I always get a kick from seeing dolphins swim in the water. The sight never fails to make me feel good, and I’m even more happy when I can capture some photos.
Dolphins are natural surfers.
And it appears as thought they get enjoyment from surfing some waves.
And when you get a photo of them jumping out of the waves? What a sight.
Fantastic. Love it.
During our mini-holiday at the end of the larger not at work holiday we went to Carrickalinga and stayed not very far from the beach. The first couple of days we were there it was a bit windy and cool and not really conducive to going in the water, not for me anyway.
That didn’t stop my son, however, as he was in every day. The day I took the photos below, was a bit warmer and I took them before I finally went for a swim myself.
He borrowed a friend’s boogie board. I must get his own as he really enjoys using them and this time he stayed out there for a bit.
There were a group of other kids not too far away and maybe he was copying what they were doing but I admired his patience. I can just see him looking for a bit of a wave.
As you can see the waves weren’t very big but at least I don’t panic when they are only this big. He doesn’t mind the bigger waves though and knows how to handle them.
When I went in I took my friend’s daughter who’s nowhere near as confident in the water and was very wary of the waves. I showed her what to do and she ducked down for two of the waves and was very proud of herself. Hopefully that will give her the boost she needs for next time.
For the last couple of years I’ve had this time of year off and taken JJ to VacSwim – a government funded swimming program. It gives him the chance to spend a concentrated amount of time learning how to do swimming strokes and he also learns some water safety.
Last year he couldn’t really touch the bottom of the pool at the shallow end, 1.2m, and this year he has no problem touching the bottom. As if I needed this confirmation that he’s grown – the clothes and shoes that no longer fit can attest to that.
This year it’s also a bit of a struggle to get him changed. He’s just that bit too young to go and do it all by himself in the boys changerooms – showering, getting wet things off, and just being by himself in there. And he’s too embarrassed to come into the girls changerooms with me because he doesn’t want girls seeing his bits. We compromised. I took him into the girls changerooms and we went into a cubicle with a door.
Today was a bit cooler so even though I had my bathers on I didn’t go for a swim with him afterwards.
JJ is pretty confident in the pool and water and I wish he’d listen more to the teacher as I wonder if he’s not a bit over-confident, but some things sink in and he really enjoys it and I know he benefits.
JJ just finished two weeks of VacSwim. For those that don’t know it’s a government subsidised swimming program here in South Australia for kids from five years old. It teaches them basic swimming strokes and life-saving skills.
I’ve never done the private swimming lessons so JJ’s only done formal swimming lessons at school and this is his second year at VacSwim.
As the photo here depicts, he totally loved it. I was a bit dubious at first that he might be in over his depth – literally – as his level went into the big pool which is 1.2m deep at the shallow end but he had no problems. He loves the water and had an absolute ball.
The swimming is over now and with it means that I’m going back to work tomorrow. I feel a real sense of anti-climax because even though I’ve had other work to do over this last month since I’ve been away from my paid job, it’s been time away from the paid job which I really felt I needed. I haven’t had more than three weeks off at one time since JJ was born and he’ll be seven this year.
How I’ll miss those daily trips to the pool. See the rest of the photos here.
