Wild Dolphin Swim
We booked the dolphin swim for the first time in September, which was one of the first swims of the season, but due to bad weather they had to cancel it twice in a row, and finally we rebooked the swim for this late October weekend.
The morning alarm went off at 3.30 am, since we had to be ready at 4 am when one of the crew members on the boat had offered to pick us up in Mayfield and drive us to Nelson Bay, Port Stephens where the boat awaited us. Liz was the name of the crew member, and when she picked us up there was a heavy fog outside, which we thought was quite cool and fitting since it was very close to Halloween.
The ride to Port Stephens went well, we were only a bit concerned when we saw thunderclouds and lightning on the side of the freeway when we were approaching our destination. But the sky was clear and the water calm when we arrived at the marina, so we took a sigh of relief that we didn’t have to rebook our swim once again.
We met the rest of the crew and they quickly prepared the boat and made sure everyone filled in the liability waiver, took a sea sickness pill and got fitted with a wetsuit. After that we got geared up with a snorkel and a pair of goggles, as well as a safety harness. We had a quick run-through how to use it, and how the procedure went when our assigned group got called to get in the net at the front of the boat and get in the water. We went into the water five people at a time, and I (Linnea) got assigned to group one while Gustav was in group four.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) we were only 16 passengers on the boat out of 20 that day, which meant that Gustav was alone in his group. Liz quickly assured us though that it meant that the people from group one could go in the water a second time with him, which was music to my ears since I didn’t mind spending more time in the water with the dolphins.
We headed out of the marina at 5.20 am, and the CEO of Dolphin Swim Australia introduced himself and the rest of the crew as we went out into the Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Park. He told us about the history of the company and, as we had read previously on the website, that this is the only tour where you swim with actual wild dolphins in their natural habitat. Since the dolphins constantly move around, there are different groups every day that approach the boat, and the crew almost never see the same individual dolphin. The company has a special permit to operate on, which they have gotten by promising that they won’t disturb the dolphins and that they approach the boat by their own will. It almost sounds too good when you first hear it as a tourist, but the dolphins actually want to swim in the waves next to the boat and they are very playful.
It didn’t take long until the CEO spotted the first gang of dolphins when we got out on the water. The extremely early start also ensured that we were the only boat as far as the eye could see and according to Liz dolphins are the most active in the morning.
I grabbed on to the railing at the front of the boat, and at our dive masters signal, group one climbed into the net, hooked our safety line to the rope attached under the boat, and sat in the net ready to jump in the water as soon as we heard the signal. We had at least seven dolphins swimming close to the boat, and except the unavoidable gulp of salt water that came into my mouth when I launched myself into the water, the feeling was amazing.
After figuring out exactly how I should angle my head to not get more water in my snorkel, I could breathe and focus on the amazing creatures swimming right next to me. The boat was holding the same speed as the dolphins swam in, so all you had to do was hold on to the rope and relax. About ten minutes had passed before the drive master gave a signal and the boat stopped. Everyone either pulled themselves up or got heaved into the net again. After we had got up the next group prepared themselves to go in.
So far the journey had been amazing, but after getting up out of the water my stomach started protesting. I hadn’t eaten anything all morning, and since I was in the first group I hadn’t had time to try the breakfast onboard. In hindsight, I think the biggest cause for my sea sickness was the fact that I swallowed quite a bit of salt water on an empty stomach.
Liz was quick to take care of me, she had a supporting role on the ship and it was good that she was there since I wasn’t the only one getting sea sick. Three of the five people from the first group (including me) got to sit at the rear of the boat where the bounce of the waves was considerably less. I sat there for a long time trying to get better so that I could eat something, but I guess I have to admit that I don’t have “sea legs”.
Suddenly there was a huge fin submerging from the water about 20-30 meters to the left of the boat. The captain was quick on the speakers and said: “on your left you can see a humpback whale waving towards us”. The whale raised its huge fin straight up in the air and back down about three times, and it actually looked like it was saying “Hi there!”.
About two and a half hours into the ride, the CEO finally spotted another group of dolphins and it was time for Gustav and me to get ready. We got into the water, but as soon as we did the dolphins swam away heading towards their breakfast most likely. Since we didn’t want to disturb their feeding, we got up on the boat again and started looking for another group. It didn’t take very long, but my stomach started protesting again and my legs literally started shaking. Liz asked if I wanted to go again, and I said that I really wanted to and that I actually felt better in the water than I did on the boat.
We got in the net a second time, but this time the dolphins swam too quickly, so as soon as the boat stopped to let us in the water they were ahead of us. The dive master told us to get back in the net and stay there while they caught up with the dolphins. It was very fun to be in the net while the boat was moving, and this time when we got in the water (Gustav’s third dip and my fourth) we experienced the serenity of being under the surface and feeling like the only thing that existed was the dolphins and us. It felt like we couldn’t get enough of it, but too quickly the swim was over and we got back on the boat.
The rest of the tour swept by while we returned all the gear and changed from the wetsuits to our normal clothes. They had a hot shower on the boat so that you could wash some of the salt water off you, and it was much appreciated for the warmth as well since having a wet wetsuit on for four hours had made us quite cold. We got a certificate of achievement from the CEO and thanked the whole crew as we approached the marina.
Liz asked if we wanted a ride with her back to Newcastle, but we had plans to explore Port Stephens some more after we had docked.
All in all, I loved the swim even though I got sea sick, and we were really happy to have done it especially after our several rebookings.
I’d recommend this swim to all dolphin lovers out there, even though I would say I haven’t been obsessed with them since I was a child, my 11-year-old self had a field day.
Lots of love,
Linnea
Well, I guess I’ll continue – Gus.
Climbing Mount Tomaree
From the marina, we walked towards Mount Tomaree, a small mountain and good lookout point close to the water. The summit stands at 161 metres above the water.
On our way towards the mountain, we stopped at a grocery store at Shoal Bay and bought an ice cream each. When we were sitting there eating all of a sudden we heard people talking Swedish. It was two couples with their children. This was pretty much the first time we found Swedes that weren’t students at UoN.
We walked on, the sun had really broken out and the thunderclouds from the morning were nowhere to be seen. I had dressed in the morning expecting cold weather and rain and was therefore wearing trousers and at this point I started to regret my decision.
We reached the foot of the mountain and started walking in through the forest covering the mountain. After much climbing (well, it was rather strained walking) we reached the summit. We were not the only ones there and a nice woman asked if we wanted her to take a picture, something we very much didn’t mind and it was really kind of her.
When looking out from the summit, we saw the same ship we went on in the morning coming back in towards the marina. After we had walked a couple of laps around the summit and read the signs, we started to walk down again.
For most of the walk down nothing special happened, but then we saw a guy standing quiet on the path looking in the bushes. When he saw us, he made a shushing motion and pointed into the bushes. When we got closer, we saw a goanna walking through the bush.
Before going back home on the bus, we had a bit of a snack and sat down at the beach. After some time, we went to the bus stop that was located on the street next to the beach with a couple of minutes to spare.
/ Gus