Kaikoura

Day 1: My Kiwi Experience got under way early the next afternoon as we were picked up by our first driver - Dillon, who has several screws loose and is one of the craziest, funniest blokes I've ever met. He literally says everything he is thinking out loud, no matter how outrageous those thoughts may be. Eventually, he gave us an introduction to the bus and explained how Kiwi Experience works. Lots more activities included than OZ Experience and I'd only heard good things so we were all itching to get started.

Also onboard were: Nathan (Manchester), Ben & Jamie (Carlisle) and Dan & Ally (London) and we all got chatting on the trip up the east coast towards Kaikoura, famous for it's Dolphin swimming and Whale watching. The journey took most of the day and we arrived at the hostel early evening.

After checking in, myself, Nathan, Dan and Ally headed into the small town for a few beers and to watch the Rugby game that was on that evening - Australia vs New Zealand no less. Australia won, which didn't go down too well in the pub. What did go down well though was my first pint of Speights, the national beer recommended by a kiwi friend of mine (cheers David). Very tasty and I'm sure it won't be the last.

Day 2: Nathan and I were up early for some Dolphin swimming. We checked into HQ and then boarded the boat wondering how many we would get the chance to swim with. As we set off, we got our answer - LOTS. There were pods of Dolphins all over the place, reaching numbers into the thousands according to the crew members (Owen & Mike). They were swimming alongside and flipping up either side of the boat as we kept going in search of even bigger pods. An amazing sight.

Finally, we settled on a pod and all gingerly got into the freezing cold ocean (and I mean freezing - it took my breath away at first). We soon swam around and warmed up though as the Dolphins came closer to us.

All wearing snorkels, the tip from the crew was to each make as much noise as possible to get the Dolphins attention and swimming near to you. All feeling pretty stupid at first, we soon got the rewards as they swam close enough for us to touch, look them in the eyes and swim in circles with them. It was incredible. The more Dolphins that came close, the more noise everyone made and it really did the trick as we ended up being surrounded by about 100 of them - a brilliant experience.

Eventually, their numbers decreased so we re-boarded the boat in search of other pods, which weren't difficult to find. Then it was back in the water for more stupid Monkey and Seal noises to once again get their attention. It really works and swimming that close to so many Dolphins is without doubt one of the best things I've ever done. Absolutely amazing.

That afternoon, my day got even better as I signed up to go Sperm Whale Watching. Upon checking in, my question to the girl on reception was one I think she gets a lot - ''What if we don't see any?''. If this happened, I would be able to go out again for free the next day and then get an 80% refund if we still had no joy. Pretty reasonable I thought. Fingers crossed.

Once we boarded the boat, the crew members told us they had got word of a sighting from earlier in the day so we headed straight for the same spot, which took about 20 minutes to reach. We were instantly rewarded with a sight of a Sperm Whale just as it was about to dive back into the water. They tend to come up to the surface for around 20 minutes, where they just hang around spurting water out. After that time, they dive back down to the bottom, only to return back to the surface after another half an hour. Given they return to the surface within approx a mile radius of where they dived, this is how the crew are so good at finding them.

Given we only got a brief glimpse of this Sperm Whale, we headed off in search of others before he returned to the surface. I was quite astounded when one of the crew claimed he had caught sight of one about 2 miles away, claiming it was sleeping before diving back down. No-one else on the boat could see it, that's for sure. The crew decided not to head over.

They then spent a little while trying to find others using their eagle-eyed sight and some equipment that can hear the Whales underwater. With no luck, we headed back to the first sight just in time for him to return to the surface so we could get a proper look. Simply amazing - huge creatures. They just hang out at the surface, meaning we could only see the top of him but it was still an incredible sight. However, the best bit was when he dived back down, allowing us to get some great views of the huge tails they are so famous for.

After some more unsuccessful searching around, we returned to the same sight once more and caught sight of the Whale for a third time - not bad for an afternoon's work. If there is anywhere you are pretty much guaranteed to see a Whale, I reckon it's in Kaikoura. We all felt pretty lucky.

Heading back to the shore, we then caught sight of even more Dolphins than had been on show that morning. No swimming this time but the boat did stop for us to get a view of their aerobatic skills. We also got to see a few Seals and about 10 huge Pelicans chilling out on the surface. What a day.

That evening, myself and Nathan met some nice canadian girls that were staying at our hostel - Danielle, Ali and Sam. We spent the evening hanging out with them before heading back into the town for a few more pints of Speights, whilst watching the footy.

Day 3: There was no Kiwi bus for us to catch, meaning we were left with a day to kill in Kaikoura. Aside from the Dolphins and Whales, there's not a huge amount else to see but myself and Nathan managed to amuse ourselves with a few rounds of mini-golf and games of Chess. Nathan then caught a bus back to Christchurch in the afternoon. A really nice guy and we had a good laugh together for those few days.

That evening, I hung out with the canadians again as we chilled at the hostel. They were heading to Thailand in a few days time so I was happy to pass on some advice.