Just a Saturday in NZ

We started Saturday off by heading into town first thing in the morning to rent a boat for a few hours to get out on the water. But, because of the predicted storm, the rental company had taken all of their boats out of the water. Bummer. Even though the weather was forecasted to be really crappy, it was a pretty nice day other than a bit of wind. We went to the beach for a couple of hours and then decided to go rock fishing with our friend Dan, who works the local kayak/hobie cat rental place. We got all of our supplies and headed across the bay via vehicle ferry from Opua to

Russell. We drove thru some backroads and crossed over to the coast to Taupiri Bay. We found a great spot close to a small beach to park the car where we didn't have to far to walk to the water. Dan and Dave went out in the kayak to find a good rock to fish from. Dave returned to the beach to pick Jill up along with the rest of the gear we needed to bring out to the rocks. Our spot wasn't to far from land, so it was perfect to have the kayak to maneuver around rocks and cross the small amount of ocean. We set up shop and started fishing. All three of us had a really great time out on the rocks. The scenery was beautiful. The weather was cooperating fairly well (few spots of light rain passed us). We had great company. And we caught a few fish! Both Dave and Dan both lost several nice running fish by break offs on the rocks, but they were good sports about it. We had Dan's contour video recorder with us, so of course we were goofing off and making some good shots for the camera. We ended the day with a few

snappers to take home, and we also threw back an eel, a small king fish, and a couple small snappers. The paddle back to the beach was amazing, the tide was low so we crept thru some really shallow passages over and between huge rocks. The water was so super clear. The sun was down, so in the dim light the water was beautiful. We packed the car up and started back home. On our hour drive thru the back roads, we were keeping our eyes open for possums. In New Zealand possums are an introduced species, and are a huge threat to many of New Zealand's flightless birds. Because there are no real predators in the country like there are in the states, the possums multiple like crazy creating a huge problem for many birds. It is very common when out hiking to see many traps set out for animals such as possums by the Department of Conservation to reduce the number of possums. So, every kiwi (New Zealander) is always ready and willing to hit possums with their cars to get rid of them. In fact, they really try hard to run them over when they see them in the road. On our drive home Saturday night we were able to reduce the possum population by two. We actually pulled over and plucked the fur from the bodies of the possums because it is extremely valuable for making clothing. Keep in mind these possums are not like the ones in the states. There fur is super soft and is mixed with merino wool to make very nice, expensive jackets, sweaters, scarves, etc. I know this may sound a little harsh, but its all in the experience of living in New Zealand. New Zealanders do not like possums, even though the ones here are pretty cute. So that was our fun-filled Saturday night in New Zealand!