Search This Blog

Monday, March 24, 2014

Bella and Jet - Dolphin Marine Magic

Readers of this blog may remember a blog entry I did back in 2012 after my first visit to Dolphin Marine Magic in Coffs Harbour (http://tiny.cc/kfr7cx).... this is a follow-up to this entry after my latest visit.

Jet - one of the dolphins you may interact with at Dolphin Marine Magic
I had an opportunity to meet Jet, pictured above, up close during my latest in-water interaction at Dolphin Marine Magic. He is such a cheeky little fella and he knows it! During the interaction, we got to pat Jet on the back and the belly - he enjoys his pats so much he allows his whole body to relax... this in turn relaxes his peduncle (the part of his back from behind his dorsal fin down to his tail flukes) which then causes his tail flukes to relax and drop.... this made for some laughs! The more we laughed, the more Jet would do it!

Bella - Jet's big sister and the first dolphin I ever interacted with at Dolphin Marine Magic
I was extremely surprised when I got to spend time with Bella (pictured above) in the main pool. Bella was the first dolphin I ever got to interact with on my first visit to Dolphin Marine Magic back in 2012 - what an amazing experience to be able to reacquaint with her in the main pool.... and to say that means a lot to me as she never forgot me! I was the first person she came up to with a ball to play with....

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Coffs Harbour Trip - Day by Day Review

Here is a day to day review of my recent trip to Coffs Harbour with some photos thrown in... enjoy!

Day 1 - 10/3/14:
Transiting day - left Dubbo at 6:30am, arrived in Sydney at 7:40am. Left Sydney at 11:40 arriving in Coffs at 12:45. Checked into accommodation and went to do some things.

Day 2 - 11/3/14 - Dolphin Marine Magic (day one of three):
Went to Dolphin Marine Magic - got to meet Jiling, their 5 month old male Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin calf. He is so cheeky - every time he can sense someone with a camera near the viewing windows of the pool, he will swim down to say hello. I also got to reacquaint myself with an old friend named Bella, a 8 year old female Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin.... she was her ever cheeky self as usual! 


Jiling, Dolphin Marine Magic's newest dolphin calf

Bella - her presence in the main pool allowed me to reacuaint myself with her... and she remembered me!



Day 3 - 12/3/14 AM - Precision Helicopters (TIF):
Did not go too well as I had major nerves - still can't say I did not have a go! Started with a 20 minute flight pre-brief then into the air....
Day 3 - 12/3/14 PM - Trivia Night at the Park Beach Bowling Club:
What a hoot! Did a Trivia Night at the PBBC - met an amazing local family who welcomed me onto their team! We came 2nd last but what a night it was - now I want to join my local clubs for their trivia nights!

Day 4 and 5 - 13/3/14 and 14/3/14 - Dolphin Marine Magic (14/3/14 - Interaction Day):
What an awesome way to spend two days on the trot - I got to spend an amazing 20 minutes with Jet, who you see me with in photo 3 and floating around in photo 4. He's such a funny and cheeky little dolphin - when he gets patted during the in-water interactions, he relaxes to the point where his penduncle relaxes and his tail flukes drop.... that made for some serious laughs! The more we laughed, the more he did it!



Jet and I during my in-water interaction

Jet after said in-water interaction


Day 6 - 15/3/14:
Free day - took off to The Clog Barn and took a look at Holland Downunder (a miniature Dutch village with all the buildings made by hand from resin and glue). Had a few minutes to buy a few things from the gift shop (lollies) then back to the hotel. Had a fair wait till that night then I went out and saw a friend of mine who I had wanted to see for a while - what an experience meeting Vanessa was!

Holland Downunder - miniature Dutch Village at The Clog Barn



Day 7 - 16/3/14:
Free day - had a day to myself and relaxed. Went to the hotel's big St. Patrick's Day party after the F1 GP - what an experience my first St. Paddy's Day party was - Guinness and green everywhere! Live music played by an amazing band from Queensland called The Bostocks....

Day 8 - 17/3/14:
Last day of the trip - heading home is always the saddest part of any holiday out of town!