We pulled back the curtains nervously. Blue sky greeted us. We had a quick cuppa, filled the car and began our journey. As we pulled out of Hanmer Town, the mountains were cloaked in a wonderful glow of red and orange. What a great sunrise. We pulled over and took a couple of photo’s.
The journey to Kaikoura was very enjoyable and we arrived at 7.30am. We went back to the Dolphin Discovery Centre for a muffin and a cuppa. We realised that we di not know where to meet our fishing bloke. The Dolphine Centre would not let us use their internet or telephone (we have gone right off them), so we found a public telephone. Luckily our guy was about to leave to get the boat. He met us on the main town road and we all went down to the beach. Hi mate, Tom, was going to take us out. Another English chap joined us, plus a second boat hand. They were very pleased to tell us that, next week, they are taking the actor Ewan McGregor out for a days fishing. Fiona was most upset we had missed him. John thinks he’s over rated!
We flew out to the middle of the bay in calm weather. Once at our fishing spot we cast our lines over the side. Within minutes, we were catching Blue Cod, Dog Fish (which we did not keep) and John caught one large Grouper. After an hour we had a crate full of fish. After almost two hours we had caught more than you could possible eat in a week. As we fished, the boat became surrounded by a whole host of bird life, including three different types of Albatross. We also got friendly with a lovely wee seal who hung out with us for much of the morning.
We travelled back to the beach to pick up the owner. All the way back, one of the crew cleaned the fish we had caught. Once back, we picked up the boss and then took a small ride to the Cray Fish (Like lobster) pots. Both pots had about 10 crayfish in them, most of which we easily big enough to keep.
When we arrived back to the beach, the tractor pulled us up onto the sand and we were given our part of the catch, about a pound of fish and two large crayfish.
After some lunch at Dolphin Encounters, we drove to Picton in heavy rain showers and checked into our Motel room. Luckily for us, the room with the full kitchen was now available, so we swapped to room 10.
John realised that he had lost his rain jacket, so we popped to the local supermarket then to Blenheim, where we purchased a new waterproof for John and got John a hair cut. John hasn’t shaved for about a week, so now he has more hair on his chin than on his head!
The sun had reappeared by the time we arrived back in Picton so we walked down to the beach and sat on some rocks and watched the ferry and other local boat trips come and go from the bay.
We came back to the Motel and John began to prepare the crayfish. Unfortunately, they can live out of water, so when John got the first one out of the plastic bag, it was moving a lot. The boat skipper had told us to put them in fresh water for 15 minutes which would kill them. The whole process was not pleasant. Fiona suggested we go back to the bay and out them back in the water, but the process was already underway. After killing the crayfish, John popped it into boiling water for ten minutes and then cold water for another ten. All the meat is in the tail. It was OK but nothing to write home about. Fiona made John prepare the second one immediately after dinner so as to put it out of its misery. We baked the Cod and Grouper. John liked it but Fiona thought it was not very tasty. Fifi is planning to make a fish dinner with flavour tomorrow.
After dinner we watched the directors cut of Saving Private Ryan and then passed out!
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