From Tapuaetahi to Kaikoura.

Jocelyn and I are now looking forward to a long summer in the south island.  We have arrived in Kaikoura after wintering up north at Tapuaetahi just north of Kerikeri.
  What a wonderful winter we had.   Lots of friends and family came up for a visit and as you know me being a keen snapper fisherman, I was in paradise.  Not only that I had a great little dog to look after.  Fletcher is a real gem of a dog. And possibly not being able to take a dog with us on our travels is the thing I miss most about our chosen gypsy lifestyle.
   The people living in the bay also made Jocelyn and I feel very welcomed with the odd bonfire and BBQ on the beach in the evening.  And I made sure a good number of them received fresh snapper fillets for dinner on a regular basis.

Tapuaetahi surf break.

Julie feeling the love.

Joc showing off her knitting skills.  The task master Meg in the background.

Some of the 20lb plus snapper caught and released.

   From Tapuaetahi it was back to Tauranga for a couple of hospital appointments where I learn't they would finally put me on the list for a hip operation. Although that is not happening until probably February.  Still, some light at the end of the tunnel.
   While in Tauranga Jocelyn and I decided to invest in a couple of E bikes with the thought we would most likely use them a lot more than our conventional bikes.  At this stage that certainly is happening with a good number of kms getting clocked up.
  We also spent a couple of weekends with Ken and Vicki in their new house at Whitianga.  Back at Tauranga we stayed with Heidi and Paul and the kids who are getting very excited about hitting the road in their bus.  It's going to be great experiences for them all as they travel around our beautiful country hopefully meeting up with us in a few of our favourite spots.
  We also managed to fit in a wonderful week in Fiji at a small resort called Navini  Island Resort.  Our friends Dave and Donna joined us.  What a magical place.  We were spoilt by the staff and the accommodation was great.  Every morning a boat would take you out to one of the outer reefs to go snorkeling. Then back in time for lunch and another couple of hours snorkelling in the afternoon around the island.  We saw lots of turtles, some reef sharks.  And all those colourful tropical fish we don't see back in our cooler NZ waters.  We also celebrated Jocelyns and Davids birthdays while we were there. And 30 degree temperatures is really nice that time of the year. But then we had to come home to NZ temperatures again.

Donna and Joc.

Navini Island.

Dave and myself going to Fiji night.

Joca with Fiji night spread.

The staff at Navini entertaining us on Fiji night.

  From Tauranga we headed south west and spent the first night in a DOC camp in the Pureora forest where we went for a 20km bike ride on the Timber Trail through the bush on the new bikes.  Those bush rides are a lot of fun.  Much nicer than riding on the roads.
  Then we travelled down to Mokau on the coast and spent a night parked by the Mokau river mouth at the local rugby club for $8.00 per night.
  Then on to Bell Block NZMCA park for a couple of nights.  We again got out the bikes and went for several rides into New Plymouth on the coastal track.  While here friends of ours arrived who we had met up north at Otamure Bay.  That was a nice surprise. Nick and Janine are also from Tauranga and are keen cyclists.

Joc's selfie.

The flash walking and cycle bridge on New Plymouths coastal track.

  From New Plymouth we headed around the mountain along the coastal side and travelled south to Plimmerton NZMCA park to get ready for our ferry crossing the next day.  We arrived at the ferry with plenty of time to spare for our 2.30 pm crossing. Only taking about 25minutes from Plimmerton.
  The crossing was uneventful even though the winds were about 45 knots. There was a heavy chop in the straight but not much in the way of a swell.  We then travelled from Picton to Marfells beach DOC camp just past the salt farm at Grassmere.  We did plan to stay a couple of days here but the wind was so strong we decided to pack up the next morning and get to Kaikoura.
  While travelling along the coast I noticed a big flock of birds working in close to the beach so I pulled over for a look.  Never one to let a fishing opportunity pass by I got out my rod and connected a softbait and headed down the beach.  The birds were starting to move a bit further off shore by this point but I flicked the lure out and hooked up on the first cast.  Not long and I had a large kahawai flapping on the beach.  Cool.  I had a few more casts and landed 2 more and by then they had moved out a bit too far.
  It was time to move on again so we got back on the road and not much further on we had another one of our roadside dramas with gear failure.  When we bought our new Ebikes our bike rack wasn't up to the job so we bought an expensive new one with all the bells and whistles . Lights, number plate rack, locks on both the bikes.  Unfortunately with the heavier bikes and a heavier rack this all seems to have taken a toll.  While travelling along I started hearing a strange noise like a flapping noise.  I couldn't see anything in the mirrors and it was another couple of kms before I found somewhere I could safely pull over.
  Getting out and walking around the back of the rig I was shocked to see the bike rack with the bikes on had tilted and were dragging along the road behind the rig.  The rack and the large box on the back of the rig with the washing machine and sundry junk in it was attached to the rigs bumper which had ripped away from its attachment on both sides.  This had tilted everything onto the road.  Luckily the racks lights and number plate assembly had taken most of the gravel rash damage. They were a right off, but the bikes themselves suffered no damage at all.    Luckily I had heard that  small noise and pulled over relatively quickly.  The local cop was passing by and saw we were in a bit of strife and helped me unload everything and get it inside the rig.  Then with a couple of tie downs  back on to the ladder to hold everything off the road we were back in business.  So Rods got some welding to do with the purchase of a new much more solid length of box section for a bumper.

The ripped out sections on the bumper.

Mr fix it Rod.

Flash new 5mm box section bumper.

  It's great to be back in Kaikoura and it wasn't long and I found myself in the hunting and fishing store asking whether the salmon were being caught along the beach.  Yes they were, so grandson James and his girlfriend Jo and I went for a look.  The kahawai were working just offshore and It didn't take long and we had a few in the bin.  Then James hooked up again and then after a few dramas trying to get it up the beach he landed a beautiful salmon around 12lbs.  What a great fish.  Half was smoked and half eaten fresh.  Really nice.  Well done James. The kahawai were smoked and eaten fresh as well.  Jocelyns great fish cakes and smoked fish pie.

Great salmon James.

I thought I would finish with a few more photos showing our great time at Greg and Gaylenes at Tapuaetahi.

Dane had an awesome morning in the kayak.

This one was smoked and travelled to Tauranga with me to Heidi and Pauls.

My birthday snapper.

Jerry and a great snapper.

Heidi and Luca on the paddle board.

Fletcher just loved Aliya.

Winter retreat.

Hi. We are back.  You haven't heard from the blog for a while, actually since last November. Google Plus shut down which was the site I used for my stories.  It's taken a while for us to get the old A into gear and start up a new site.  Anyway, Jocelyn and I are still out there enjoying this wonderful country of ours although at the moment we are actually living in a house.  Shock, horror.  Jocelyn doesn't know how she is going to cope staying in one place for 4 months.
  A few highlights of some of the places we have visited over the last 8 months.  We spent a bit of time around Napier before christmas. Mainly bike riding and looking around the district.  Fishing was pretty poor so didn't hang around too long. Haha.  We had a lovely family holiday at Lake Rerewhaakaitu, over the Christmas period.  Catching plenty of trout and swimming. Dane also brought his boat so the younger ones did some wake boarding.


Remember to click on the photos to enlarge.

Bath time for Luca.

The wake boarding team.

Family selfie.

   We spent some time at Simpsons Beach just along from Whitianga  where we met up with John and Margot and their 5th wheeler.  Jocelyn stayed here while I jumped on board Papillon with Ken and the usual crew and again fished the National Game Fishing Tournament.  Again we travelled up to Great Barrier Island and fished out wide from there.  The fishing was a bit of a different story this year.  We still managed to find the marlin, but we couldn't get them to stay hooked up.

Shortbilled spearfish tagged and released.

Steves beautiful mahimahi.

 Feisty blue marlin.  

After this Jocelyn and I went up the other side of the Coromandel Peninsula and stayed at Port Jackson for a couple of weeks Where we met 2 couples who we had got to know at Matauri Bay the previous winter.

Lovely Port Jackson sunset.

The odd nice snapper was caught.

  The next stop  was a family gathering at Lincoln and Pams beach house Papamoa.  Sean, Michelle and Troy were coming up from the south Island to fish the Police fishing tournament with John and Stan.  So we had fish on the menu, great company and even Jenny's birthday to celebrate with a nice dinner out.  Thanks Lincoln for your great hospitality.

Family gathering at Lincolns Papamoa.

    I was keen to get back into some snapper fishing.  The best place for that is go north.  So we ended up at Puriri Bay again for a couple of weeks. Jerry and Meg arrived for a few days as well.   It was great to  be back and get out on the water in the kayak.  A few good fish were caught and Joel and Julie also came up for a few days.  While sitting in the rig one night  Joel happened to look out the door to see my niece Billie and her partner Tim walking past. Now that was a nice surprise.  They were having a quick trip around up north in their camper for a few days.

This kingi gave me a good tussle.

  Next on the agenda was the annual trip south for duck shooting.  We left the rig at friends Roger and Lorraines place at Whananaki on their dairy farm.  We travelled down to Kaikoura in the ute and stayed with Rod and Catherine on the farm.  Then we travelled to Christchurch to pick up Dane from the airport and on to Geraldine for the shooting weekend.  A great weekend was had by all and to top it off Jocelyn and I became great grandparents.  Monique, our first grandchild gave birth to a lovely wee boy with her partner Matt.  Locklan Malcolm Murray Baxter. Man doesn't that make you feel ancient.

Our new great grandson Locklan.

Happy crew in the maimai.

The mornings bag.

Standing on the mist

Tagan with a good wallaby.

lunch break on the wallaby hunt.

  We did the usual wallaby hunt and the odd look for a deer while there and just got to spend some quality time with family and friends.
  After getting back up north we spent a couple of weeks with Ken and Vicki at Katikati while waiting for my appointment to see the orthopaedic surgeon regarding my crook hip.  Although he said I definitely need a hip replacement he was unable to put me on the waiting list.  Apparently anyone who goes on the list has to be operated on within 4 months.  This is not possible so they just don't put you on the list.
  So from here we travelled north to Whananaki and Roger and Lorraines farm to pick up the rig. We had been gone nearly a month and unfortunately while we had been gone a rat had moved into the rig.  It hadn't got into the living area but had found his way into cupboards under the sink and bathroom and all the utility areas underneath.  The heating ducting had holes chewed through in a number of places so we really had a major clean up job.  We stayed a couple of days with Roger and Lorraine then moved North to Matauri Bay.  As it turned out that bloody rat travelled with us.  I eventually got a trap from the camp and caught him pretty quickly.
  Matauri Bay camp had a number of the usual winter campers that we had met there the previous year.  It was good to catch up with them again.  From here we are now in our winter retreat at Tapuaetahi, living in a lovely property right by the sea.  Friends Greg and Gaylene own the property but they travel to Fiji and spend the winter on their boat.  So we get to look after Fletcher, the jack russell and Pebbles the cat.  Tapuaetahi is just north of Kerikeri.  It is a beautiful bay with a sandy beach and great fishing. It's going to be really nice to spend some time here.

Outlook from the deck.

2 twenty pounders caught today. One released one smoked.

Lincoln. A new confirmed kayak fisher.

Leaving the beach.

Finding some big snaps here.

Jocelyn and Fletch watching TV.

Beautiful Tapuaetahi sunset.

Sex on the beach.

No.  It's okay it wasn't us.  Perish the thought. It's spring, and everywhere you look they are doing it.  The wildlife I mean.  The seagulls and the oystercatchers.  There are ducklings and cormorants feeding their young. Those nasty pukekos with their lanky fluff ball babies following them around.  That's when they aren't running in and snatching another wee duckling to kill and take off into the scrub.   The California quail are pairing up and some of the males are having epic scraps with other males over the best looking hens.  It's all on.  Everything seems to be procreating and feeding their young. Even a mating pair of NZ dotteralls scurrying along the sand.

Very demanding cormorant chicks.

So cute but the pukekos took all of this brood over a week we were there.

 
And us humans are anticipating more warm sunny weather and looking forward to the hot summer months ahead.  We have spent most of the winter up in the so called winterless north. And yes we certainly enjoyed not having to put up with the very real cold you get in the south island.  A lot of our time we spent in the areas we know quite well with just the odd excursion further afield.
  One of those excursions took us to the Kaipara Harbour at Tinopai to a small camping ground right by the water.  I think in the future it would be good to come this way a bit more and really explore the area.  There is a lot of early history over there regarding fishing and of course the early settlers and the Kauri logging industry.
  We didn't stay long, only 5 nights. We really struggled with one inconsiderate camper who brought motorbikes with them and thought it was ok to ride them around camp 3 or 4 times a day.  Round and round they would go while the rest of us were trying to enjoy the peace and quiet.  Maybe I am getting grumpy in my old age.  Although I can't think of any other public camps that would allow that.

First Kaipara fish. 

  The Kaipara is a huge harbour and I only explored a very small piece of it in my kayak.  I did a bit of fishing and managed a few nice fish while we were there. Giving some away to other campers and one of the locals. The currents are very strong in this harbour so you need to be aware and consider your route according to the tide or you may find yourself  battling against the flow. Further exploration will definitely be required at a later date.  I still forget to get my camera out when I arrive somewhere so unfortunately the photo above is the only one I took there.
  From here we travelled up to Dargaville and restocked at the super market, and then crossed back over to Whangarei. We then headed north to Otamure for a few days.  I found the fishing pretty hard but still managed to get a few snapper for dinner. And one morning I managed to land a very good kingfish after quite a battle, so that fish was shared around camp with some also ending up in the smoker.

    Our kayak fishing friends Dave and Donna were arriving on Saturday so we packed up and moved to Puriri on the Friday  to get camp set up.  Roger and Lorraine were still there enjoying the sunny weather though they had been putting up with a fair bit of wind.  I got straight in to the fishing as I do and pretty quickly had enough fish to feed a fair few of the campers.

Straight in to nice fish at Puriri.

The large wasp nest at the end of the beach.

  Hank and Wilhelmina whom we had got to know here previously were camped further along, and I was pleased to hear he was being successful with the soft baiting tips I had given them on my last trip here.  Hank had been to town and invested about $500.00 on a softbait rod and reel with new jig heads and softbaits filling his tackle box. Hank had caught a number of large snapper he showed me on his phone.
  Dave and Donna arrived the next day and the timing was perfect for their holiday as over the next week the weather turned out amazing.  Sunny skies and warm weather.  The fishing was pretty good too with both of them catching some very nice snapper and Dave landing two very large John dory. The camps new managers arrived and they are a young couple who are very easy to get along with.  Unlike the last managers who ran the camp.

Dave and Donna.

Big snapper.  Whose finger is that?

  All too soon Dave and Donna were off back to work. A few days later we had to move back to Otamure for a week.  On the DOC pass we can only stay for 2 weeks then we have to leave that camp for a week before we can return. John and Margot gave us a call and said they were on their way north to spend a week or so with us in their new 5th wheeler. John was keen to give his new kayak a work out and get a few tips on fishing out of it.  It would also be a good shake down trip for them before they headed down to the south island.
 I did get a chance for a spearfish before they arrived and managed to spear a nice porae.  I had been towing it around on my string and float for a while when I dived down and caught a crayfish.  I tied this onto my string then looked around as a large bronze whaler cruised past obviously intent on stealing my porae.  Lucky I was close to shallow water so I managed to get my fish in close enough before he could grab it.  Our friends Dave and Shellie with their 5th wheeler had arrived while I was in the water so it was good to see them again.
 Next day John and Margot arrived and we were keen to look at their shiny new rig.  It is beautiful inside and looks very similar to ours on the outside.  But it all looks and smells so new. Awesome new home.

The flash new rig.

John and Margots rig, then us, then Dave and Shellie.  All 5th wheelers.

 After a couple of days the fishing was still hard and there was still a fair bit of wind so we made the decision to go back to Puriri and the more sheltered waters of the Whangaruru harbour.
  It wasn't long here and John started to catch some fish. Although one of his first encounters was with a rig, or spotted shark.  These fish are good eating often called lemon fish in the shops.  I told John he needed to cut off its head and gut it to keep the ammonia taste from the flesh that sharks are known for.  As he didn't have a knife I came over and cut its head off and he gutted it.  In the back it went and I drifted off to do a few more casts.  A short time later John landed a John dory and turned to put it in the back when he noticed the shark was gone.  That shark struggled so much even though it's head and guts were gone it had  wriggled over the side and escaped. He might have trouble seeing where he is going now though.

He looks like he might have had one or two of those.

This is the life.

A few to take with us when we leave.

   Over the next few days we enjoyed some good family time as well as a bit of fishing.  The odd wine and beer were consumed in the evenings and lot's of good quality fish fillets eaten and shared around the camp.  Then John and Margot were off on their new adventure back to Rotorua and then off down the south island.  We can only hope they enjoy their retired life and travels as much as Jocelyn and I do.
  We had the rig booked in to get fixed at Kopu so it was also time we packed up and hit the road south.  We would be staying at Ken and Vickis over the next couple of weeks, although we also spent a weekend at Dane and Lauries in Auckland.  We had a good weekend visiting the markets and checking out the viaduct and generally just good family time.  But Friday we pick the rig up again and we will be back on the road.  Sounds like we are going to check out the Hawkes Bay.  Iv'e heard the fishing is not great down there but I guess I will find out.  You are probably sick of fishing photos anyway.