It's been a while.

Well it's been nearly 4 months since I've written a new story about our travels and escapades, and yes I have been told it's time to get another one out.  When last I wrote we were in Invercargill and since then we have travelled most of the length of New Zealand.

Tia all rugged up.Boxing day Nevis valley. 6 degrees

  We had Xmas with Joel and Julie and Tia in Invercargill and on boxing day we went through the Nevis Valley again starting at Bannockburn and coming out at Garston.

Stewart Island.

Day trip Stewart Island.

    Soon after that we started on our trip north.  The first night we made it to Cromwell and from there we went on to Wanaka where we turned onto the road for the west coast.  It's such a beautiful drive around Lake Hawea and then over the saddle to Lake Wanaka, then over the Haast Pass and onto the Coast.  There is a free camping area by the ambulance station in Haast.  But a suggestion to make a donation to the ambulance is always well received by the campers.
  We had a good look around Haast and down as far as Jackson Bay,  then we travelled up to Lake Paringa and stayed a few days there.  I did a bit of fishing here and caught a few very pretty brown trout. They have such a gold colour to them.

Pretty Lake Paringa brown trout.

Paringa camp.

Typical west coast warning sign.

Then on to Franz Joseph to restock with groceries. We stayed here 2 nights then we moved to the DOC camp at Lake Mapourika called McDonalds Creek.
  From this point we started to experience some typical west coast weather. The rain became pretty persistent.  Going fishing in the Kayak I experienced another first by catching an eel on a fly. It is a lot harder getting the hook out of an eel than it is a trout.  We worked our way further north and again stopped in Punakaiki where we met Jocelyns Auntie Barb for a coffee.  It was great to see her again and to see her doing well. She was working at the tourist shop and cafe there so it was just a short catch up and she was back to work.
 

Jocelyn and Auntie Barb.

The rig on the west coast.

Rugged coastline north of Punakaiki.

Buller River after a bit of rain.

Marble hill camp site by springs Junction Lewis Pass.

Sunrise. Marble hill.

 We ended up back at Kaikoura to stay with Rod and Catherine and Gracie before we were to cross over again to the north island.We stayed about a week with a bit of fishing and spent a bit of time down at the beach with Gracie.

Rod and Gracie. Hunter gatherers at work.

 With the state highway open again through to Blenheim it was a much shorter trip up to Picton. We had about three days to spare so we went out to Whatamango Bay on the Port Underwood road which is another DOC camp and stayed there.  We did a bit of Kayaking and swimming and the usual looking around  then we were to take the 6.30 ferry sailing on to Wellington.  When we got there we were told the sailing would be an hour later at 7.30 so by the time we boarded we were starving. We had cheated and paid $45 dollars each for the private lounge where you could eat and drink as much as you liked.  Alchohol and coffees and soft drinks were all within the $45 fee. It was very quiet and comfortable and I think value for money.
  So it was pretty late when we hit the road out of Wellington and we carried on until just North of Hunterville where we pulled over into a rest area and had a bit of sleep.  From then on it was uneventful and we made it safe and sound to Heidi and Pauls in Papamoa.It was great to see our North Island family again and we had a very happy week playing with wee Luca.  We also stayed with Ken and Vicki in their new place at Katikati for a couple of nights, then we moved on to Whitianga where I started to stock the boat and do a few chores before we were to head off and fish the Nationals.
  Friday night arrived along with Ken and the rest of the crew who were Mick and Kens good mate Steve.  It was getting close to dark by the time we cast off the moorings and took the channel out of the waterways.  Jocelyn was off to Auckland to spend a few days with her sister Joan.
  Ken set a course for the Barrier and by the time we went past Opito bay it was dark.   It took around 5 1/2 hours to get to our anchorage on the northern end of the Barrier which was about 12.30 am. The next morning we were up at daybreak and on our way out to catch some marlin.  As it turned out we had a pretty good start.  We got the lures in and about 15 minutes later we were hooked up.  Steve was on his first ever marlin and he had it to the boat pretty quickly.  The tag went in, some photos taken and it was released unharmed.  It was still only 7am and we had our first marlin for the tournament.
  Over the next  week we had a great time.  We all caught a marlin with Steve catching his second as well. Also I was lucky enough to be on the rod when we hooked a short billed spearfish.  I had never caught one of these fish before so another first was ticked off. All the marlin were released and we had a few more hook ups that didn't stick and a few more sightings as well. We had a couple of down days with the weather and rough seas but it was a great crew and a very enjoyable experience.

Steves first marlin coming to the boat.

All lit up.

Tag about to go in.

Steve, Mick and Ken.  Lay day weather break.

Steve fighting his second marlin with Mick ready to grab the leader.

A bit lively still.

My first short billed spearfish.

  Getting back to Whitianga Ken and Mick were straight back out again with a new crew of Jake and his mate Sam. Jake and Sam both caught marlin and for Sam it was his first and I hear he is now hooked on game fishing for life.
    Jocelyn and I were to head up North for a couple of weeks with friends Dave and Donna at one of our very favourite spots Puriri Bay. It was great to be back in the far north and straight away we were back into plenty of fish to eat.  We had a bit of wind and a small amount of rain mostly at night but it didn't seem to matter.  The company was great, the bay was beautiful and the weather was still warm. Swimming every day.  Kayaking and snorkelling. And cooking up amazing seafood meals every night.  What more could a bunch of old Kiwis want.

Puriri Bay sunset.

Great snapper Donna.

   Dave and Donna took off back to work so Jocelyn and I packed up and went to Otemure Bay for a week or so.  The water was very clear when we first got there so I spent a bit of time snorkelling.  I found a bunch of small crayfish and took some fish bodies down to them and they got straight into it, taking hunks of meat off  then  sitting there munching away on it.   There are also still a lot of small packhorse crays here too so maybe it's a nursery area for them.
   I had a couple of good days fishing here with some nice size snapper falling to my softbaits.  I love sharing fish around the camp.We got to know quite a few people in these camps and a lot of them are not fishing people or are unable to get out there so they really appreciate a few fresh snapper fillets.  There were 3 ladies all travelling in their own campers, 2 of them in their 80s. And they loved the fish that much they reckoned they were following me back to Puriri bay when we left so they could get more fish.

some good Otemure snaps.

  Ken and Vicki had another 2 weeks off so they were coming up to join us at Puriri.  Unfortunately the first few days were very windy but eventually it settled and we were back into the fishing.  Ken had his small inflatable boat and me my Kayak. So it wasn't long and we were supplying the 3 old ladies with snapper again.  I did some more snorkelling here as well.  I took my gear in the kayak and headed further out towards the entrance of the harbour and out here I found a good size packhorse cray.  So the neighbours camping beside us were thrilled when I gave them the cray to eat because I can't eat them and Jocelyn doens't like them.

Nice packhorse cray.

Ken and his friends at Puriri.

More Puriri bounty to share.

  After this we were off back to Whitianga for Easter.  Heidi, Paul and Luca were coming up in their caravan to stay and the weather really turned it on for all the campers for the whole weekend.  Ken Paul and I did an overnighter in the boat without much luck and we also had an afternoon snorkelling in the marine reserve off Hahei .  There were large snapper following us around and swimming right past our masks and when I dived down I found a number of XOS crayfish in the cracks and crevices.  All perfectly safe as you can only look and not touch in the reserve.

Jocelyn and Papillon.

Heidi, Paul and Luca having fun in the waterways.

Excellent shades for a bike ride Luca.

  Jocelyn and I are now back at Fantail Bay.  Now we are back in the north we seem to be visiting all our favourite haunts.  Some places you just have to keep going back to as they tick all the boxes on what we enjoy.  We are not sure where we are heading next but I guess we like it that way.  We will be going back south for 10 days in the beginning of May for duck shooting then we intend to spend the winter in a number of camps in the far north.  If any of you are keen to catch up with us up there give us a call and we will be sure to enjoy some time with you.