Swimming With The Dolphins

My boat, the Temptation, coming into pick me up.

View of Glennig Harbor

The jetty at Glennig

Kelp Gull tracks in the sand.

This morning I was scheduled to swim with the dolphins.  I had to leave early. As I stood outside the Breakfree I noticed a "Pokies" next door.  People were leaving the Pokie about 7 a.m.  Pokies is a gambling and drinking club that closes at 7 a.m.  I had seen many Pokies in my travels in Australia and really didn't understand what they were until now.  My taxi picked me up and we headed out of Adelaide toward the sea.  Traffic was steady coming into town and I was glad I wasn't in that mess.  Even so the traffic lights were really long and I was shocked to see $4.00 roll by on the taxi meter at a single red light. Since I was going to be swimming I had brought the minimum amount of stuff with me.  $28 dollars later the taxi dropped me off at the marina and I found the Temptation dock.  I watched the boat pull into to the dock.  There were about 30 people on this trip.  We were handed wet suits, masks and snorkels.  The staff on the Temptation gave us a run down on what to do. The boat had two long ropes hanging off the back with battery operated shark repellents in between the two ropes. Here in southern Australia the water is colder and great white sharks live here.  When it was time to swim with the dolphins we were to get into the water quickly and without splashing off the back of the boat, swim to the long rope, move ourselves down the long rope so we would be evenly spaced, and flip our legs over the rope so we would be in range of the shark repellent.  Then we were to look down and all around for the dolphins.  The staff warned us that we needed to be quick and their voices might sound sharp but we shouldn't take it personally.  Also we were not allowed to touch any dolphins.  If we touched one we would transmit bacteria to them that would shorten their lifespan considerably. Wild dolphins can live 50 years.  Dolphins in captivity and touched by tourists live about 9 years.  As I squeezed into my wetsuit I realized, in horror, that I forgot my earplugs.  With a perforated right ear drum I cannot swim without an ear plug or I will get water into my middle ear.  I asked the staff but they had no ear plugs.  What was I going to do?  I paid money for this trip.  And I paid $28 for a cab ride here.  Two of the people on this boat were not going swimming.  They were content to watch from the dry deck.  I wasn't content to watch.  I wanted to swim with the dolphins.  So I "McGyvered" the situation.  I took a piece of cinnamon Trident sugarless gum (the gum most recommended by dentists for patients who chew gum), chewed the hell out of it, and when the time came, stuck it in my right ear canal.  Did it work?  The results are mixed.  I got to swim with the dolphins.  The gum came out easily when the swimming was finished. But I did end up with an infection in my right ear.  And because the doctor scolded me for using a Q-tip, I did not tell him I put gum in my ear.  So it was with Trident sugarless gum in my ear that I slid off the back of the boat and reached for the rope when the time came.  The staff were yelling, "Swimmers In!  You should be in already!"  It's not that easy getting in.  The boat is moving and propellers make the water choppy.  We cannot reach the rope when we get in.  We have to swim a couple feet toward it.  They want 4 of us getting in simultaneously.  Once I reach the rope I move myself down, hand over hand, to space us out.  We have 15 people on each rope.  And then we have to move our bodies to the other side of the rope by swimming under it or crawling over the top of the rope.  And the boat is still moving so the legs of the person in front of me are in my face, kicking my mask, and generally in my way.  Once in position I looked.  I didn't see any dolphins.  The staff yell at us, "Swimmers Out!!"  We haul ourselves up the rope and onto the deck.  In a kneeling position and in a wet suit, getting to a standing position is a lot easier if I have something to hang onto.  So I crawl four feet to a railing to stand up. Then I take my snorkel out of my mouth and the slobber dribbles down my chin.  So lovely.  I go back up to the top deck only to hear, "Swimmers In!!!"  I come down the steps, slide into the water, position myself on the rope, try to get some man's knees away from both sides of my head, and look for dolphins.  I see one 20 feet away when my head is above water but do not see any under the water.  I hear, "Swimmers Out!!!"  I haul myself in again but this time I'm not going up on deck.  I'm standing right here so I can be near the end of the rope and maybe get a better chance of seeing a dolphin.  As the Temptation motored east and west of the marina we got in and out of the water at least a dozen times.  To keep my legs from getting in the way I held onto the rope with my right arm extended straight and my left arm bent.  This kept my legs out of the next person's face.  I wished everyone had done that.  As we were hanging onto the rope the boat continued to try and get near the dolphins.  Sometimes the boat sped up and it was all I could do to hang on.  Water was rushing over the top of my head and I was trying to hold it above the water level.  And I am trying to keep my right ear out of the stream of water.  At one point I asked out loud, "Are you kidding me?"  A group of men took me into their group.  One of them was engaged to an Australian girl and he was with his future brother in law, his father, and three buddies from college.  Most of them worked for Goldman Sacs.  All of them were at least six feet tall and, except for the father, quite boisterous.  But they included me in all the dolphin sightings and conversations so that was very nice.  I saw 6 dolphins under the water from about 10 feet away.  The dolphins aren't really interested in us so they just swim on away without coming to check us out.  I think the two non-swimmers on our tour saw more dolphins than I did.  At one point the boat was moving reasonably fast.  We all had our faces in the water looking for dolphins and both hands on the rope.  The staff asks, "Is there anyone who has not seen a dolphin yet?"  What the heck?  We have both hands occupied and a pipe in our mouth.  None of us can answer that question.  It's as frustrating as being asked a question by the dentist in the middle of an exam.  Obviously no one said they had not seen a dolphin. When I saw everyone taking off their wet suits I asked, "Are we done already?"  I wanted to continue but our swimming was over for the day and for the rest of my trip.  My time in the ocean had come to an end.  So sad.  I love the ocean.  I also love the feeling I get with "sea legs."  I unzipped my wet suit. This one zipped in the front.  Wetsuits that zip in the front are way more difficult to take off than wetsuits that zip in the back.  I couldn't get it off.  I tugged at one sleeve and tried to pull my arm out and it would. not. come. off.  Laughing, I said aloud, "I will have to wear this suit the rest of my life."  Another passenger that I had helped with her camera earlier helped me out of my wet suit.  She really had to work at it too.  I thought I was good once I got my arms out but she was kind enough to help me get my legs out too.  It felt good to be rid of that wet suit. I was tired and hungry after all that hustling getting in and out of the boat.  I hadn't really had a full meal since Port Douglas.  I found a restaurant on the marina that wasn't too expensive.  I enjoyed a egg, mushroom and tomato panini on an outside table overlooking the harbor.  Very nice.  I walked around the harbor for a while.  The staff at the Breakfree told me I could take a tram back to Adelaide after the swim.  They gave me a map of Glennig with the tram station marked.  I spent two hours looking for the tram because more than one street has the same name but I found it eventually.  I was glad to spend only $3 to get back to town.  I got on the tram fine but didn't know how to pay for it.  A tram staff helped me purchase my ticket and after that I could sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.  My stop was at the Southern University of Australia campus.  I took a short cut through campus to get back to my hotel which I found after only a 20 minute walk.  I was hoping to walk by a grocery store so I could buy something for dinner at my apartment tonight but I had no luck with that.  I got back to my apartment and showered and was relaxing in a super sized bath blanket when someone knocked on the door.  A hotel staff said he had a gift for me.  He noticed my attire and said he could come back later.  I said no, I could take the gift now.  He gave me a card from the manager and four pieces of Haigh's chocolates.  Score!  Chocolate!  The note thanked me for coming to town during the film festival and hoped I was enjoying the show.  I wasn't here for the film festival but I sure liked the chocolate.  That night I walked a couple blocks to an Italian restaurant and took a small pizza to go.  I ate the whole thing while watching television and finished it with off with the rest of the Haigh chocolate.  Australia has their own version of 60 Minutes and Funniest Home Videos.  Even their commericals for Progressive Auto Insurance has their own Australian version of Flo with a similar hair style.  To prepare for tomorrow I knew I had to pack carefully because there were strict luggage restrictions on the next leg of the trip and I would have to leave most of my belongings at the Breakfree for two days.   I spent an hour planning what I would need and what could stay here.   I went to bed early because I had to get up early for my tour of Kangaroo Island.