A trip to the beach on Sunday ended in a once-in-a-lifetime dolphin experience for Whangarei woman Sharon Teh, daughter Sophie-Maree Teh-Hall and friends.
Ms Teh, Sophie-Maree, 13, her best friend Rowan McInnes and Rowan's mum Lara, were treated to a spectacular dolphin display at Whale Bay, on the Tutukaka Coast,for about 45 minutes from 10.30am on Sunday.
Ms Teh was still buzzing from the experience yesterday, saying despite having visited the bay many times over the past 20 years or so, this was the first time she had seen dolphins there.
Seeing the dolphins is one thing, but getting an up-close experience is a totally different matter.
"It was amazing. Oh my gosh. It was totally different from one of those dolphin watching trips. These were swimming right up to us and between us and putting on this awesome display for us," she said.
"They just came and played with us. Then they swam of a bit towards Woolleys [Bay] then came back again to put on this amazing show for us - leaping out of the water and flipping and everything...just a beautiful experience."
She said the experience was even more special for the girls and Ms McInnes as it had been on their bucket lists to swim with dolphins.
There were up to 40 other people in the water when the dolphins came in and Ms Teh was impressed with the respect everybody showed to the dolphins by not touching them and waiting for the dolphins to approach them.
