to the middle of the ocean where they find real-live wild dolphins and then they just basically say "okay get in!" And you swim around with them. The Encounter Kaikoura company was impressive as well- educational, efficient, and huge environmental advocates.

The dolphins swim around and play with you and each other and it's incredible.

Ben got an awesome GoPro video, and I did surprisingly okay at snorkeling.

Only tip is TAKE DRAMAMINE. And ginger. And bring a barf bag. Woof. But so do it.