Small, medium, large

I got up at 4:00 AM this morning for my first real fishing trip of the year. I had breakfast, got the car packed, and was on the road by 4:30. The streets of Dunedin were deserted except for taxis and the last of the drunks wandering home. On the way north to Palmerston, I only met 3 cars and saw no others going my way. Turning off for the Pigroot, I saw no other people all the way to Kyeburn, 100 km away. By then it was getting light and I found my way through Waipiata, Patearoa, and then to the Taieri River. I was on the river by 6:30 AM in perfect conditions, with the sun shining through some light clouds, and no wind. I spotted some fish rising, but they showed no interest in my flies. I went through several changes, and walked upstream a km or more. I saw about 5 nice fish but didn’t get a touch. Eventually I scared up a herd of swans, who split in two, swimming up and down the river, ruining my fishing in both directions, so I left. By 9:00 the wind was picking up when I arrived at a pond we fished last year. After about 15 minutes I saw a fish tailing in the shallows and I placed my flies about 5 metres away and waited. Eventually the fish found my fly and soon after I had a nice 2kg brown trout on the bank. Soon the wind was howling so I looked for somewhere a little more sheltered. I drove to the next pond, but there the wind was blowing even harder. I could barely get my line out, and was fishing blind, when I had another 2kg fish on. Unfortunately, it threw the hook after about 30 seconds. I tried for another but gave up after 30 minutes. I drove to a canal a few km up the road. Here the wind was blowing even harder, so I positioned myself to let the wind blow my line out onto the water. I caught a “medium” size fish, quickly followed by a “small”. Since it was looking like I was about done with the fishing, I kept them both. I did try one final spot, but it was so windy by this time (1:00 PM), I gave up. I stopped in Ranfurly to fill up the car and then drove the 150 km back to Dunedin, stopping about half-way for a quick 5 minute power nap. I got home and cleaned the fish. We’re eating them now.

Fishing

I set my alarm for 5:00, but as usual woke up early, about 4:30. I got up and made myself some coffee and eggs, read the paper, and packed some clothes for the trip to Turtle Lake. Ken Reoh, our old family friend, owns this beautiful little lake near Tonasket in eastern Washington, which we try to get to every few years. My dad Wes picked me up at 6:00 (actually, he’s always early, so it was 5:53) and we were on our way. Of course it was dark and cloudy, so things weren’t looking good until we crossed over Snoqualmie and Swauk passes and dropped down to Wenatchee after 3 hours. We gassed up and I took a nap while Wes drove an hour to Bridgeport, where we switched drivers again. By now, 10:00, it was sunny and warming up. We finished the last 60 miles and were at the lake.
We wandered around for a while, looking at the lake and the cabin, and then got our rods and pushed one of the boats out into the lake. I rowed while Wes cast about with some different flies. We would position ourselves at the upwind end of the lake and let the wind push us across, trying a few different things, but didn’t see anything except the many turtles which gives the lake its name. After about an hour Wes suggested we go back to Tonasket and pick up a spinning rod so we could try to find the fish deep, so we got out of the boat and drove the 20 minutes back to town. We found the hardware store and Wes bought a little spinning rod with some spinners and spoons for about $40. We hurried back up to the lake, where Wes decided he needed a nap so I took the boat out myself. I did the same as before, drifting around in the wind, casting spinners out and letting them sink to the bottom before retrieving, but still found nothing. Eventually I noticed some white midges hatching so I switched back to fly fishing, when I finally saw a rise in a very shallow corner. I tried a small elk hair caddis, which wasn’t really the right fly, but all I could find. I saw a few more rises but no interest in my fly. I tied a dropper to the elk hair and put on a bead-head chronomid, about size 16. I cast near a rise and immediately hooked a nice, fat 16 inch rainbow. I played it to the boat, but without a net, I couldn’t get him in. I had it in my hands but it was so slippery it broke the fly off and was gone. Then I tied on another chronomid and had exactly the same result, including breaking off the fly when the fish was in my hands. This time I lost both flies so switched to a humpy with a copper john dropper. That worked too, but again without a net I was sitting there with a fish in the water and no way to get it into the boat. I broke that one off too while I was trying to figure out what to do. After about an hour of great fishing, including 5 more hookups on pheasant tails and hairs ears, and 2 more break-offs in my hands, I went back to check on Wes’s nap, and found him sitting in the car. He had been watching me and warming up. I talked him into coming out to try himself. He had a couple strikes right away but again nothing made it into the boat. Soon it was almost dark, and it seemed that the hatch was off, so we didn’t get anymore strikes. We headed ashore and put the boat away, right next to a net in the bushes! If only. We drove down to Tonasket, narrowly missing a nice buck in the middle of the road, while seeing about 5 other deer on the way. We found a room at the Red Apple Inn and had some dinner at Whistler’s Restaurant. Back at the motel, Wes went to sleep while I watched the World Series game, a great 5-4 bottom of the 9th inning victory for the Phillies.
This morning we were up at 6:00 AM and had breakfast at Whistler’s again before heading up to the lake. It was 31F (about 0C) in Tonasket but only 24F (about -4C) at the lake. It was perfectly still so we watched carefully for rises, but only saw turtles. It was too cold to get into the aluminum boat, so we watched for a while and decided to get out of there. On the way back to Tonasket, we stopped at Aeneas Lake, which we’d passed many times of the years, but which I had never seen. It was still about 24 degrees, but here fish were rising all over. Of course we had no boat but every once in a while a fish rose quite close so I grabbed my rod and made a few casts. I couldn’t get any reaction from the fish with a couple of different dry flies and nymphs, but after a few minutes my guides were freezing up, not to mention my fingers. After 20 minutes I couldn’t take it anymore so we got in the car and I held my frozen fingers over the heater vents until I could feel them again. It was too cold for fishing. We decided to head home. We stopped at Bridgeport again to switch drivers, and then I napped until Wenatchee. We picked up a box of fresh apples and got gas, then I drove again. Coming down the south side of Swauk pass we stopped at the Liberty Cafe for lunch. A few miles down the road we stopped at the Yakima River, where Wes fished for a half an hour, but with only one brief tap. We were done now, so got on the freeway and drove the 2 hours to Olympia. Wes dropped me off after a great quick fishing trip to eastern Washington.

Port Chalmers

I accompanied Hank and his class to Port Chalmers as part of Room 5’s study of fish. We went to the Museum there, where Peter talked to the class about the different ways to fish and how the Maori fished. We spent some time exploring the museum and then went down to the harbour to try fishing. Each two kids shared a rod and we used squid for bait. We fished off a couple of floats for an hour or so. One little mullet, two crabs, some seaweed, and a piece of wood were caught. We had a great time.

Happy 42nd Birthday Gary!

Gary is celebrating a three day birthday this year with a trifecta (of sorts) of 1st – rugby on Friday night, 2nd – golfing on Saturday afternoon, and 3rd – fishing on Sunday morning. We had a terrific time at rugby Friday night, even though our team lost. My new company, eMedia, has a box at Carisbrook stadium, so Gary and I watched the Highlanders nearly win (aka lose) to the Sharks in comfort and warmth, Highlanders vs. Sharks. Rachel and Will stayed with the kids and they were snuggled up watching Goonies when we returned home (very cute!). Today we are going golfing with friends at Chisholm Golf Course and having everyone over for homemade pizza this evening. Tomorrow Gary is taking Hank out for a little fishing if the weather stays nice. Cheers

A three hour tour

Well not quite three hours, but our friends only had a week with us, so we packed a lot of activities into a short amount of time. In Dunedin they visited the Otago Museum and saw the butterfly exhibit. I was wearing my new favourite hat (thanks Melinda) and the butterflies really loved it too. We also went to the albatross colony and saw chicks in the nests and some flying in the wind as well. The weather was stink so we skipped Sandfly Bay and the penguins. I can’t really complain, though, because the weather was lovely for the rest of their visit and still is. On Sunday Megan, Susan, Hallie and I headed out for a trip around Otago, Fiordland and Southland (the southernmost regions of the South Island).

NOTE – I drove the entire trip in our manual transmission car with some fabulous coaching from Megan when I couldn’t find second gear or I stalled (only once or twice). For those who haven’t experienced shifting with your left hand, it is an odd experience, but several hundred kilometers later I am now used to it.

We had a leisurely drive through the little towns and attractions between Dunedin and Queenstown, taking pictures and of course we stopped at AJ Hackett to watch some bungy jumping. The backpackers in QT was tidy and conveniently located, but some of our neighbours kept Susan up with their late night activities. We enjoyed the evening and morning in QT with some dining, shopping and sightseeing including a really yummy breakfast at Vudu. We headed out of down to Deer Park Heights and saw some incredible vistas. It was much more comprehensive and less expensive than the gondola in town (thanks Corinna for the tip). After some sightseeing, we headed to Manapouri.

Manapouri is a sleepy little town overlooking the lake of the same name. We took a lovely walk along the beach the night before the cruise. We woke up quite early and had breakfast at the lodge before Diane picked us up and took us to the ferry. She and Chris run an amazing overnight cruise on the Sound. The two of them do everything and it runs like clockwork. The ferry ride across the lake took about an hour and was beautiful. Fiordland is one of the most scenic places I have ever visited and I highly recommend it. It made me a little homesick for sailing in the the San Juans, Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound back home. Although the major difference is that Doubtful Sound is very remote (you can only get there by ferry and then by foot or shuttle) and sparsely populated.

Chris met us at the other end in a little van. The community was built to support a hydro plant and some Doc work. The few cars and trucks are also brought over by ferry from Manapouri. The short drive goes over a small summit and falls into the fiords of Doubtful Sound. We enjoyed Chris’ description and history of the region, but we all quite anxious to start the cruise and get out on the water. At the dock we boarded the boat (MV Flyer) which sleeps six guests (we were with a sweet couple from the UK, Maureen and Harry) and one crew (Chris – captain, cook, tour guide, etc). The sound is teaming with wildlife including many seabirds, seals, dolphins, fish and even penguins. We had many encounters with the dolphins which was one of the highlights of the trip. Chris prepared a wonderful crayfish (lobster) lunch which he caught the day before. In the evening we fished off of the stern and ate our catch for tea (dinner) before heading to bed under a beautiful starry night sky.

The next day we returned from the cruise and took the scenic route via Invercargill and Brighton beach before arriving in home. All in all a really wonderful trip. Our visitors spent the next day at the Botanical Gardens and shopping while I returned to work and school. For their last night in town we drove out to Aramoana and saw a little yellow-eyed penguin coming in at dusk and finished the day with a lamb and kumara meal together. They left for Christchurch early the next morning on to more adventures.

Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28008&id=543764697

Fishing

Hank and I took Jorit fishing the other day. We spent a couple of days tying flies for the trip. I told Jorit I’d pick him up at 6:00 AM, but when he called at 6:25 I realized I missed my alarm. We got going quickly and picked him up, but had to stop back at our place to get the chilly bin we forgot. Finally, we got going at 7:15 for the 2 hour drive to the Maniototo. We stopped where we first crossed the Taieri River, but didn’t see any activity and so continued. After Patearoa, we found the next river crossing and geared up, Jorit with a spinning rod and I with a fly. Right away we saw fish rising, and Jorit had a follow, but then nothing. The river was quite warm and weedy. We then stopped at the first of many ponds. Here we saw many fish cruising, but we couldn’t entice them. At the second pond, Jorit had a strike but didn’t hook the fish. At the third pond, I finally had a strike, and Jorit had 2 more, but again no joy. The fourth pond was a bust, and then we were back to the river. Hank was making occasional casts with my rod, until I can get him one of his own. He eventually found a stick and I tied on some line, and Jorit gave him some hooks, so he was happy to fish with that the rest of the day. A few more stops along the river were similarly unsuccessful. In one hole, I saw four fish, all over 2 kg, and proceeded to scare one fish with each cast I made, until they were all gone. The water was very low and clear and so too hard for me. Altogether we saw probably 25 good fish and didn’t catch a single one. We then took the shortcut over the old Dunstan Road to Loganburn Dam, where Jorit made a couple of casts just to say he did. 40 minutes later we were at Outram for one last try, but again nothing. I dropped off Jorit with him saying he wanted to go out again the next day, so I guess he enjoyed it. Hank sure did – he didn’t want to leave.

Mohaka River

I picked a spot on the Mohaka River, in the Hawk’s Bay region, which was supposed to have good trout fishing. It was only an hour away from our holiday park so we got a leisurely start. After breakfast and a shower, we were off along Highway 2 and then to 5. I hadn’t noticed them driving in to Napier but today I finally saw some of the vineyards the Hawk’s Bay region is famous for. I’d say it pales in comparison to Marlborough but there were a few, especially up the Esk valley. We noticed we missed our turnoff when we crossed the mighty Mohaka River on an impressive bridge, looking hundreds of metres down. We quickly retraced our steps and drove 8 km to Glenfalls Campground. This is a primitive DOC camp with no charge, as there was no way to pay. It is very nice, though, with a wide open paddock to set up your tent, and it does have a dunny (outhouse). We found a site at the far end of the paddock, where we thought we’d have some privacy.

Soon after setting up we were joined by a bloke from Napier who warned us that many more would be coming to join him, and that since it was New Year’s Eve, they’d be loud long into the night. We wondered what we were getting ourselves into but he invited us over later for beer. The wind was picking up and by mid afternoon it started to rain. We hung out in the tent for a while and watched the neighbours set up a “No 8 wire” shelter with sticks, rope, twine, and tarpaulins. While it was raining we noticed a few new leaks since last year, so when it stopped 6:00 I got out the trusty seam sealer and sealed them up. We made some dinner and about that time the neighbours invited us over. Fa and Ginny were pretty tired so went to bed, but Hank and I joined John, Ben, Mike, and their families around their campfire. They were lucky because earlier a local who lived up the road saw them setting up camp and brought them down a trailer full of firewood. Hank and I had a great time talking with them for hours and hours. Hank’s job, given to him by Ben, who everyone called “Cuddles”, was to poke at the fire. He did it for hours, never tiring of it. Mike is a butcher in Napier so he had some great meat cooking on the grill. Hank and I couldn’t resist so we had our second dinner.

These guys are motorcycle enthusiasts, bearded, tattoo covered, but are the nicest people you’d want to hang out with. Cuddles even shipped his Harley over to the states to go to the Sturges Rally a couple of years ago. Including their families, there must have been about 15 people there. It reminded me a bit of Outrageous Fortune, without the fighting. Cuddles showed Hank how to melt a beer bottle in the fire. The first broke but the second didn’t crack because he took extra care in slowly cooling it. By midnight the fireworks came out and we were treated to a fun show, by our camp and several others around the campground. Even Ginny woke up to see the fireworks. After much beer, talking, and good company, Hank and I retired.

Our neighbours kept up until it got light, but we were so exhausted we didn’t really hear them. Next morning was very nice and sunny. We were planning on staying a few days so it was nice to not have to pack up everything. I had breakfast and wandered next door to see how the neighbours were fairing. Not too bad, really. They ate, packed up, left us some beer and ice, and left. Now was my time to do some serious fishing. I geared up and followed the path that began just outside our tent. The first hole I came to I saw a fantastic Rainbow trout feeding just below me. It was huge, about 5 lbs easy. I watched for a while and prepared my flies. It was tough to cast since I was perched on a cliff above the river, but I eventually got it down. The fish took a look at my fly and swam away. Arrrggggghhhh. I moved down a bit and saw a smaller one, but my cast put him down. I’ll try later.

Too much brush below the big fish hole convinced me to try elsewhere, so I crossed the river about camp. It was pretty deep but I made it okay. I tried upstream, avoiding all the swimmers, but didn’t see anything. After my lessons in fishing New Zealand with Wes, now I don’t waste much time if I can’t see a fish. Sight fishing mainly, little blind fishing. I climbed over a hill and fished down through the river for 500 metres. It looked great ahead but by the time I got to the next good pool, I ran across a father and 2 kids fishing. They didn’t have anything but said they’d gotten a 5 pounder the day before. After seeing the big fish earlier, I believed them. I gave them some space, walking up the steep bank so I could see. I spotted a nice one in the middle of the river, so I let them fish to it, but they put it down (hardware). Eventually I got far enough below them where I could fish again and I fished to another nice one, but he looked at my fly, got scared, and disappeared. A little while later I crossed back and found a couple more fish, but couldn’t entice them either before putting them down. I need better flies or better presentation or both.

Now I was at the bottom of a hill and couldn’t move up or down the river, so I went straight up to the road, through massive blackberry bushes. I finally came out after scratching the hell out of my bare legs. Next time wear trousers! Back at the camp I found the Fa and the kids swimming in the river. We had dinner and then I thought I’d give the big fish another try. This time I took Hank and we came down to the hole to see him right back there again. Hiding behind the grass, we watched him move in a consistent beat around the pool. He would appear, circle through, and disappear, then appear again. I waited until he was facing away and dropped my fly down, but when he came back around he just ignored it. After trying about 8 different flies, I dropped in a chronomid, which seemed crazy. It was about 30 cm under the surface when the big fish came up to it, looked at it for about 10 seconds, and subtly sucked it in. My strike was too soon or too late or something because my line tightened and then my fly came flying at me. Needless to say, the fish was gone. Arrrrgggghhhh. Try again tomorrow.

Next morning I got up early and went to the big fish. Sure enough, he was there, but this time he was extra wary. He took a look at my first fly and immediately swam away, not to be seen again. I decided to drive around this time to further explore the Mohaka. I drove down river a few kms and parked the car near the mouth of the Waipunga River. Here I fished for a few hours. I finally did catch a couple of fish, both under a pound. I crossed the river a few times, wandering far up and down looking for fish, but I only saw one nice one very briefly. It was very hot and I eventually wilted and headed back to camp.

After a quick lunch I drove up river to the main road and found a few other access points, but these were chocked with swimmers and rafters, so I pretty much gave up. On the way back I stopped at the main highway bridge to take a look. Under the bridge was a walkway that spanned the whole river. It was pretty typical Kiwi engineering, very solid but not super safe, with a small guard rail between me and the river 100 m below. It was a lot like the scene in Half Life 2 where you cross under the train bridge. I inched my way across, feeling a bit dizzy. This was the first time I remember being affected by vertigo. I made my way back, thinking there’s no way I’d bring Fa and the kids here. I couldn’t find any way down to the river so decided my fishing was done.

When I got back to camp I joined the kids in swimming the river. We swam across some rocks and jumped off them into the river. It was much fun and we did this many times. Finally, we headed back to camp and made some dinner. We played some Texas Hold ‘em and went to bed, our last night at the river.

Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25022&l=7e2a1&id=543764697

Wes is on his way back home

After a couple of days recovering from our aborted fishing trip, we took Wes to the airport yesterday morning for the 24 hour trip home. As I write this, he should be arriving in Seattle. We had a great time visiting with him and I think he had a great time too.

Mataura River

Wes and I headed over to the Mataura River today to do some fishing. The day started fine, with some sun and little wind. By the time we got to Balclutha, it was blowing a gale. It looked just about impossible to fish, but we kept on going. We got to Gore and took some pictures of the big brown trout just as it started raining. We found the visitor centre and asked about fishing and got some maps. We headed up river towards Cattle Flat. About 15 km out of Gore, the rain started. We left the main road and checked out the river. The rain quit so we got out on a bridge, but we were almost blown away so we left. The road came close to a side channel that was out of the wind so we stopped. After looking at the water for a while, Wes thought he saw a ripple, then I  spotted a fish. I geared up and saw another before dropping in my Elk Hair Caddis with a Copper John dropper. I couldn’t see any fish but cast a few times, letting my dry fly sit there as an indicator, when I saw it moving off at a 90 degree angle. This surprised me so I lifted my rod tip and hit into a nice 3.5 lb brown. I was planning on releasing her, but I dropped her on some rocks after I landed her so into the chilly bin she went. I tried a few more times and did see a fish follow my fly as I retrieved for a cast, but it didn’t strike so eventually we decided to look elsewhere.

We followed the road up to Cattle Flat, but it started raining by the time we got onto the river so we got out of there. On the way back we stopped at the place where I caught the fish to try again. This time we couldn’t see anything but we knew they were there so we tried our “indicator” method again. I plopped out my flies and sat down on a rock, just like bobber fishing with worms. I was sitting watching my dry fly for about 5 minutes when I saw a fish swimming up to it. I thought it was going to look at my nymph but it swam straight for my elk hair caddis and slowly engulfed it. A gentle strike set the hook and I was in to another nice fish.

While I was playing it Wes came running to see and as he was scrambling down the bank he fell. I looked up from my fish and saw him on his back yelling about breaking his finger. I was so occupied by my fish I couldn’t help him, but quickly netted the 4lb fish and got up to Wes. His right little finger did look bad, but was more likely dislocated than broken. I dispatched the fish and got Wes in the car with an ice pack from the chilly bin on his finger. We knew his finger would have to be put back together so headed back to Gore looking for a hospital. Forty-five minutes later we stopped at the visitor centre again and got directions to the hospital.

There we filled out the “ACC” accident form and waited. Like my squash injury, this was fully covered by the government. After 2 hours, xrays, shots, finger re-location, more xrays, etc., Wes’ finger was back together. We got the report and hit the road. Our planned two days of fishing was over. We grabbed some ice cream at the nearest dairy and drove the 2 hours back to Dunedin. I cleaned the fish, froze one, and cooked the other. We had fresh trout again for the second time in a week.

Happy Thanksgiving (Taieri River)

Obviously not a holiday here, although a few of us expats do celebrate. Gary and his dad took the day to do a little fishing…

We’ve had a week of fish and fishing. After Sunday’s outing, we went out to the Taieri at Outram again, under the bridge. It’ s only a 20 minute drive from home. This time Hank came and we all waded in the water. It was a fine day with warm, sunny weather. The water was very nice. Unfortunately, again we caught no fish but had a good time. Hank even did some fishing, learning how to cast a fly rod, although he said he still prefers bait.

Today Wes and I had our trip with our guide, Selwyn Shanks, the owner of Centrefire McCarthy’s, the best fly shop in Dunedin. We met Selwyn at Karitane, about a half an hour north of Dunedin. We transferred our gear and then Selwyn drove us over the Pigroot to the Maniototo, where Wes and I fished on Sunday. We stopped near Patearoa on the Taieri and geared up. It was pretty warm and partly sunny, but clouds were on the horizon. We saw some rises right away and began casting. I immediately caught a nice 2.5 lb brown trout:

It was a great success to catch the first fish after only 5 minutes. Wes then tried and missed a couple of very nice fish, finally catching the monster below:

We saw more rises and I caught the largest trout of my life.

This was a 5 lb brown (actually weighed in the net at 4.75 lbs, but I’ll round that up. It could’ve been reading low, wink, wink) that I played through the weeds and under some roots. Lucky I got him in. Hot fish. I soon after caught another 2 pounder before the wind came up. After that we weren’t so lucky. We eventually gave up and moved up river. We stopped and had lunch, then tried some more, but the wind was getting worse and the sun had gone behind the clouds, so it was impossible to see fish. We moved a couple of more times, not having any luck, and only seeing a couple of fish. Eventually we made our way to a nice pond near the river and saw some 5 pounders cruising the shallow water near the grassy edge, but could not entice them. By 5:00 we were worn out so Selwyn drove us back. At the Shag, which we dismissed last Sunday, Selwyn showed us a couple choice spots we could try some other day. I didn’t really believe him, but just as we stood on a little suspension bridge, we saw another 5 lb trout cruising by. We’d broken down our gear by then, but I’m sure I’ll be back to the Shag since it’s so close to Dunedin. Selwyn finally dropped us off at the car and we said our goodbyes. We drove the last 30 minutes back to Dunedin and had some dinner.

This was a great day of fishing. Selwyn taught us a lot and I’m sure to go back and catch more of these fantastic fish. If you’re looking for a guide in Otago, don’t consider anyone but Selwyn Shanks and Centrefire McCarthy’s.

Taieri River

The weather was looking not so good this morning so our planned trip to the beach was off. Fa and the kids kindly suggested that Wes and I go fishing instead, so we took them up on the offer. We thought we’d head north to the Shag River, which has been getting a lot of press lately. Unfortunately, they must have been talking about a couple of weeks ago because when we got there, it was very low and clear. The sun was beating down so we poked around a few spots but couldn’t find any place to fish, at least nothing worthwhile. We decided to head up to the Pigroot to the Maniototo. After looking at the Kyeburn, we stopped at the Taieri at Waipiata. We saw nothing there so headed upstream past Patearoa. Along the road we saw some wild turkeys. I should have grabbed one for Thanksgiving since turkeys here are $50 for 3.5kg (about 7lbs)! I turned off the main road toward the river where I had fished last year, when we saw some rises in a small pond. We stopped to check it out. Fish were rising all around and I tried a couple of dry flies, but saw the fish were ignoring them. I tied on a chronomid and cast out to the middle of the little channel between 2 sections of the pond. I watched a series of rises get closer and pulled my fly in a few feet until it was right in front of where I thought the fish would be. It took! I played a nice 20 inch brown trout for about 5 minutes and scooped him up on shore. Next time I better get a net! It was my first fish since last summer and the largest brown trout I have ever caught. Unfortunately, the wind came up right after that and the fish weren’t as active. We flailed away for a while longer and then headed home over the Old Dunstan Road. I stopped at Outram as usual, but there were about 4 people already fishing so we continued on to Dunedin.

We had a great dinner of fresh trout and rice. What a wonderful way to finish the weekend.

Lawrence & Waitahuna River

Wes and I spent the week trying to avoid the rain. We thought we’d do some indoor activities until the weather got better. On Monday I went down to AA (Automobile Association?) to get my NZ Driver’s License. I’d been studying for a few weeks and thought I was ready. Unfortunately, before I left Olympia, I had renewed my Washington State License, thinking that was a good idea. Wrong. When they looked at my license, which was only 10 months old, they said it was too new. It needs to be at least 2 years old or else I have to get my license history from Washington or take the practical (driving) test. They gave me a number to call to arrange for that through Land Transit. By the time I got home, I remembered that I brought my old license with me to NZ. I called LTNZ and they agreed that my expired license would be sufficient proof of my driving history. Yay. Later that evening we went down to the cricket cages to practice with Hank. Hank’s getting better all the time.

On Tuesday, I went down to AA and tried again. This time they accepted my proof so I could take my test. I passed the test (1 wrong, freaked out on one particular question) and got a temporary license. I was happy about that. I found Wes wandering around the Octagon and then we went to the Otago Settlers Museum. We had to run from the car to avoid getting wet. The museum was great as always, with a Dunedin in the 1950’s exhibit that was particularly interesting.

On Wednesday, again it was wet so we dropped off some postcards and went to the Otago Museum. It also was great. We saw all of the normal exhibits but saved the new ones for when the kids can come with us. There is a very cool butterfly room that we’ll come back for. Wes was very impressed with the museum, although it was too much for him in one day. Hank’s cricket practice took place that evening, then I hurried home to make dinner and get to my summer squash. Unfortunately, I had a match against a beginner so it wasn’t close, but I enjoy any chance I can get in the court.

On Thursday Fa and her syndicate were heading up to Lawrence for their live case study so Wes and I came along to do some fishing. After dropping the girls off we tried to find a place to fish. First we went up past Gabriel’s Gully, where gold was first discovered in Otago, but we were turned back by closed road signs put up by the forest owners (Rayonier, from Washington!). We dropped back down to the Tuapeka River, but found too many farms and fences. They we drove over a couple of drainages to Mahinerangi Lake, but couldn’t see any active fish. We tried down another road to the Waipora River, but came to a “Dry Weather Only Road” sign. It had been raining on and off all day and the previous days, so it was very muddy and we turned back. We finally found a place to fish on the Waitahuna River. A very nice sheep farmer let us fish a nice stretch, but by now we had only half an hour so didn’t get to explore much. I had a couple of strikes but still am “O” for the season. Oh well, fun as always.

By the time we were back in Lawrence Fa and the syndicate were ready to go back to Dunedin so we hit the road. We had to get back for the Arthur Street School Music Expo, which Hank and Ginny were performing in. We made it on time and got Ginny and Hank to the Otago Boys High School auditorium. They did a great job.

Taieri River

We had another unsuccessful day fishing. We tried the Taieri River at Hindon, Sutton, Middlemarch, and Outram, and saw many fish, but did not catch a single one. Wrong flies, wrong technique, and wrong fishermen. We’ll keep trying and maybe get a picture up next time.

Wes has arrived

My father, Wes, arrived in Dunedin yesterday morning after a 24 hour trip from Seattle. Fa and I picked him up at 9:10 AM. He looked pretty wiped out, but did survive the trip. We took him to our house and showed him around. He took and nap and then we went to the bank to change some money. Then Wes wanted some lunch so we went to the new Cafe “Salt” at the St. Clair Esplanade. As usual for New Zealand it as slow but pretty good with nice service. We walked along the boardwalk and watched the huge waves crashing up and over the railing. It was very windy. We came back and picked up the kids. Wes of course thought they had grown a lot since he’d seen them. We had a lamb dinner to celebrate his arrival.

Today I got up early (5:00AM) to do some work so I could get it out of the way. After finishing I played Phil in squash, but lost. I was pretty wiped out from my 3rd squash match this week. Then we went to CBD to get Hank some proper cricket clothes. We found some nice whites at Sports Otago. After dropping off Fa at school, Wes and I went to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. We walked almost all the way to the top before turning back. After coming down we drove up to the top, which was a lot easier. I remember the first time we drove up I was pretty nervous, but this time was easy. Then we drove up to the top of Mt. Cargill. The last time we (Hank, Ginny, and I) attempted it, we had to turn back because of snow. There was nothing like that this time, but the wind was ferocious. We stumbled around in the wind for a few minutes and took some pictures. On the way back, we stopped at a pine plantation so Wes (and I) could see what it was like. We walked around in there for a few minutes. It was actually pretty nice. Here’s a panorama from the top of the mountain:

We picked up the kids and then I went down to Flying Squid to get dinner. After picking up our usual (6 mussels, 4 blue cod, 5 chips) I got Fa and we came home for dinner. Excellent as always. After dinner Wes and I drove out to Outram to see about some fly fishing. It was super windy but we did manage to get our lines out. I missed 3 fish – too slow after 7 months off. We eventually got too cold and headed back, arriving home at 8:00PM.

Some pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=365326&l=20407&id=543764697

Recent Happenings

I haven’t written in a while. Sorry about that. Not much to say.

We’re starting the Labour Day holiday weekend, but it kind of sneaked up on us so we didn’t make any big plans. It feels so soon after the kids and Fa’s holidays too. The weather isn’t supposed to be great either. We’re just sticking close to home, maybe rent some video.

We got back into our regular schedule this past week.

Ginny had a social studies quiz competition the other day, put on by the Otago Daily Times. We don’t know how well her team did (with Alycia and Kayleigh), but do know they weren’t in the top three, so didn’t get a prize. They had fun, though.

Hank has swimming on Fridays at the Moana Pool. I volunteered to help this week, not realizing what I was getting myself into. I took the better kids, including Hank, and had them do some strokes for me for about 20 minutes, before they mutinied on me and just played around in the water. It was fun but kind of like herding cats.

What else? Fa got her grades from last module: All A’s – best yet. She and her syndicate went to Lawrence to visit the business they’re working with this module.

I played squash three times – lost all three, but each time went five games.

Had the oil changed in the car. Oil, like petrol and diesel, is super expensive. Around $10 litre (about a quart). Diesel is getting up again – $1.169/litre. Not to up on petrol, but I think it’s around $1.70/litre.

Got a haircut.First one in New Zealand. Probably the longest I’d gone since High School.

Hank has started cricket, but the first game was rained out and the second canceled for the holiday. Hopefully, next Saturday he’ll get to play.

I’ve been playing around with our webcam, pointing it out the back window and having it save every 5 minutes to the “About” page here on the blog, but it often fails. Sometimes the camera doesn’t show an image, or the site I’m ftp’ing it to (Comcast) doesn’t work, which is happening right now. Check again and you may see a new picture every once in a while.

Even without the All Black’s, we’re still watching the Rugby World Cup. Tomorrow’s final should be great. I don’t know why, but I’m rooting for the English. Probably because I just hate South Africa. I guess it’s my generation: growing up when the RSA was the great evil in the world, with Apartheid and Nelson Mandela and all that. Silly now, of course, but you kind of wonder why there are maybe two black players on the team.

Weather should be getting better in the next few weeks, so hopefully I can do some fishing. Too much rain lately has muddied the rivers. A week of dry weather and I’ll be sweet as.

Lake Wakatipu

Friday morning we had a slow start to the trip. After breakfast and showers, we got the car packed. We seem to be getting better because we have more room every time we pack for these camping trips. After stopping at the Business School and then BP to get fuel (lucky it was open because most shops are closed on Good Friday by law!), we hit road at about noon. The first bit seemed to fly be as usual until we got to Milton and the turnoff to Queenstown. There’s something about the next section from Milton to Alexandra that seems to take forever. This is the main and shortest route to Queenstown, but it is a somewhat narrow and winding road. Many places you have to slow to under 50 or 60 and there is at least one one-lane bridge. Then Alexandra to Cromwell and through the Kawarau Gorge to the AJ Hackett bungy, where we stopped for a potty break. Unfortunately, they must have been on a break since no one was jumping.

Our plan was to go to Skippers for the night so we figured the route through Arrowtown would be the shortest. Once in Arrowtown, we drove around in circles a few times because, even with several maps plus the GPS, we couldn’t figure out the correct road to take. Finally, we got it sorted and then proceeded to hit road construction. In fact, the road we wanted to take was closed so we detoured around for a few kilometers and got back to the start of Skippers road. It was pretty nice on the sealed road up to the Coronet Peak Ski Area, but then it got a bit hairy. As we dropped in to the canyon, it was very narrow with no turnouts. Fa was not happy so after having to back up to get around some on-coming cars, we found the first spot where I could turn around (7 point turn!) and got out of there. I’ll try some other time without the family.

We dropped down through Arthur’s Point and into Queenstown. It was quite a madhouse as usual, with people wandering about everywhere. We slipped through and onto to the road to Glenorchy. At 12 Mile Delta, we pulled off into the DOC campground and found a nice spot tucked under some willows. We set up camp (door facing wrong way) and had a nice dinner of hot dogs before a little bit of rain came. We stayed dry (seams sealed this time) and waited out the rain, which was over in a few minutes. We’re deep into fall now so it was dark by 7:00 – we headed to bed.

Next morning we got up and had breakfast and walked the beach. We met the ranger who asked us for our camp fee, but we had no change. She said no worries, get it tomorrow, but I headed for town to get some cash. I got into Queenstown quickly to find the ATM, get some diesel, and out. I saw the Highlanders practicing on the waterfront for their game that evening as I left town. On the way back I veered off up the hill to Lakes Kirkpatrick and Moke to do some fishing. At Kirkpatrick I saw some nice browns cruising around, but I couldn’t get them interested in anything I had. The book I have says that Kirkpatrick trout are frustrating, and I truly believe it. Seeing trout as long as your arm ignoring your flies can drive you crazy. The book says that it builds character! I must have lots of character now. I continued on to Moke Lake, where I didn’t see a thing except a steady stream of SUVs, mountain bikes, and even ultra-marathoners. After a couple of hours, I headed back, stopping again at Kirkpatrick to torment myself.

Back at the camp Fa and the kids were resting and playing. By the middle of the day it was quite warm and sunny so the kids put on swimsuits and walked into the water. Ginny the fish braved it and swam for awhile, but Hank just waded around a bit. Then they both got cold and came out. We lounged around for the rest of the day before having smoked mussels and oysters for dinner. Again, an early night sent us to bed.

Easter Sunday we awoke to find eggs around the campsite so Ginny and Hank collected them before breakfast. We finished and packed up to head to Glenorchy. It was a fantastic day in New Zealand – clear and warm. We could see forever up into the Southern Alps. We passed through Glenorchy and on to the Lake Sylvan DOC campground. Unfortunately, the camp was not at the lake but 40 minutes away by foot, so we decided not to stay there. However, the camp was on the Routeburn River, which had an interesting suspension bridge across it, much like the bridge in Shrek. We walked back and forth across it a few times and left.

20 km down the road we came to Kinloch where there is a lodge (motel, really) and a DOC campground. We found an amazing spot at the end of the road, surrounded on three sides by water, looking up the valley and down the lake. Just as we pulled up I spotted a couple of 24″ trout in the little stream entering the lake, so I new this had to be the place. We set up the tent in the loose gravel, using the car to stabilize it. Then we all changed and headed for the water, me with my fishing gear and the kids with their swim gear. I didn’t see any more fish but wandered upstream for an hour while Hank and Ginny swam in the lake. Eventually we made our way back to the camp and relaxed the afternoon away, reading, fishing, exploring, etc. I didn’t have any luck but Hank caught some minnows with a bucket and his hands.

After a dinner of reheated 4-cheese pasta, everyone went to bed while I got out my fishing gear again. As it got dark, many fish entered the stream in front of the camp. I could see rises all over the place, but couldn’t figure out what they were hitting. I finally tied on a large woolly bugger and had a couple of strikes, but didn’t hook them. Oh well. Eventually it got completely dark and even though I could still see and hear fish rising in the starlight, I gave up when I lost my fly on a backcast. I looked at the stars for a while and came to bed.

There had to be a downside to that perfect place and we discovered it that night. All night long what we thought were cows were mooing in the distance. They were occasionally interrupted by ducks quacking and sometimes by a bird calling right outside our tent. I think it was some kind of plover since it sounded much like a killdeer. It felt like we were sleeping in a barn.

Eventually, the night was over and we got some sleep. Once we got up I talked to the DOC fee collector and he said the mooing was from deer, or rather stags that jumped the fence and went bush. He said they are in rut right now so that’s why they were so noisy at night. We decided that after such a horrible night we were done camping and would head home a day early. We had a nice breakfast at the lodge and then packed up the camp. Amazingly, I found the fly I lost the night before just sitting on the ground. That never happens.

Leaving Kinloch, Fa drove for the first time in New Zealand. She made it about 20 kms to Glenorchy, good as gold. On the way back to Queenstown we ran into a bicycle race, which delayed us probably 30 – 45 minutes. Eventually we leapfrogged the several groups of cyclists and got through Queenstown. We stopped at the bungy again and this time watched a few jumps. We saw a double jump and several water touches. It looks like so much fun we’ll have to do it before we leave New Zealand. This time on the way back we took the long route over to Ranfurly and Palmerston. At 20 extra kms it didn’t seem as bad as the normal route – less traffic, wider road, and less turns. We got back to Dunedin at 5:30 and got Flying Squid takeaway.

Home and unpacking, relaxing, movies, etc. Today clothes washing, cleaning, recovering.

More fish stories

I haven’t written for a while – almost a week. The whole family went to Tunnel Beach last Saturday. It was great for Fa to get out with us. She even went in the water. We have some pictures I’ll post later, as I don’t have the camera at the moment.

Today dragged the kids along on another fishing trip. Again, we went to the Taieri River, since it is the closest to home. We drove up to Middlemarch and found an old suspension bridge across the river. I saw some fish rising and cast to them for a while, but no luck. I gave up and looked at the water from the bridge. After studying the water, I noticed fish swimming around. They were moving quite a bit up, down, and across the river. I figured I’d have no chance with them moving so much, but eventually I couldn’t resist and dropped a little Copper John down from the bridge. I stripped out about half my line and let the fly hang in the water. Eventually a fish moved up to it and took. Somehow I played it from the bridge and scrambled down to the water and landed it. It was quite a sight passing my rod around the cables and posts on the bridge. I dispatched it and quickly hooked another, but it threw the hook. By then the whole pool was put down so we went looking for more. I found another spot where I hooked a couple more, but lost those also. Then I drove many kms looking for the river but only reached it at one more bridge. There I didn’t see a thing. Then we drove back to Outram and stopped at the usual place, where I saw a nice one jump clear out of the water. I tried wet, dry, up, down, etc, but to no avail, so we headed home.

Here I measured and photographed the fish. It was a hair under 15 inches and about 2 pounds. The stomach was completely empty – must have been preparing to spawn. Sorry, fish.

Another Fish Story – No pictures!

The kids and I went to the Taieri River at Outram to do some fishing and swimming. It’s only a 20 minute drive from home, over 3 Mile Hill Road. The kids got on their wet suits, masks, snorkels, and swim fins and jumped in the cold water. It was a very warm day – about 23C, but the water was quite cold, much like the beach. Ginny and Hank snorkeled while I fished for rising trout a couple of meters away. I did catch one on a Willow Grub, basically a yellow caddis larvae imitation. I missed a couple of others, but I didn’t put them down because they kept rising. Eventually the kids got cold so we moved to another spot where they stayed in the car while I fished some more. I hooked a couple of nice ones, but they each threw the hook. Somehow I missed about 6 fish is a half an hour – yikes. I met a nice Kiwi who gave me a couple of other places to go. We checked one out, but there were two cars there – maybe some other day. We came home and fried up the fish as a little snack. The kids love the skin! Then we had stir fry for dinner. Fun day.

Fish

We got going to Central Otago for some fishing the other day. We headed up the Old Dunston Road out of Clarks Junction. The road was sealed for 9 km, then unsealed and very rough. We took a break halfway up the mountain. There were no trees or bush, but rocks here and there.

We could see forever and we heard cows several k’s down the road.

Once on top we stopped at Loganburn Dam to see about fishing. It was sunny but very cold and windy. The lake was a bit muddy. I watched a couple of guys casting spinners, but I decided not to fish. We wandered around and spotted an Otago Skink, an endangered species (not fast enough to get a picture, sorry).

It’s very open and kind of bleak, but beautiful in it’s own way. Reminds me of Eastern Washington a bit.

This is the same kind of country that the Lord of the Rings Rohan scenes were filmed in, although not exactly here, probably 50 km northwest of here. There are no trees around so the pioneers and gold miners used stone for fenceposts.

We had lunch near the Taieri River after crossing the Styx Steam.

We searched for the Styx jail, and we thought this was it, but it was something else.

We eventually did find it, but I forgot to take a picture. It wasn’t much different than the picture above.

I caught a couple we fish. Here is one of them.

We had them for dinner when we got back – very tasty snack for Hank and me.

All in all a nice little fishing trip.

Fish

Yesterday I finally got to really fish in New Zealand. For a month now it’s been just a little here and there, but yesterday we went strictly to fish. We drove over Three Mile Hill road to Outram to look at the Taieri River, this time higher up. At Outram it didn’t look promising, so we went up and up to the plateau above town, then across sheep country and down a canyon to Hindon. The top was at about 460 m and the bottom of the canyon was at 60 m – very steep drop. Hindon has about 3 houses and a school bus stop. This felt like the middle of nowhere.

The Taieri Gorge Railway runs up the river to Hindon. The road shares the bridge over the river with the train. It was a little disconcerting driving across, waiting for a train to come, but none did so no worries.

We dropped to the river level with some sheep and cows.

I tied on a beetle imitation while the kids took off their shoes and waded in the river. I saw a fish rise before hitting the water and imediately cast to it. It struck but, bad fisher, I missed it. I missed a couple more before giving up. They were all nice – about .75 kg, maybe? 30 cm? Something like that. We played around there for about an hour and I didn’t see anymore fish.

We headed back towards civilisation at Clark’s Junction, hitting the highway just as a storm arrived at the mountains above us. We were lucky and had no rain. Once back at Outram I pulled off under the highway bridge over the river and tried some more. I was about to give up when I saw a rise from a decent brown. I didn’t get a response so switched to a Cicada and caught my first New Zealand trout. It was a beautiful brown about 30 cm long. I forgot the camera in the car so you’ll have to trust me on that. I put it back and then caught it’s twin 10 minutes later. I missed about 6 others in an hour. Finally, I believe there are fish here. Next time I’ll keep a couple for dinner or bring the camera. We headed home and arrived 25 minutes later. Fun.

Today was very quiet – squash with Phil (lost again!) and then nap and computer games. Schoolwork tomorrow and then maybe rugby Saturday.