New Zealand - 2017
Boxing Day 26th December - time for another adventure!
Up at 2 a.m. went to McDonald's (for coffee) and then picked up Darren up at
2:55 a.m.
Drive to Sydney arrived at Sydney at 6 a.m. dropped car off
seamlessly. Plane was delayed 1 hour out of Sydney. But we landed in Christchurch ok
got hire car and drove to see my cousin to pick up the gear. Had a good chat to him (for 8 minutes) then it was time to go fishing!
We stocked up on the way out of town - spent $355 on groceries of which we bought some gold plated
cashew nuts... i.e. we spent $55.53 on some cashews. If I can quote myself at the checkout.. "WTF?!"
Once the shock had worn off (i.e.a handful of gold plated cashew nuts washed down with a drink) we drove to Flock Hill station and stayed in cottage one which
has 2 bedrooms with queen beds and is very nice.
Where do I put my nail clippers
New Bottle of Scotch and New Rod. Both designed to improve the mood!
Not a bad view from bed.
27 December
Some beautiful scenery up that way!
We had hired a guide for the day - Ben Haywood of New Zealand Fly Fishing Escapes. Got picked up by Ben at 6:30 a.m. I still was half asleep!
We fish the Broken River as Ben has some exclusive access it was a nice walk down and up the
hill to get to the river (i.e. hard work!). Darren hoped for and landed one which was a great
effort. I managed to land 5 using the bamboo power - ie my Nick Taransky bamboo rod.
We had a really enjoyable day. Ben is great at spotting trout and very nice company. Don't know how he made it up the hill in his waders but that's a different story!
We were tired by the time we got home!
Have a look at the video from Ben's website - NZ Fly Fishing Escapes below!
We headed over to the West Coast and found some nice water to fish.
Dario in the background on the water strider coming through the trees.
29 December
Another West Coast river. More trout. But not many today. Only managed 4 . Hard going at times today.
30 December
I floated down to the Arnold Dam today. Put in at the highway bridge and floated down to the dam. Then lifted the water strider over the dam wall and floated back down to where Darren was waiting for me with the car. Managed 11. But spooky water.
31 December
We had a nice coffee under the trees. And if you know anything about me, if I am starting to talk about having 'nice coffees under the trees' then rest assured the fishing was crap.
1 January 2018
A new day, a new year and a new river.
2 January
We fished the same river again, but this time at a different spot, a section we had never fished before. We did pretty good.
That's an Australian understatement for 'we caught the shit out of them'. I think we hit double digits just before lunch and the action only slowed down when we stopped fishing.
Notice I am not talking about 'a nice coffee under the trees' or anything inane like that.
Warm day, beautiful water, Good casting. Result above and below.
3 January 2018
Took the water striders out on Lake Haupiri today. They weren't that easy to pick up. Only started to catch a few when I worked my way down the tree bush line parallel to the road.
They were very dark fish.
On that note I will let you go. Another adventure under the belt... great company and great fun. And the fishing.... well on that.. 'how do you like your coffee?'
Mic drop. I'm out.