9. Kaikoura magic, New Zealand

Kaikoura holds a very special place in our already special honeymoon. For both Úna and myself it was the absolute highlight to be swimming with the magnificent Dusky dolphins in the open sea off Kaikoura.

The town itself is dramatically

located under the bluffs of a small headland on the northeastern part of the South Island. The Seaward Kaikoura Range (over 2,600m) provides a spectacular and rough backdrop. But it's not the landscape that puts Kaikoura on the map. No, it's much better than that!

The 1,600m deep Kaikoura Canyon comes very close to shore. This brings nutrients from the deep to the surface and attracts an awe-inspiring wild life. We came to Kaikoura to see the mighty sperm whale and to swim with dolphins. We would not be disappointed.

The morning required an early start and we soon had our wetsuits on and were snorkelling in mile-deep water. The dolphins were all arounds us, so quick, so powerful, possessing a purity of purpose and untarnished curiosity. We flapped and floundered and make strange noises to attract and entertain

them, aliens in a hostile world, protected by a rubber skin from hypothermia, profoundly inferior creatures in an unforgiving element. It was deeply humbling. We saw them regard us ... Words cannot describe it, they would surely sully that one precious moment.

On the way back we followed a pod of orcas, the most majestic of dolphins (and not whales). The afternoon trip was a more distant affair as we chased all over the sea to regard sperm whales before they would return to great depths to hunt, trailing their tell-tale tail fins as they dived.