We split our remaining time on the South Island between Kaikoura, Motueka, Nelson & Picton; a packed schedule considering we visited them all in just 8 days. But the long week included the most memorable wildlife encounter of our entire trip until then and still to this day: swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura. I remember finding out about the opportunity during one of the many weekends we spent researching our trip instead of enjoying the nice Los Angeles weather. “That's it, we're going to New Zealand”, I told Tyler as I jumped out of my seat and showed him my finding. Of course, there was more to the decision than that but I have to admit that my desire to visit NZ grew tenfold that day.