In August, Scoop and I traveled to Niue Island, a coral atoll situated 2200 km northeast of New Zealand. The island is overflowing with natural beauty where volcanic formations meet the Pacific Ocean. The trip was incredible from start to finish, but one of the highlights, a truly life-changing experience, was swimming with humpback whales.

One of only three places in the world where you can swim with humpbacks, we weren't going to miss it! We booked a dive and when we arrived at the dock, our guide gave an excellent orientation. His respect for the whales was impressive. Once we were clear on the do's and don'ts, we were off! It wasn't long before we spotted whales and we were given the ok to dive.

After we quietly slipped into the ocean, we were in their domain! We were lucky to see a male and a female adult resting together. My whole body tingled and tears welled in my eyes. These huge mammals have a gentle curiosity which I’ll never forget. It’s like there is a connection, a knowing between human and whale which is trance-like, even hypnotic. The word that best describes how I felt is “euphoric”.

For more on our amazing dive and our trip to Niue Island, visit our Niue Island feature and our Flickr page.

Cheers,
Mrs. Scoop