Ocean and Orchard Festival

Saturday brought sunshine and the urge to get out and do something. We decided to go down to the beach and redeem our certificate to use the hobie cat since we were rained out last time. The wind was to strong to legally rent the cats, so we opted for a kayak instead. We paddled out from the beach in Paihia to a small island in the bay. We beached the kayak, walked around for a bit, then jumped back in for more paddling. The wind did give us a bit of a workout around half of the island, but then pushed us paddle free around the other half. Once we were back, we laid out in the sun for a while to dry our salt water splashed bodies and soak up a little sun. Saturday afternoon, we drove over to Kerikeri, for the Ocean and

Orchard Festival. It was held in a nice big grassy area in the center of town with plenty of tents, chairs, food booths, drinks, and live music. We enjoyed walking around checking everything out and listening to music, but most of all we enjoyed the contests. There was a lemon eating contest, which was enjoyable to watch. There was also a kiwi carving contest for the kids, which was very interesting. The biggest contest was an oyster eating contest with three heats competing for a spot in the final round. Jill convinced Dave to partake in the contest as they were asking for volunteers. Dave likes oysters, so why not? There were six people in the heat, who all had a heaping pile of very fresh raw oysters, that had to be eaten one at a time. Once the contest started, Dave dug right in and went to town shoveling the oysters into his mouth. After about 7, he slowed a bit and had a small gag. Then a couple more went down the hatch and he realized the guy beside him was finishing up so he threw in the towel. It was quit comical to watch and the crowd really got into cheering everyone on. Even though Dave didn't win, he did have a good time trying to devour the pile of oysters.

MARLIN!!!!!!

We were invited down to Mount Maunganui to fish with Andre, the friend who has been up in our neighborhood fishing the last couple weeks, on his boat. We left our apartment Thursday and drove down to Auckland to break up the drive. Then on Friday morning we drove to Maunganui,

met up with Andre and Jared, got supplies, and hit the road to Waihau Bay to fish for the weekend. Waihau Bay was about a 3 hour drive from Andre's house, out in the sticks, but hot for marlin lately. Andre had arranged for us to use a family members property to camp on. There would be no electric or water, but plenty of room for a tent and boat parking, not to mention it was only about 100 feet from the boat ramp. Friday night we arrived just before dawn, so we quickly set up the tent and got ourselves situated. Luckily the Nationals Fishing Tournament was going on at the same time, so there were a few other people around and the local restaurant/bar was open for us to get dinner. Saturday morning we were up bright and early, with

the boat in the water around 6:30. Unfortunately while parking the trailer, Andre clipped the fence and bent the wheel well on the trailer. We would deal with that problem later before we put the boat back on. First thing in the morning, we saw about 20 dolphin, all playing around the boat. Jill got a great video (on facebook) of the dolphin at the bow. Lines were in the water by 7:15 and we were marlin fishing. By 8:30 we were hooked up to our first stripped marlin. She came up into the pattern (5 lures in the water), checked out a couple different lures, then Dave dropped back the shotgun lure and sent it straight down her throat. Andre was ready with his harness on, so he quickly got the rod in place, while Jared drove, and Jill and Dave cleared gear. Getting hooked up was such an adrenaline rush for all of us, no matter what you were doing you were amped and even a bit shaky. No matter how much you talk about "your plan", it still seems like chaos when it happens for the first time. We needed the go pro strapped

to Andre, we needed the camera on the boat turned on, we needed all lines in, we needed all lures off the floor, we needed a hook out of Andre's foot, we needed out riggers pulled in, we needed to keep tension on the line, and we needed to be ready to pull the fish in. Once everything was cleared, Jill scurried up to the roof to get pictures and video. After 15 fishing days, we had decided our first marlin would be kept and eaten, which made for a huge task. It took several attempts to leader and gaff the fish, but we worked out all the kinks. Jill drove, Dave was leadering, and Jared gaffed. Once the gaff was in, we had to get the fish around to the back of the boat and around the

outboard, so we could pull it in. With one big heave, Jared and Dave pulled it in rather easily. Yhewww! We did it! All of this happened in a small 20 minute window. It was intense and very exciting. We decided we would drive back in and unload the fish, then go back out and fish more. Because there was a tournament going on, we were able to get a courtesy weigh at the boat ramp. Usually you would pull your boat out of the water and back right up to the scale hook. However, we couldn't use our trailer because of the bent wheel guard

touching the tire. So we drove the boat close to shore, and dumped the marlin overboard. Dave, Jared, and Andre had to carry the wet, slippery, huge marlin up the bank to the scale. As Jill held the boat in place, she giggled to herself watching the three of them. It was a riot to watch. They tried several different ways to carry the fish and finally got in sync with each other. They hooked it up to the scale for the big moment. 86 kilos (190 pounds) for our first stripped marlin for all of us. What a great feeling! We were able to get in touch

with a local man who would smoke the fish for us. Once it was weighed, the guys had to carry it to the smokers truck. He would take the fish, smoke it, package it, and we would pick it up on Sunday on our way home. We all loaded back into the boat and headed out for more fishing at 9:30am. What a great morning! We fished until about 6:00pm. We did have a couple other fish come up, but they didn't eat the lures. We got back to

the dock, fixed the trailer, and pulled out of the water. With no fresh water, we couldn't clean the boat or anything, so we relaxed and celebrated with a beer. Jill filled up a couple of water bottles at the public bathroom and took a hobo shower to get the salt off and feel fresh. We ate dinner, and got ready for the next day. Sunday we were up even earlier, on the water at 6:00am. We fished until 3:00pm. We did see a couple of marlin, and got hooked up in the afternoon. Jared reeled in the fish, but once it was close, we realized it was a small mako shark. We didn't hook a marlin all day, but the mako was still a bit of fun. Once we got back to the ramp, we quickly took the tent down and packed everything up. We got on the road, stopped to pick up our smoked marlin, and headed home. What a great fishing weekend! Sunday night at Andre's, after we washed the boat and unloaded everything, we watched the videos and looked through the pictures. Of course the guys were super amped about the catch, so they just talked and talked and went thru the coulda, woulda, and shouldas with each other. All four of us were exhausted from the action-packed weekend, so we didn't stay up celebrating to late. We went to Jared and Kirsty's house, right on the beach, to spend the night. Monday morning we got on the road and headed back to the Bay of Islands. We did take our time driving back through a scenic route along the coast.

So Long Curls

After weeks of complaining, Dave finally decided he was ready... to chop off his long hair. In our 3 year relationship, Dave has always had long curls, so this is a big deal. Dave is very pleased with his hair and is super excited to not have to brush it or worry about it anymore. The side burns need a little work, but with time it will come together. It's quite a bit different short, but we both like it!

Valentine's Day

We tried to go out diving for lobster on Monday, which would have been the perfect Valentine's dinner, but our friend Vinny's boat wouldn't work. We got it in the water, started it up, and then it wouldn't go into gear. Bummer. On Valentine's Day we lounged around for a bit, then we headed down to the beach to do a little sailing. We rented a hobie cat so we could play around in the bay. It had gotten a bit cloudy out to the west, but the rental guy figured the rain would hold off a bit since there was a nice sea breeze coming from the east. About 30 seconds after we launched from the beach it started raining. O-Well, what are you going to do about it. Dave sailed the little cat around, figuring out how to maneuver it in the light wind and heavy rain, and Jill enjoyed the bumpy,wet ride. We really enjoyed ourselves and had a good time despite the weather. We stayed out about 20 minutes, then came in soaking wet from rain and waves. Luckily we got a voucher to return for a re-do on another day. For Valentine's dinner we went to a restaurant in Paihia (about 5 minutes from our house) called Only Seafood Restaurant. It does't seem like very many people celebrate Valentine's Day here, so we got right in and had a nice dinner. Then it was back to our apartment. The End

Fishing Report

Sorry if we got your hopes up with the title... there is not much to report. Dave went out Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday and still has not caught a marlin. Wednesday and Thursday were spent with Andre on the west coast in the Tasman Sea. The boat was launched from Hokianga Harbour, which has a very dangerous bar to cross. Every boat that crosses the bar must call into the coast guard before they start and again once they have safely crossed. Wednesday went well. Thursday getting out was fine, but coming back in was a bit scary. The tide was dead low so there were waves crashing all the way across the bar. We had to sit just outside the bar and watch for a few minutes to plan our crossing. We all put on life jackets, waited for a small set, and rode in between two swells. We made it safely across, but we could clearly see why some days the harbour is completely closed. Coming thru there in rough seas must be very scary. Jill tagged along on Thursday hoping to bring some good luck for the fishing, and to work on a suntan. We did get several albacore tuna, which were delicious, but no marlin. The weather was amazing though. It was flat calm which is practically unheard of on the west coast. We did see a marlin jump about 60 yards behind the boat twice, which was really cool. It was a huge blue marlin, that we would have loved to catch. On Friday the boys went out from Matauri Bay, but had no luck. Friday night we had a cook out at the campground with the guys we had been fishing with and their wives. We ate kina(sea urchin) and tuatua(clam) that they collected right on the beach in front of the campground. We also had

some fresh fish that had been caught from the boat. It was a great meal straight from the sea, that couldn't have been any fresher. On Sunday Dave went out with our friend Vinny, but they didn't have any luck with the marlin. We are keeping our fingers crossed for the next trip out.

Wairere Boulders

Dave and the guys went fishing on Wednesday from the west coast. Jill drove over in the morning with them to do a bit of exploring on her own. First she went to the Waima Forest to see a small waterfall. There was a cute little puzzle store near the park, so about an hour was spent looking

around and playing games in this tiny little family owned shop. After lunch on the beach and being taken over by two wet, sandy dogs, it was off to the Wairere Boulders. These 2.6 million year old boulders are literally out in the middle of nowhere down a long gravel road. These basalt boulders are unique because there are so many ranging in size from small cars to huge houses in a valley in the middle of clay country. Also they have been eroded in a very uncommon way called fluting. Where did they come from and how did they end up here? Apparently they are erosion remnants from a basalt layer that used to sit high above the valley floor. Walking around the park was interesting because the path went over, under, and thru the rocks. Some of the rocks are holding each other up in ways that makes small caves or passages underneath these huge boulders. The private park has been very well kept by the owners Rita and Felix. They have built all the bridges and walkways themselves with there own money. It was very enjoyable to talk to Felix and look thru the pictures of the original work and upkeep he and his wife have done. It was certainly an enjoyable park.

Determined Dave

Last week Dave was fortunate enough to get a temporary job on a 60 foot Riviera Sportfishing boat called "Back in Black" for the ElDorado Marlin Fishing Tournament as a deckhand. Dave was gone overnight on the boat from Wednesday Jan 25th until Saturday Jan 28th. Sadly they did not catch any marlin, but they did have several come up into the spread on the first day. The following days, they did not even see any marlin. They did catch a 550 pound hammerhead, which was tons of fun for all 7 of the guys on board. Only 21 marlin were caught in the entire tournament which had 25 boats. Saturday night we went to the awards dinner at Russell Sailfish Club, which was a fun time talking fishing all night. Since the tournament Dave has been out fishing several more times with Andre, a friend of a friend of ours, and still not caught a marlin. It has been 8 days on the water, hoping for a marlin, and Dave is starting to take it personal. He is now a on a mission to catch one very soon.
While Jill has not been out fishing lately, she did get to go sailing with our landlord Geoff, His 21 year-old daughter Sarah, and a little girl Sarah nannies for. While Dave was gone fishing, Jill enjoyed her time alone to relax and enjoy the beach, a few good books, a bit of shopping, and lots of catching up with family and friends back home.
On Thursday we went along with all of our neighbors to a performance by the Royal New Zealand Navy Band in the next town of Kerikeri. All 14 of us went to a nice dinner afterwards and had a good time together.