I'm normally more into eating fish than feeding them, but it was fascinating to watch as a diver doled out titbits of food.
I couldn't help wondering why the sharks weren't going for the main course of the diver rather than the nibbles.
The behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium was even more interesting and completely shattered my belief - for reasons lost in the mists of time - that aquariums were dull places where parents took their children when they were driving them mad in rainy weather.
Discovering how the aquarium works turned out to be fascinating. We learned about the personalities of the inhabitants, such as Basil, the temperamental foxfish.
We met particularly active kiwis (also on cold pills?), the country's oldest captive tuatara and Bluey the blue-tongued lizard, who was surprisingly soothing to stroke, in a reptilian way.
What really made the tour, though, was guide Scotty's obvious passion for the aquarium - his knowledge and enthusiasm were catching.
When I glanced at my watch after an hour and realised a dolphin was calling me from nearby Marineland I was genuinely upset at having to leave.
That said, feeding Kelly the dolphin - ie, trading fish for the opportunity to stroke her plastic-y skin - was also an amazing experience.
I thought we'd built up a bond but when I hopped in the pool to join her, Kelly opted to tease from a distance, showing off but just out of arm's reach. It was intriguing to watch her move under water but she did insist on diving, which required me to put my flu-filled head under the June-temperature water, and eventually the cold drove me ashore.
It was with some relief that I discovered that my encounter with Marineland's blue penguins, could be conducted while tucked inside hoodie, scarf and parka. Marineland may be best known for having a dolphin in captivity, but it also takes in sick and injured birds and nurses them back to health, releasing them back into the wild when they're able to fend for themselves.
And the penguins, which form a major part of this programme, are cute, seriously cute. And they tremble, I don't know why this adds to their cuteness, but it does. Apparently they don't quiver because they're afraid, but when they get too hot, as a way of losing heat through their double layer of feathers.
The birds are kept in enclosures tailor-made to their needs or injuries. So, for example, the blind birds (some also missing flippers, often due to dog attacks) are in a multi-textured area so they can work out exactly where they are without tripping over.
It was rather sweet that one of the most severely injured penguins - no flippers at all and blind to boot - had a rather stunning and also blind girlfriend.
Keeper CJ's in-depth commentary left us in no doubt that every bird huddling in nests or zipping through ponds had a very distinct character.
Gannets aren't so much cute as elegant and, like many elegant people, it turns out that they are also very quarrelsome, especially when you get 7000 of them crammed into a small area at the tip of Cape Kidnappers.
Although my flu had receded a little, I was delighted to find that my trip to the gannet colony and over Cape Kidnappers Station, with Michael Nielson of Gannet and Wilderness Safaris, would take place in the warmth of a Range Rover.
As my travelling companion rummaged around for extra clothes to keep out the icy winter wind when he played golf on the magnificent Cape Kidnappers' course - Golf magazine voted it the 27th best in the world - I glided over the countryside in weatherproof comfort.
Nielson's tour covers the history of the land, the people - his family farmed the station until the 90s - the wildlife and the landscape, but it's the gannets which are the real stars.
From September until May you can get within a metre of the vast settlement of nests on a glorious site overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
It's the superb setting which also makes the golf course so unforgettable - though I was happy not to be playing it - but my companion said the design was equally impressive.
If you're thinking of going there, he suggested that the stunning cliffs also make it advisable to take extra golf balls.
As for me, having fed fish, stroked reptiles and dolphins, cradled trembling penguins and admired gannets by the thousand, I ended up smelling somewhere between a fish shop and an aviary.
Not quite the jet-set image I saw for myself when I left Auckland but a sure-fire way to take my mind off being sick.
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Getting there
Air New Zealand has regular daily flights from Auckland to Napier which take 55 minutes. www.airnz.co.nz
Rental cars can be hired from at Napier Airport. www.hertz.co.nz
Where to stay
I really enjoyed the rustic luxury at Peach Gully, 2006 Waimarama Rd, Havelock North. I'd recommend the extra-long clawfoot bath and fiery woodburner. www.peachgully.co.nz
What to do
The National Aquarium of New Zealand, Marine Parade, Napier. www.nationalaquarium.co.nz
Cape Kidnappers Wilderness Safaris, Cape Kidnappers Gannet Safaris. Email wilderness-safaris@xtra.co.nz. www.gannetsafaris.co.nz
Marineland, Marine Parade, Napier. www.marineland.co.mz
Further information
See www.hawkesbaynz.com
* Susannah Cullinane was guest of Hawke's Bay Tourism, Peach Gully, Wilderness Safaris, Marineland and the National Aquarium, Air New Zealand and Hertz.
