From Southland to Queensland.

Sorry it's been a while since my last story on our travels. Over the last couple of months we have covered a bit of ground.   It started back in Invercargill where we were to pick up our new ute.  Even that took a lot longer than expected.  To start with the Ranger was coming down from Auckland and somehow got itself lost and nobody seemed to know where it had gone to. A week later it arrived none the worse for it's unexplained absence.  Then we started having to deal with the modern tradie about getting the hitch transferred, the new tonneau cover fitted, the side mirrors exchanged and the new wiring for lights and electric brakes to connect to the rig.  It started with the engineer for the hitch.  He was booked for the Tuesday.  When we got there he said he would only look at it today and Friday he might get time to drill the holes for the attachment.  Then it had to go to the Rhino guy to spray the tray before the hitch could be attached.  It sat in his yard over the weekend and he finally got onto it the following  Thursday.  Then the Tonneau cover was fitted. He had it for 3 days then it was back to get the hitch fitted and then onto the auto electrician for another 2 days.    I'm sure Joel and Julie thought we had moved in on a permanent basis.

Just a note.  You can click on the photos to make them full screen.

The new truck hitched up on the Lewis Pass.

  Still we got to know Invercargill and the surrounding hinterland a lot better.  We had time for lunch at Riverton overlooking the lovely estuary.  We had bike rides and bush walks and a lovely BBQ on Oreti beach dressed up in our winter woolies and snuggled into our beach chairs.  Our taste buds were
appeased with bluff oysters, smoked mussels, salmon, and those great Fat Bastard Pies.  We made a couple of visits to the Fat Bastard Pie shop.  The seafood pie my favourite.   Another thing put to rest was that blue cod in the south are definitely much better to eat than the same fish up north.  We throw them back in the north island as they are mushy and unpleasant to eat.

A big bull sea lion eyeing up his girlfriend.

Me and Joc.

Some lovely waterfalls around the Catlins.

Seascape in the Catlins.

BBQ on the beach mid winter.

Oreti beach.

   Also while at Joels I got their bird feeder filled up with sugar water.  What a response that got from the local bird life. There would be tuis, bellbirds, wax eyes and sparrows lined up in all the handy trees waiting for a shot at the sweet water. Sometimes 6 or 8 tuis drinking at the same time.

When the tuis left the wax eyes moved in.

Beautiful tuis.

  Finally one afternoon the ute was ready for pick up.  It looked great and it was nice to finally take it for a drive.  Joel and Julie made us feel so welcome but we felt we needed to get out of their hair and get back on the road.  So the next morning the rig was hitched up and we were on the road north.  The first day we made it to Cromwell where we parked at our usual spot by lake Dunstan. Then the next morning we were travelling up through the Lindis pass when a stock truck and trailer passed us in the opposite direction and squirted out a large rock from one of it's wheels and straight into our windscreen.  It left a big cracked star in our very new windscreen. Bugger, bugger, bugger.  Bloody Murphys law.  I try not to get stressed about these things.  Sometimes I fail.
  Anyway we had decided to spend some more time at Twizel.  We must really like this place as we seem to end up back here a lot.  The first night we stayed at the NZMCA camp by the salmon farm again.  This camp is free to members.  Unfortunately some members treat the fishery as a pure meat hunting enterprise.  That night a party of blokes arrived in their caravan and parked behind us.  The first thing they do when they arrive is hammer in rod holders along the top of the bank.  Then they bait up with huhu grubs and sinkers attached and cast out into the middle of the canal.  There is six rods lined up along the canal.  They fish until very late at night and I hear them up at 5.30 am when their generator starts up to make their coffees.  A couple of them straight away bait up all the rods and get them out into the current again.  The previous time we were here these same blokes were here then as well.  Those rods stay fishing all day and half the night while they make their meals or drink their beers.  They have bells and lights attached to their rods so that they can hear when a fish strikes and at night they can see the light jiggling around and know which rod the fish is on.  This way they can fish but not really keep a close eye on the rod all the time.  At the end of the day they have a filleting session where the mostly small salmon are filleted, vacumn packed with the power from the generator and chilled in the fridge.  They catch a lot of fish with this method.
  When I saw these guys were back again I said to Jocelyn we were going as I don't think I could stand being parked next to them without saying something.  Unfortunately As long as they keep within their limits and sizes it is all legal.  But I have never seen a ranger there checking on any fisherman so I don't know weather these rules are being adhered to.  So again we moved back down to the Ohau C camp for 3 days.  It was still very cold but I managed to get out and catch a few trout, mostly released again and as always we enjoyed ourselves in this lovely spot.

Jocelyn with Mt Cook in the background.

The iced over crater lake.

  Next we were off to Christchurch to get the windscreen fixed and then back to Kaikoura for a few days to visit Rod, Catherine and Gracie.  I even did some milkings with Rod and surprisingly found it was very easy to step back into those shoes.  It was nice to catch up again but we were intent on heading up to the Golden Bay area for a couple of weeks so it was back on the road with the first stop being Hanmer and those lovely hot pools.  Then over the Lewis pass and on to Murchison for a night.  That Lewis Pass is truly beautiful but unfortunately the traffic now makes it a very different trip to what it used to be pre quake.  From Murchison it was a pleasant trip through to Motueka and then after a trip to the grocery store it was up and over the steep Takaka hill.

Lovely tarn on the Lewis pass road by the St. James walkway.

  Unfortunately our Golden Bay holiday was to come a bit unstuck at this point as approaching the last left hand bend descending the hill on the Takaka side there was a bump and and a bit of a lock up from the rig.  We had just broken a spring on the front axle of the rig.   I managed to get mostly off the road and a call was put to Orange Mechanical in Takaka.   A while later Michael arrived and took charge.  Eventually we were able to limp the 20kms in to Takaka at about 30kms an hour and park up in Orange Mechanicals yard.  We were to get to know this yard and Takaka quite well over the next week.

Jocelyn on our walk out to Farewell Spit.

 We were well looked after in this town not only by Orange but by the friendly people and atmosphere in this lovely wee town.  Unfortunately it was the couriers that let us down.   NZ couriers picked up the new spring from Christchurch and were meant to have it to us on the Saturday but Murphys law stepped in again and it vanished.  No one new where it had been sent to.  It wasn't found until Tuesday morning and the garage received it about 2pm Tuesday afternoon.  So we had been in Takaka a week by this stage.  Michael was away but his dad Ian set to and fitted the springs in quick time.  It was getting pretty late in the day by this time so after hitching up we headed in to the dump station to empty out the tanks.

 Takaka dump station is designed for cassette type empties not big rigs with permanent tanks so it is quite a manouvre getting the rig close enough for the hose to reach.  After corkscrewing the rig back in to the site we were ready to hook up. After gloving up  I saw Jocelyn had put a glove on as she had to stretch and hold the pipe over the drain.  I suggested she put another glove on thinking one hand might get tired holding the pipe stretched out.  Before hooking up I saw she still had one hand without a glove.  Now this is where the blond moment became apparent.  She had put the second glove on but she had put it on over the first glove on the same hand.  Oh my god this definitely shows the different wave length  Jocelyn and I operate on.  We both spent the next 10 minutes in hysterical  laughter.  We always make sure we wear gloves when touching any of the hoses or attachments for the black or grey water tanks as we don't want any infections transferred from unhygienic practices.
 We got back on the road heading to Totaranui .  Anyone knowing Jocelyn knows that when she starts giggling it takes awhile for her to get things back together.  She still had tears streaming down her face and was still having trouble talking through the laughter.   I guess you probably had to be there.
   Anyway we found our way over that very tight winding road over the hill into Totaranui DOC camp.  We found a nice site to set up and then settled in for a beer and a wine reflecting on our one week delay in arriving to this spectacular spot in our lovely country.  Over the next 10 days we walked a number of the tracks, went for bike rides and went kayaking.  I did a bit of fishing catching a few gurnard but it was pretty tough going getting enough for a feed.  It really was great to be back at this special sheltered beach.  All the wekas, native pigeons, pukekos etc still wandered through the camp coming right up to your feet showing no fear of people.  There was still deer sign at both ends of the beach where they come out at night and kick up their heels.

Totaranui Beach.

The wildlife are very tame.

Sheltered camp sites in Totaranui camp.

  But all good things must come to an end and we found ourselves back on the road and climbing over the hill back to Motueka then on to Murchison for a night.  We stayed another night in Hamner and yes we had another swim at the hot pools.  Then on to Weedons NZMCA camp at Christchurch where we were going to leave the ute and rig while we go to the Gold Coast and see Jenny and Stan.  Which is where I am sitting down writing this story.

 We are into our second week here and enjoying the climate and hospitality.  It's been great to spend more time with Jenny and Stan who have been great hosts running us around to see the country, both beaches and hinterland.  We spent a day at Dreamland riding the coasters and tower of terror.  One ride "the Claw" was a bit much as Jenny, Stan and Jocelyn all came off it feeling decidedly seasick.  I was probably lucky as when they pulled the frame down over my chest it was too tight and caused discomfort and pain from my heart surgery.  So I bailed out of that one.  Jocelyn wasn't too keen to do the other rides after that.

Tower of terror.

Up on the roof of Panaview Court.

Surefers Paradise skyline.

 On a couple of our walks we have so far spotted 3 wild koalas in the tops of the eucalyptus trees.  And one on the ground just starting to climb back up to the top. I've been for swims in the surf and the pool. We've had a few nights eating out and the odd lunch as well.  I have to wait until I get back to NZ on Sunday  before posting this story as most of my photos are back in the rig.  So will finish off then.
  Our time in Aussie came to an end.  The weather was fine, and warm though a little windy at times.  The gold coast is a very busy place with a lot of people around and the malls are great for shopping and eating.  The people are friendly and helpful.  But it is always great to come home to New Zealand.

Winter in the south.

It has been great to spend some time at Joel and Julies in Invercargill. And with the Uni holidays on as well we were lucky enough to be there when Tia came down to stay for a week.  We havn't seen much of Tia in recent times so it was a real bonus to hear how she has been doing and what she has been up to. We also went for a bike ride on one of the local mountain bike tracks.  Tia and I  were quite entertained when Jocelyn crashed off into the scrub with her legs kicking in the air.
  Jocelyn and I also did a drive to lake Monowai in Fiordland with the idea of taking the rig there for a few days.  It's a lovely spot but the camp site was in shade all day and would have been freezing.
 

Lovely lake Monowai.

Jocelyn on the walking track around the edge of Lake Monowai.

  While at Joels, Rod rang and said he was planning a 2 day trip down to the Cascade river in south westland. Would I be keen to go.  Brian Bolt was to be coming along as well.  I'm always up for another adventure, although it seemed a hell of a long drive for 2 days down there.  So I left Invercargill at 3.45 am and drove to Wanaka where I met up with Rod and Brian at about 7.15.  I left my ute at Rods mate Ians place and then we were off around lake Hawea heading for the Haast Pass.  It was about another 3 1/2 hours driving to get to the Cascade River block.  After turning off the main road onto the Jackson River road you are passing through a river valley with bush dropping right down to the road on the right and lovely river flats on the left, with the bush rising again across the beautiful Jackson river.  As we came around a corner we were surprised to see a large chamois standing in the middle of the road.  Now that was a surprise.  He didn't hang around too long and bounded into the scrub on the side of the road.
    As we pulled up at the gate into the block it was raining and the Martyr River was up a bit.  The plan was to unload the gear at the house then put the jet boat into the Cascade river and motor on down to the mouth for a fish.  The caretaker at the house welcomed us and helped get us settled in then we were bouncing our way down to the Cascade.   With the jet boat in and gear loaded we were off.  Tearing off down the river in a jet boat while it is raining is a bit of an experience. We were well wrapped up in wet weather gear but that rain in the eyes makes it pretty hard to see where you are going.  Brian and I were trying to keep our heads down but of course Rod needed to read the river and decide which channels to take so his face was getting pounded.   Its about 3/4 of an hour down to the mouth and once we arrived we got straight into the fishing.   There had been a fair bit of rain in recent times so the water was a bit discoloured but it wasn't long and we had a few fish on board.

The Cascade in the jet boat.

A nice brown trout for Rod.

   Right down at the mouth Brian hooked a really good trout and it was putting up a real battle.  After a fair bit of win and lose he finally got it to the boat and it was netted.  Brian was stoked.  Biggest trout he had ever caught he said.  So the camera came out and some photos were taken. By this time the trout was looking pretty subdued and was ready for the bin.  Rod lifted the lid and Brian dropped the trout in where it landed on the ice bottles, the trout did a big leap , jumped right out of the chilly bin over the side of the boat and flopped back into the water and disappeared.  The look of shock on Brians face was a real classic.  What just happened? His trophy fish was just a memory.  Lucky we had the photos or no one would believe him.  We had a great afternoon but with evening coming on we motored back up the river and loaded the boat back onto the trailer.  We cleaned the fish we had kept and it was back to the house, cook up a feed and then a bit of shut eye.

Brians large trout that escaped back into the river.

Parked on the beach for a cook up down by the mouth.

   The next morning dawned fine and sunny. A bit of mist lingering over the river flats as we drove down to the river.  The big heavy hereford cows slow to move out of the way.  A large white heron or kotuku eyeing us warily as we crossed the numerous small creeks on the way to the river.  With the boat in the water the peace was shattered with the roar of the jet boat.  A bit chilly on the way down river but a lot better than driving rain in your face.  The day turned out to be a real stunner.  We caught numerous fish most of which we let go again.  We kept a few of the big ones to take home for family and friends.  We cooked up a few sausages on the beach for lunch and went for a short walk and checked out the numerous deer prints in the sand dunes by the beach.  What an amazing, beautiful place to come.  It was quite a few hours driving to get here but few people get the opportunity to come to these true wilderness areas. It is real solitude in these areas.  Cell phones don't work. There is no internet here.  Just nature at it's best. It gets a bit busier in the whitebait season but this time of year it is deserted.

A nice brownie caught on the fly rod from the beach.

  It was getting a bit dark as we negotiated the last few rapids back to the trailer.  But what a special day we had all had.  We had a few fish to clean then back for a feed and a few beers.Yeah awesome.
  The next morning we all went out for a quick hunt before packing up.  Rod got close to a couple of deer but because he is now a bow hunter no venison made it back to the camp.  Brian spooked a couple but didn't get a look at them, and I saw nothing but herefords.  It would have been great to stay another couple of days but we made the long drive back to Wanaka where I picked up my ute and after saying goodbye to Rod and Brian I drove back to Invercargill.
   After a couple of days we again packed up the rig and headed back to Twizel.  We had a couple of weeks to wait before we  had to go back to Invercargill and take possession of our new Ranger.  We had decided to trade ours for an upgrade as ours was now approaching 3 years old and had done 85,000 kms.  This way we start with a new 3 year warranty and should have trouble free motoring for a few more years.
   We arrived at the NZMCA camp by the salmon farm at twizel .We arrived in the late afternoon and the ground was still white with frost.  Wherever you looked there was ice or snow.  A good place to keep all your gas bottles filled for the heater.  After setting up I grabbed the rod and had a few casts.  Within 1/2 an hour I had landed 2 salmon.  Not large but good eaters.  The frost was starting to bite by this time so it was back to the rig and feet up by the heater.

A misty frosty morning overlooking the salmon farm.

  Over the next couple of days the frosts were amazing.  One morning it had to be around -15 degrees.
  The ground and the trees were all white with frost and parts of lake Ruataniwha had frozen. When it snowed the next day the snow settled on the ice on the lake and there was about a foot of snow on  one of the arms of lake Ruataniwha.
  Unfortunately I got crook again.  While in Invercargill I had a recurrence of cellulitis in my left leg which we got onto pretty quickly.  But they put me on some penicillin pills and I had a reaction to them.  So I spent about 5 days in bed feeling very poorly.  I was also off my food for 5 days so I must have been crook. I also had a spot on my face checked and the doctor reckoned it should come off and be tested.  So he chopped it off and left me with a few stitches and a black eye.  Lucky it tested clear so no worries. It took me awhile to get back on my feet and then well enough to get out and about again so I missed out on a lot of the fishing I had planned to do while in Twizel. But when I did get out I got onto some fish pretty quickly.  We had moved down to the Ohau C camp on the top end of lake Benmore again. The winter rates were $10.00 a night for the rig.

My shiner.  I told everyone Jocelyn hit me with the frypan.

  The first night I just walked over to the point where the canal becomes the lake and almost immediately landed a good trout around 7 or 8 lbs.  I kept this fish for smoking.  I then caught another 3 trout, all bigger than the last one and released them all. I guessed the last two were double figure fish.  Pretty happy with that I called it a night.
  Over the next couple of days it turned really cold again and we had quite a bit of snow right in the camp.  The hills were covered in it and looked very picturesque.  It is such a beautiful spot but boy it sure can get cold.  Jocelyn and I went for a drive around to lake Pukaki and up Hayman road then up onto the Tekapo canal for a look.  The canal comes to an end there and goes through some control gates and then down through the pipes and into the power station and then flows into lake Pukaki.  Up at the control gates I spotted three trout that had died and were pinned against the grating.  They had been there awhile and were rotting but one of them had to be around 40 lbs and the other two over 20lbs.They were huge.

 

The snow coming down.

Then the beautiful sunset over the snow on the hills.

  We also did a drive up to lake Ohau and checked out the two DOC camps up there.  The first one the wind was blowing off the lake and it was pretty bleak.  The second one had at least a foot of snow all through the camp and if it snowed again the access could be a bit marginal.  But lovely country with high mountains and great scenery.  Maybe a place for the warmer months.  Back at the canals I went for a fish one evening back at the salmon farm on the main road.  I tried the other side of the canal this time.  Using a small soft bait I caught a salmon almost immediately. I wasn't happy with the size although it was legal, so I released it to grow.  I cast again and felt a really good strike and managed to hook this fish as well.  This one took a fair bit of line and put up a much better fight.  It took awhile but I coaxed it into the shore gently and was very happy to see a very fat salmon around 15lb.  This was my best yet so I was pretty stoked with that.  And as Jocelyn loved to eat salmon this one was kept.

 

A real chunky salmon.

  The following weekend Monique and Greg came to stay.  Luckily the weather was reasonably settled. and we managed to get out and about a bit.  They slept on the double bed where the table is.  Its still reasonably comfortable with four people in the rig.  We had a very pleasant weekend with a bit of fishing and bike riding. We also got the kayaks down and Monique and Greg went for a paddle. Then on Sunday night James showed up as well for tea.  He dropped off a bit of my gear I had left with Rod and brought us a nice wild pork roast from a fat pig he had caught.  Nice.  The next day we were off back to Invercargill as our new ute had arrived.  So over the next week we have to get the hitch changed over to the new one and  sort out a few other issues before we can get it on the road.  Maybe then we will start moving further north to try and find some warmer temperatures.
 
 

Fiji time.

It was 2.15 am and the alarm started singing.  The day had arrived and Jocelyn, Grace and I were off on a wee tropical holiday to Fiji. It was brother Kens 60th birthday and we were off to celebrate it with him and family on a Fijian island. We were all packed so it was just a matter of throwing on some clothes, chucking the bags in the back of the truck and getting on the road to Christchurch airport.  Jocelyn checked the tablet and found we had been upgraded to premium economy so that was good news as well.  Rod was with us to take the truck back to Kaikoura and to see us off.  On arrival we checked in then went and grabbed a bit of breakfast.
  The first leg of the journey was a flight to Auckland, and the landing was delayed as there was fog over the runway.  So after eventually landing it was a footrace to get around to the international terminal and find our gate for boarding.  Our names were being called over the intercom so I was getting growled at by Grace and Jocelyn to step up the pace a bit.  We made it and we were soon settled in to our seats.  Pretty cool they were too. Pillows and water bottles waiting on every seat.  No sooner had we sat down and we were handed steaming hot face cloths to wipe face and hands.  Menus were offered as we settled into the very roomy and comfortable seats.  We weren't used to the flash seats but it was certainly much more comfortable than cattle class.  The food was great as well. definitely restaurant quality.  Gracie was having a great time watching movies and she reckoned the chocolate desert after her fish and chips was the best ever.
  We landed in Nadi and stepping off the plane the heat was a step up from the Kaikoura temperatures we had been experiencing.  Walking to the terminal we were welcomed immediately by the friendly Fijians with Bula called out numerous times as we passed.  Ken and Vicki and Lance were waiting in the terminal as we came out. They had arrived a couple of days before and had done a big shop and organised transport to Rakiraki where we were to hop on a boat and have a short 15 minute trip out to Nananu I Ra.  Most of the family were on the same flight as us and they started to drift out to us with luggage piled high on trolleys.  There was a real sense of anticipation as we all gathered out at the van and started loading all the bags and supplies. 10 days on a tropical Fijian Island with good family and friends.  Yeah can't wait.

Lovely Fijian sunset from the deck.

  Lucky the vans aircon was working as we were jammed in tight amongst all the bags, spearguns, duty free, and groceries.  It was about a 2 1/2 hour trip to Rakiraki.  The roads are a bit rough and bumpy but still interesting looking out the windows to see how other people live in another country.  Gracie was finding the day a bit long after our early start so she put her head down and had a good sleep on the way.  It was around 5pm when we arrived and loaded the boats with gear and bodies and were transported out to the island.  Coming into the bay we got a good look at the accommodation and we obviously weren't going to be roughing it while we were here.  We landed on the beach and the locals were on hand to help get all the bags and groceries up the path to the house.
  Jocelyn, Gracie and I were going to be staying in another house 5 minutes walk away down on the end of the island.  Vicki took us down to show us the house and it wasn't long and we were settled in and ready for a beer or a wine.  It was coming onto dark and still about 28 degrees so a cold beer was going to go down well. We also got to share our house with Darren and Kathryn who unfortunately arrived a couple of days after us and had to leave about 3 days before us.  Poor planning guys.
 

Fiji winter.

   Over the next 10 days we all had a very special time.  Lots of swimming, snorkelling, some fishing and spear fishing.  We had lunch at one of the resorts and a swim in their pool.  The food for the week was great with steak on the BBQ or fish caught that day.  The local fruit was really nice with bananas, pawpaw, pineapples and of course coconuts.  On Kens birthday the locals cooked us a great feast like our hangi on the hot stones in the ground with pork, chickens, taro and other lovely vegetables.   It was also Kens daughter Billies birthday on the same day so it was a double celebration. We had a great night topped off by a traditional kava session enjoyed by us all. Especially 5 year old Ollie who kept sneaking back for another quick sip against mums orders.  It was great having the young Ollie and Gracie with us to keep us entertained.  They got on so well and had a great time.

Kava session.

Jocelyn with Pina colada at VoliVoli resort.

Nice pose Gracie.

Awesome Spanish mackerel Lance.

Jake was deadly on the Trevs.

Island girl.

Kens 60th.

  On the last day out in the boat Lance managed to spear a very large Spanish mackerel, his first of the species and a great achievement.  We were spending a lot of time in the water.  The colourful fish species in Fiji are a real joy and there are so many of them.  Gracie and I had fun hunting out the little patches of Nemos in their beds of anemones that they hid in.  We also encountered a sea snake working its way through the coral.

The last sunset

  Unfortunately the day came to pack up and head back to the mainland for our trip back to the airport.  We got a bit of ribbing from the rest of them as we again found we had been upgraded on the flight home.  Gracie was ecstatic.  It was a bit sad to say goodbye to everyone but everything went without a hitch and we found ourselves back in Christchurch in the evening and met Rod for our trip back to Kaikoura.  All in all everyone had a great time and it was definitely a special family time.
   It took a couple of days to settle back in at Rods.  Catherine was still overseas in Europe, Gracie was back at school and I mucked around on the farm with Rod and even sprayed a few weeds.  Then we decided to hit the road again and head south.  We said goodbye to Rod and Grace and took the coast road down as far as Parnassus for the first night.
  Then the next day we passed through Christchurch and took the road south then turned off on the Geraldine turnoff and headed back into the McKenzie country again.  Jocelyn was keen for some salmon so we were aiming to park at the NZMCA park on the Ohau canals at Twizel.  We arrived just before dark and got settled in looking out over the canal to the salmon farm on the other bank.  Apparently someone had cut the nets on one of the salmon pens a few weeks previous and released about six thousand salmon into the canal.  I don't know if it was someone protesting salmon farming or someone who wanted more salmon to target but whatever the reason it is a pretty low thing to do with a huge financial loss to the farmer.

Looking across to the salmon farm at Twizel.

   The weather was nice but bloody cold.  You get some amazing frosts around here.  About minus 8 one morning according to the neighbours David and Shellie.  I managed to catch a few salmon but they weren't that big, although mostly legal so we did get to eat some.  Jocelyn went for a couple of bike rides while I was fishing.  I think when we have more time we will spend a week or two exploring this area.  Lake Ohau and heading in towards the Dobson Valley needs further exploration with a couple of DOC camps up that way.  The Tahr hunting is great up in those high mountain valleys as well.  And talking to our immediate neighbours the Ahuriri Valley is another area that needs more exploring.  But I need to wait until these rivers open to fishing again in October.  In the mean time the plan was to keep heading south to Invercargill and catch up with Joel and Julie.
  The first day back on the road got us as far as Lumsden where we stayed at the NZMCA park.  We had the whole park to ourselves and after parking we went for a bike ride around town.  That evening I decided to grab the shotgun and head down to the Oreti river for a duck shoot.  It was pretty quiet but just before dark I spotted two mallards and with a few quacks on the caller managed to call them close enough for a shot.  The first one dropped like a stone and landed right at my feet but the second one only got a couple of warning shots.  I think I'm out of practice again.  Still I had one duck dinner and it was plucked and cleaned before I headed back to the rig.
  We are now at Joel and Julies in Invercargill.  Monique and Greg along with James travelled down to see us all yesterday so we had a great day catching up, with a few drinks and a nice dinner.  I have had the ute serviced while here so we are ready to clock up some more kms.  We have to be back in Kaikoura by the 6th July to shift stock for Rod while they take a week up north to go to a wedding. So who knows? After that we may head north and check out Golden Bay again.

Some time in the McKenzie Country.

After leaving Kaikoura, Jocelyn and I travelled the inland road back through Culverdon and onto Hurunui where there is a lovely reserve named Balmoral. We set up the rig then went for a drive to lake taylor.  There is a small DOC camp there right by the lake.  The drive in is on a quite rough metal road but with the river flowing through the valley and the mountains rising up from the road it is a typical stunning South Island vista.
  Talking to a bloke at the lake. He had been through the four wheel drive track to Lake Sumner towing a small tinny behind. He said the fishing was good and the scenery fabulous.  The track itself was very rough though he said,  and wet weather would make it marginal.  Lake Taylor itself looked lovely and I think would warrant a visit in the rig for a few days at a later date.

Jocelyn on the beach at Lake Taylor.

  Back at Balmoral we went for a short bike ride along the edge of the Hurunui river then back to the rig for the night.  The next morning Catherine called in and dropped Gracie off as she was off to the North Island to a funeral.
  After breakfast we packed up and took the Inland road through to Alford Forrest just out of Methven where we parked up at Sean and Michelles place for the night.  They were on a dairy farm there and doing very well.  They had signed up for another year and  were looking forward to their future prospects.  Was really good to see them and Troy again.  We only stayed the one night as next we were to meet James at Geraldine to get the maimai ready for opening morning of duck shooting.
  We parked the rig at Brian and Ingrids house.  It was good to catch up with them all again.  The news was there were a lot of ducks around and the prospects were looking good for a reasonable shoot opening morning.  James and I cut out some of the willows around the front of the maimai and put some manuka bushes in and around it for camouflage .   When we first pulled up in the ute and got out there were around 200 ducks flew out of the willows along the edge of the river.  So now all we needed was opening day to hurry up and get here.
  James headed on back to Kaikoura and next morning Jocelyn, Gracie and I took the road through to the McKenzie Country.  The first stop was Fairlie where Brian had told us we had to stop at the famous pie shop. A very busy bakery. The queue was out the door.  Then onto Tekapo where we found the NZMCA camp by the lake.  A pretty spot amongst the trees with views out to the lake and walking and bicycling tracks passing in front of the camp.
  I'm guessing the lake temperature was around 13 degrees but Gracie still wanted to go swimming.  I'm sure she is immune to the cold. There is no pussy footing around she just wanders out into the water and dives under.  Then pops up and says it's lovely are you coming in? No way I don't need a wash yet and I haven't got my soap with me. We did some walks and some bike rides then after about 3 days we packed up and we were off to another one of our special camp sites on the shores of lake Benmore at the Ohau C camp out of Twizel.
  The outlook from this camp is amazing. We are parked about 4 metres from the lake with the autumn colours from the willows around the lake shore.  The lake is mirror calm with snow capped mountains all around.  You can even see Mt Cook rising above the tussock covered plains in the distance.  A very special place.  This camp is usually full over the summer months as campers lease their sites for the summer. They set up a   semi permanent type of camp with little gardens and fairy lights and pathways, and then come first of May it all has to be packed up and the sites emptied.  The next year these campers have first right to the sites they occupied for that summer.

Beautiful spot at Ohau C camp.

Nice place to kayak

  Being the school holidays it was a great opportunity to have Grace come camping with us.  So it wasn't long and we had the kayaks down and in the water. Over the next few days Grace became quite confident and enjoyed coming out for a paddle.  I spent a bit of time out fishing.  I was planning to fish the canals and target a salmon or two but it was such a beautiful place where we were and I was having reasonable success here while keeping plenty of fish for the table.  I had taken to smoking the trout in the webber and found as long as I kept the temperature low it produced lovely smoked trout.

Nice smoked trout.

Nice double figure rainbow.

 Eventually Grace had to leave as school started back on Monday so we met Catherine close to Geraldine and they started the long drive back to Kaikoura.  After a few more days at the lake we also had to start heading in that direction.   As we came back into Fairly we had the GPS on with Lake Opuha entered.  It said to take a road to the left and we would meet up onto a cross road to take us on to the lake.  We got further down this road and it narrowed into  a line of trees that took us onto a river crossing. Normally this would be fine but towing the rig might be a different story. I got out and went for a look.  The crossing was quite deep and about 20 metres wide.  Oh well worth a crack I thought.  Lets see what the Ranger can do.  Jocelyn was not happy about my decision to forge on ahead and she tucked her head into her arm and wouldn't look.  I put it into four wheel drive and away we went.  It was shallow to start with but then the nose dipped and I had water coming over the front of the bonnet. Just as well we had good clearance on the rig and the ranger didn't hesitate it just kept a steady speed and climbed out onto the far bank without a hitch.  Everything got a good wash underneath and eventually Jocelyns nerves settled back to normal as well.  We got to the lake and camped in a small reserve there with a lovely outlook over the man made lake Opuha.

Pretty lake Opuha

Then there is always some dickhead who wants to park beside you and ruin the view.

On the Thursday before duck shooting we arrived back at Kaikoura.  I spent the day getting gear packed and loaded. Rod had farm chores to do to set the farm up for four  days while he was away. Catherine was going to do the milkings, and Jocelyn was looking after Grace.
  Around !0 am I left for Christchurch to pick up Dane from his flight from Auckland.  He always looks forward to duck shooting but even more so this year as he had saved to purchase a new semi auto shotgun and he was looking forward to finally poking a few rounds through it.  I arrived to pick him up and he was looking rather stressed.  His bag came through ok from Auckland but it seems Jetstar had misplaced one new semi auto shotgun.  No one seemed to know where it was so I got on the phone to Rod to see if he could borrow one from someone in Kaikoura. Luckily one of Rods neighbours was willing to lend an old winchester pump action for the weekend.  So we carried on to Geraldine and arrived just on dark.
  Dane and I had all the decoys on board so we went down to the river  and set them up in front of the maimai.  I had been giving decoy layout a fair bit of thought lately and had come up with a new layout plan. So hopefully in the morning we would find out whether it worked or not.
  Dane was on the phone to Jetstar again and eventually found out his shotgun had been sent to Queenstown.  There was no chance of getting it back for opening morning. I'm sure Dane felt like throwing a tantrum but he took it well and just got on with it.  A bit later James arrived from Timaru and Rod turned up as well with the replacement shotgun.  After a few beers and a good roast dinner cooked by Brian and Ingrid we made a bit of lunch for tomorrow then climbed into the sleeping bags.
  The alarms went off at 5.30 and after a bit of breakfast we were into the utes and off to the maimais. Daylight arrived and with that came the ducks. And they just kept coming.  Even though the weather was fine with no wind they were determined to come in to our waterway.  The new decoy set up had them decoying in perfectly right out in front.  In the relatively quiet spells Rod was out with Gem retreiving.  I don't know if it was the setup that was helping but we all seemed to be shooting well this    morning too.

Looking out from the maimai

Early morning anticipation.

    Eric and his mate Hayse called in to see how we were going around lunch time and said they had got 54 ducks for the morning. At that point we had no idea how many we had collected.  A bit later on we were to get together for a river walk and jump shoot the hotspots. So we started packing up and collecting the ducks together for a count.  At the end of the count we had 140 ducks in the pile.  We collected another 10 on the river walk so had 150 for the day.  The limit for the central region is 50 ducks per person so between the four of us we had shot 3 limits.  This was the best opening day from our spot so far and we were all pretty stoked with the day.  That night Dane drove back to Christchurch and picked up his shotgun from the airport. He was a happy man.
  The next morning we shot another 38 and then pulled in all the gear.  The afternoon was spent processing all the ducks.  We plucked quite a few of the best and fattest ones and the rest were breasted and the meat will be taken to the butcher to be made into tasty salamies.  Between the two groups of shooters 280 ducks were shot for the weekend off the farm.

Hayes , Eric and James with some of the ducks ready for processing.

  The next day we were off to the Waimate area to hunt the high country tussock for wallabies.   These wallabies have become a major problem for the farmers down this way as the numbers are always increasing but not only that they are spreading into new territory all the time. James was back at polytech so it was Rod, Brian, Hayse, Dane and myself.  After leaving the truck we were straight into it. Well Rod was anyway.  He had only walked a few hundred metres and he had emptied his belt full of 25 cartridges.  The strike rate wasn't great though with only 3 wallabies down.
   We hunted through a few areas that didn't seem to hold much but then we would find a patch of them again and the gunfire would increase and be echoing through the gullies.  We stopped back at the utes and cooked up a feed of sausages and bacon between a slice of bread and that got the energy levels up again and we were back into it.  The hunting picked up again and we finished the day with a fair few in the bag and pretty tired legs as well.  We took a bit of meat off a couple of them as well.  So wallaby casserole was going to be on the menu.

Rod with target species.

  By this time darkness had arrived.  Dane, Hayse and I were going further south to Oamaru, Rod and Brian back to Geraldine and then Rod back to Kaikoura to TB test the cows.  We pulled up in Oamaru at about 7.30pm at good friends of the Lamb family Brent and Stellas place.  This is where James is boarding while he goes to polytech.  Stella was out when we arrived but Brent had been busy in the kitchen cooking us a lovely dinner.  James was put out as Brent had made him wait to eat until we had arrived.  He was convinced he was hardly going to survive the lack of food for so long.  After dinner Stella arrived and we were made to feel very welcome, a bunch of rough hunters moving in and taking over their house.
     We were in for another early start as we were off for a shoot on the estuary at flag swamp.  About an hours driving and then carting layout blinds and decoys out onto the mudflats.  It didn't help when I got the ranger stuck in a bog either. Lucky Hayse had his toyota there to pull me out or we would have been in serious trouble.  The shooting started with a hiss and a roar but then tailed off quite quickly.  The birds were mostly Parries and I think we ended up with about 18 for the morning.  We found setting up in the dark a bit of a drawback as when we packed up and headed out with the gear we found by the sign on the ground where we should have set up. Never mind.  We said our goodbyes to Hayse as he was heading down to Queenstown for a few days and Dane and I were back on the road to Kaikoura.
  Over the next few days we all got caught up in the farm work.  Rod had heifers leaving the run off to go out to grazing and the new season calves had to be trucked up to the Puhi block, then walked up the road and onto the block. The cows were dried off and on the last milking Dane and I found ourselves in the shed helping administer dry cow therapy into each teat.   I found everything reminiscent of old times but it was reasonably new to Dane.  Especially working in the cowshed.  Not for him he reckoned this dairy farming with piss and shit everywhere, although he looked to be taking it in his stride even though he struck a couple that gave him a good boot in the hand.
   We also got time for another short parrie shoot and a quick look for a deer.   We got very close too as we had a hind pass by at about 12 metres but when she stopped she stopped in a place we couldn't get a shot.  Never mind it was a good hunt. We had plans to hunt Rods neighbours station but unfortunately the weather turned and stuffed up that plan.  Saturday morning came around and it was time to get Dane back to Christchurch airport.
  Jocelyn and I are looking after Gracie for a few weeks now as Catherine is off overseas with her parents and Monique.  We also have a special trip planned and Gracie is counting down the days so I will tell you about that on my next story.

Oh Gracie what are you doing.  Haha

I just love photos of pretty fish.