Our Update

Time has been flying by and I haven't been keeping up with this blog as I should. Dave has had a few days work fishing on a couple different local boats. He has caught his first Black Marlin, which was a little fella, but still an exciting catch on light tackle. The game fish season is approaching and he should get really busy over the next month. I have completed two 7-day shifts at my new job on Spirit of Freedom as a hostess. The job is cleaning, serving meals, tending to guests needs, and keeping the guests happy. The job is such a great opportunity and it has been very satisfying. Dives are allowed on the job, so that means I am getting to see the Great Barrier Reef and increasing my number of dives. The crew is awesome, so work is really fun, enjoyable, and rewarding. Both Dave and I get along great with the crew I work with, and we enjoy hanging out on my week off.
     We have taken a couple of small road trips over the last few weeks. Considering Dave will be getting busy with work, we have tried to do as much exploring as we can afford before he is full on fishing. We went north to Cooktown, where we fished for GT's and went croc spotting. We also went about an hour south to a couple of local parks. We have seen some fabulous places within a small radius around Cairns. Australia is such a big country, it overwhelms us to think of the many, many places we have yet to see. We are just starting to scratch the surface of this beautiful place, and that makes us both excited for the months to come.

Jill's first week of work: Coral Sea

Fitzroy Island

OnTuesday July 23rd Dave had to go to Fitzroy Island for his instructor class. Jill was invited along to play the role of student. The island is about a 45 minute ferry ride from Cairns and has a resort, along with day tripper amenities. We arrived in the morning, set up our dive gear, and got rolling. The little bits of reef are right off of the beach in relatively shallow water. After going through skills and training, we went on a short dive over a few coral heads, which proved to be a spectacular lil dive. Literally in 5 minutes we saw a lion fish, a sea turtle, a clown fish, and a purple starfish, all in about 12 feet of water. Wonderful! After our short dive, we had lunch, then the guys went back at it. They had more training to do, so Jill snorkeled around, then relaxed on the beach. We caught the ferry back in the late afternoon and concluded our trip. It was a really nice day trip and we would love to go back to the island for an overnight.

Open Water Jill and Dive Master Dave

Over the past 2 1/2 weeks Dave has been working on his Dive Master certification. Lots of classroom time and 2 trips out to the reef for 3 days at a time has gotten Dave 1 more step up the ladder. Jill spent 2 days in the classroom and 3 days at the reef to get her Open Water certification. It's been something on her mind for the past few years, but a bit of fear and procrastination has stood in the way. Since Dave was learning to teach, why not jump in and learn to dive with him helping out. Basically Dave was an assistant to the dive instructor, practicing some teaching techniques and demonstrating skills. He has also been building on the Rescue Diver skills by practicing more search and recovery techniques, along with onboard operation skills. We left on the boat on Wednesday July 10th to head out to the reef. The weather was crap, with winds blowing around 25 knots, which made for a rough ride out. Most of the 32 passengers spent the trip vomiting, while the other few stayed put holding on, as not to be thrown across the boat. Once we got to the reef, the boat didn't rock quite as much, since we were somewhat protected, but the wind was still howling. Jill did 2 training dives on the first day, while Dave did 4 dives. The second day Jill did 2 training dives, which then meant officially certified. In the afternoon we dove together for a fun dive. That evening Jill could have done the night dive, but didn't have any interest. On the third day, we had 3 more dives. Dave had to finsih up a few skills, then dove with Jill. All three days, while windy and choppy, were great dives. On the second day, we saw a huge green turtle about 4 feet long sitting on the bottom. Jill sat right down next to him on the sandy bottom for several minutes. We also saw a stingray and a lionfish, along with tons of other marine life. The abundance of fish is mind blowing. It is awesome. The visibility wasn't that great, only about 35 feet, but once you got close to something it was amazing. Of course a clearer sky and more settled waters would be better, but I guess that gives me something to look forward to for the next time. We really had a great trip together and met lots of people from all different places. The next step for Dave is Dive Instructor, which is underway now.

Back in Black Three Kings 2013

Hartley's Crocodile Adventures

On Thursday June 27th we rented a car and went out touring. We first went to Outback Opal Mine Store and learned about opal mining in Australia and looked at the beautiful stones they had for sale. Our next stop was Hartley's Crocodile Adventures which is not only a crocodile farm&park, but also home to some other animals. We walked around and saw loads of crocs, most of which were pretty motionless. The first pen we got to, Dave thought they were fake because they were so still. Then we took a tour of the farm, where they raise crocodiles for profit and saw the year old babies. The most valuable part is the skin and then the secondary parts are the meat. They use all the meat from their farm in their on-site restaurant, which we ate a crocodile burger at. All of the skins from this particular farm are sold to Louis Vuitton. We also saw a snake show and a crocodile attack show. During the attack show we saw the famous crocodile roll and the head shake to tear their victims apart. We went on a short 30 minute boat ride around the lagoon, where our guide fed the crocodiles from a wooden pole. It was really cool to see them jump out of the water to get the meat off the stick. They really do move quick and jump high to attack and eat. We also got to see koalas and the Australian Cassowary, which is the largest bird here standing at 6 1/2 feet tall and weighing about 100 pounds. There were also lizards, turtles, snakes, birds, etc. Our favorite part was most definitely the kangaroos and wallabies. We were walking to get to the wallaby feeding at a certain time, and while following the path we arrived at a gate. The gate was closed, but not locked with a "push" sign on it. Then there was a second gate also. Over the fence we could see all these cute wallabies and kangaroos. There was no one else around and we weren't sure wether we were suppose to go through or not. After all the gate wasted locked and it said push, but we couldn't fathom the thought that anyone would be aloud to go into the pen with these animals. I mean could you imagine that at Jacksonville or Atlanta Zoo? We debated the topic for about 5 minutes, then went through the gate. After about 10 minutes of being alone, a park ranger came in with the food. We got to feed them right out of our hands and pet them all as much as we wanted. It was really cool. We loved the little guys. It was certainly the highlight of our day.
After the crocodile park, we drove up to Port Douglas, a small resort town north of Cairns. We walked around town for a bit, then had a yummy meal at one of the local restaurants. It was a lovely day for exploring.

Rescue Diver Dave

Last week Dave completed his PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course, and this week he has completed his Rescue Diver Course. He has gotten to do 22 dives on the Great Barrier Reef and has loved every one. He is really enjoying upgrading his dive certifications. The Great Barrier is like nothing you've ever seen before. There is no comparison at all to the reef in the Florida Keys. They are like night and day to each other. It is beautiful and unbelievable!

Barron Falls

This past week we have been continuing on the job hunt. We have both applied for numerous jobs and Dave has been working hard to get his name out in the fishing community. We have settled into our apartment and are enjoying the area. Our apartment complex is located right next to the Cairns Botanical Gardens which has loads of trails and paths to explore. We have been trying to get out and walk or bike the area as often as we can for both exercise and knowledge of the area.
The day we moved into our apartment we went out exploring in the rental car we had gotten for the day. After shopping for linens  , groceries, cleaning supplies, bathroom necessities, etc., we didn't have a ton of time left in the day, but we figured we should make the most of having a car. We drove about 30 minutes to the small town of Kuranda. Its a neat little tourist town that a train from Cairns runs to. Also a sky rail from just north of Cairns goes up the mountains into Kuranda. We didn't do either of those, but we did go to Barron Falls. This waterfall is super tall but doesn't have a ton of water running over it since its the dry season. It will be cool to go back in the wet season and see the falls gushing with water. The river apparently rises an incredible amount and the width of the falls widens. We'll have to make a trip back in a few months!

Cairns Apartment

This week we have been exploring Cairns and getting to know the area. We bought bikes and have been peddling all over town. We have looked at several apartments this week, and finally decided on one. We signed a lease on Friday. We move in on Sunday for 5 months! It is a one bedroom apartment at "The Lakes" in Cairns North. It is about a 15 minute bike ride to the city center, but an enjoyable one. Because we are pretty much directly north of the main city area near the water, we can use the Esplanade the whole way into town. The Esplanade is about a 5 mile stretch of park along the waters edge ranging from 50 yards wide to a couple hundred yards wide. All along the grassy Esplanade are bike trails, walking paths, playgrounds, bbq areas, fitness stations, a children's water park, a huge public pool, skate park, beach volleyball courts, tennis courts, and anything else you could imagine. It has all been really well designed and is landscaped beautifully. So from our new apartment, we cross over two blocks east to the esplanade and head south into the heart of town. Of course there is plenty in the area that we are in as well, but the main shops, marina, and attractions are in the center of town. So far we are really liking the area. It is much bigger than the town we lived in, in New Zealand. Cairns has a little over 150,000 people including the suburbs, which will be a nice change for a little while. We do love small towns, but sometimes its nice to have good shopping, big grocery stores, and a nice selection of restaurants. The next couple of days we will be getting ready to move into our apartment and get settled.

Leaving T.I.

Today we are leaving Thursday Island to go to Cairns, Australia on the mainland, where we will spend the next 5 months. We will be quickly getting an apartment and jobs. This past 2 weeks on T.I. has been so wonderful. It is such a beautiful remote place. Since our camping trip last weekend, Dave and Jason headed out fishing on the boat a couple times and we also fished from the wharf on Horn Island and a wharf here on T.I. Yesterday was our last day, and it couldn't have been more perfect. We took Jason's boat over to Prince of Whales Island and found an amazing beach to spend the day at. On our way over we stopped at a Japanese Pearl farm on Friday Island to have a look around. Kazu Pearl Farm is a large producer of pearls here in Australia. We wanted to have lunch and do a tour, but they were fully booked, so we opted to shop a little in their store. It was such a neat spot all alone and secluded on it's own island. They had some really nice jewelry and nice Mother of Pearl Shells, along with other pieces. On Prince of Whales Island we enjoyed ourselves playing on the beach, swimming, fishing, grilling lunch, shell hunting, and relaxing. The water was clear and shallow, and the perfect temperature too! We found a small river and the guys did a little fishing and netting. We headed back in the afternoon and ended a truly perfect day.

Loyalty Beach Camping

Over the weekend, Jason, Vee, Dave, and Jill took Jason's boat on a weekend camping trip to the mainland. We left on Friday morning, and made the 27 mile crossing in just over an hour. We got to the Loyalty Beach campground, checked-in, and set up camp. Our camp site was right on the edge of the beach with beautiful views over the Torres Straits. Each couple had a small two-man tent under the trees. We didn't bring along any luxury items like air mattresses, but we did bring a small grill and a hot plate for cooking. Once we set up camp, we jumped back on the boat and headed over to Cape York, the most northern point on Australia's mainland. We had a nice ride over in the sunshine and anchored up on the rocks for a bit while we explored. There is a sign there that marks the spot, but it isn't very frequently visited. It is nothing like the crowds of people who visit the southernmost point in the USA in Key West. There was no one else around, and we took our time enjoying the location. The boys spent a little time fishing while the girls picked a nice spot in some shallow water to lay down and relax. We left Cape York and headed back, stopping along the way to visit some beaches. Jason was successful in catching 3 mud crabs, which we took back to camp, and they were not a hit with us. We also stopped to explore a river where it met the sea. It was such a neat spot and really pretty too. On Saturday the weather was not as nice, with some wind, but we went out on the boat to see what we could get into. We tried to go up the Jardine river, which is suppose to have lots of Crocs, but the shallow sandbars wouldn't allow us to pass. We tried another river and had the same problem. With wind and rain causing us problems, we headed back in the afternoon. We had to fight the abundance of sandbars and try and maneuver our way around them to get back to camp. The sandbars went on for miles and miles and seemed to change right in front of our eyes. We finally got back to camp and spent the rest of the day ashore. After dinner at our tents, we went to the campground eatery and had a few drinks while we watched the sunset. We had a fun night and even ate local green ants, which were tart, but not to bad (they're edible and apparently a good source of survival if your lost in the bush). On Sunday morning, we woke up and packed up camp. We took off on the boat to head back, but didn't rush. We island hopped for a few hours before getting back to Thursday Island.

  

Good Catch!

On Thursday May 23rd we went out fishing again with Jason. We had a very good day with quite a few fish. We trolled for awhile around white rocks, which are huge boulders in the ocean covered in white bird poo. Jill caught her first GT weighing 22 pounds. We also caught about 6 or 7 queen fish. We kept 4 and gave them to friends of Jason's. Dave and Jason snorkeled in a nice reef spot on the way home and got 1 good size cray. Then our last stop on the way back to the boat ramp landed Dave his 50 pound GT. With not much time left, he threw a popper only a handful of times and hooked up right next to the boat. It was a fantastic catch and a perfect end to our day fishing.

Our First Aussie Catch

We are loving the weather here in the Torres Straights. It is very similar to Florida, with high temperatures and high humidity. The water is nice and warm and the sun is nice and bright! Monday May 20th we went for a fish from land on Thursday Island. Dave caught his first few fish, 2 of a species that we don't know, and 2 coral trout (pictured). They were all pretty small, but were just fine as a start to his Australian fishing. Jill sat out on the jetty rocks as Dave fished, keeping an eye out for crocodiles. Thankfully none were in the area, so we didn't have any worries.
On Wednesday we went out fishing on Jason's boat. We started off popping on top water, which means you are casting a wooden bait and quickly reeling it in to make it pop/jump across the top of the water, like a bait fish would look if he were swimming. Amazingly Dave hooked up a GT (Giant Trevally) on his third pop of his first cast. Considering this is the species we were targeting, and it was Dave's first time trying for this fish, it was really impressive to catch one so quickly. After popping for awhile, we went out to a bouy to jig for GT. This is dropping a lead/metal bait to the bottom and reeling it up at a quick pace with stop and go action. Jill caught her first fish in Australia jigging from the bottom up and hooked a Golden Trevally. It was a nice size and an accomplishment for her. Dave caught a few more fish for the day, and Jason caught a few as well. These were all released back into the water. We are very pleased with the start to our Australian fishing!!

We made it to Australia!

Sunday was a long day of traveling, but well worth the journey. We woke at 4:00am in our hotel to get going to the airport. Our 6 hour flight left New Zealand at 7:00am. We collected our luggage in Cairns, went through customs, checked in with the domestic terminal, and boarded our 2nd fight. We flew a short 1 1/2 hours to Horn Island, just north of Australia's mainland. We then took a bus from the airport to the harbor, where we got onto a ferry. We took the ferry along with our 5 suitcases, rod case, and backpacks to Thursday Island where our friend Jason Kidd picked us up. It was great to see Jason after a year apart. We met him originally in New Zealand, but he moved away to Australia in early 2012. We settled into his apartment where he lives with his girlfriend Vee, and had a nice bar-b-que dinner. We went up to a hilltop on the island to watch our first Australian sunset. It was a beautiful night after a long 18 hour day.

Great Fly Fishing

 On Friday Dave went out fly fishing with Jason from Trout Beck Fishing Lodge in the Whanganui River. They had a successful day fishing together in the chilly weather. Dave got 3 fish and Jason got 5. All 8 fish were between 6 and 9 pounds, which is an awesome catch in the river. After a nice day on the river, they headed home, and quickly found themselves pulled over with a flat tire. Seems like a simple problem, but.... not only did it start raining on them, they couldn't seem to get the tire off. From being on the truck so long the tire had seized itself on. After putting in lots of effort, they unloaded the 4-wheeler and drove down the road to get a post from a nearby farm. They were able to beat the tire off the rim with the force of the post and complete the change in the cold wind and rain. Jill stayed back at the lodge to relax and prepare for the next leg of the journey. Saturday Dave tried a bit of fly fishing, but the torrential rain from Friday night made the river and lake stirred up and murky. So, we packed up the car and headed to Auckland to check into a hotel near the airport. Our flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7am, so we will be up bright and early to get to the airport at 5. Tomorrow will be a long day of traveling with 2 flights and a ferry ride to our destination. We are stoked!!! We'll check in from Australia next.

Our 100th Post!

It's been a couple weeks since the last post, and it's also been our last couple weeks in New Zealand. Dave had a few more days of fishing on Back in Black and Jill ran the mother's day 8k with her friend Laine. We packed everything up and left the Bay of Islands on Tuesday May 14th. We drove down to Mount Monganui, southeast of Auckland, and stayed wih our friend Andre. We went out fishing on his boat on Wednesday. The first half of the day we were targeting swordfish, but had no luck, and the second half of the day we went for Bluenose. It was a fun day out even though we only got 1 Bluenose (which we ate for dinner), and 1 Rays Bream (which we threw back). On Thursday we drove down to Turangi to Trout Beck Fishing Lodge to see Tracy and Jason. We will spend 2 nights here, then 1 night in Auckland before we fly out Sunday morning to Australia. Our 3 months here have flown by. We are excited to get to Australia and experience a new place and see new things!

King of The Coast Competition

Friday April 26th Dave set up camp with Marty at North Cape for the King of The Coast Fishing Competition, which was a fundraiser for one of the local schools. They land-based fished Saturday and Sunday mostly for snapper, but also a bit for kingfish. The weigh-in was Sunday afternoon in Whangaroa Harbour. After driving north, taking the dingy an hour and a half to the North Cape, then hiking for a couple hours to their spot, then all back again, they were pretty worn out. Jill met them just after weigh in, and they didn't seem overly positive. They had a great time, but they didn't think they had caught a big enough fish. There was an auction of everyone's donated fish to the public for the benefit of the school. Then it was awards time. Lots of raffle prizes were given out to all the participants, then prizes were given to different fishing category winners. Marty won the biggest snapper and Dave won average snapper, which meant they each received $1000.00. WOW!!! Those were the only 2 cash prizes, and our guys won them both. What a great weekend fishing, and a well deserved prize after all their hard work and effort.

Cape Reinga

April 20th was Dave's birthday so we had a cookout party at our friends house. We had a really great time and enjoyed being with friends. After a couple day's recuperation from Dave's Birthday celebrations, we decided to go see Cape Reinga on April 23rd. We drove up north, which takes about 3 hours and made only a couple pit stops. The first was to see the remnants of the Kauri gum diggers. It was  a quick stop, but it gave us a chance to stretch our legs and learn a little history too. Basically the gum (sap) was collected and used for varnishes and had great value, so it was extracted from the ground. We enjoyed our drive north in the nice sunny weather, and stopped to see 90 mile beach on the west coast. It's a beautiful wide flat beach that permits road traffic. Back on the road, we continued on to Cape Reinga. While most people think it is the most northern point in New Zealand, it actually is not. North Cape, just slightly farther north but not accessible by the public, is the true most northern point. However Cape Reinga fills in as the most northern point since it is a welcoming spot for visitors. The lighthouse and coast are certainly amazing, but the real beauty lies within the beliefs around the cape. The Maori believe the spirits of the dead travel to the cape on their journey to the afterlife. There is an 800 year old tree clinging to the side of a rocky peak whose roots are used as stairs by the spirits to descend into the water and continue on to the underworld. It was a beautiful place and a joy to visit. The park and grounds are all kept very nice and there is plenty of information and history.

Tutukaka Coast

On Wednesday April 17th, we went down to the Tutukaka coast to explore. This is a pristine area on the east coast, about an hour and a half south of us. We first went on the Whangamumu Bay - Ngunguru Estuary Walkway. The only problem was, I don't think we ever actually found the walkway. The description online stated you should go around low tide as it is a coastal walk and some areas are only accessible at low tide. Well we went close to low tide and looked in many areas for the start of the track. We eventually just followed the rocks around the beach and had a really enjoyable hour climbing from one rocky outcrop to the next. We don't know what the right way was, but we liked our way. After our rocky adventure we continued on the road to the Tutukaka Headland Lighthouse Walkway. This spot was so amazingly beautiful. The water was gorgeous, the land was amazing, there was no one around, and it was a challenge to get to. We had to walk down a steep set of 180 steps to cross over a rocky spot connecting the mainland to a little (but very tall) island where the lighthouse and lookout were. It was a steep climb up the island trail, but once we were to the top it was worth it. It was such a nice lookout over the Pacific ocean and the Tutukaka Coast. The lighthouse at the top was small, but served an important purpose. It was all run on solar energy which is great to see. We sat and enjoyed for awhile before heading back down. We weren't in a rush knowing we had to hike back up all those steps and a hill on the other side. We made it back to the car and hit the road. We drove up the coast and stopped at a great surf spot, Woolleys Bay, and watched the action for a few minutes. The waves were big and clean and the surfers were certainly enjoying themselves. Tutukaka Coast was a great day and one of the more peaceful, desolate day trips we've gone on.

Parengarenga Harbour Fishing

On Friday we drove north to meet our friend/guide Marty at his house in Houhora for an overnight land-based fishing trip. We loaded everything up in his van and hit the road with his boat in tow. We went to Parengarenga Harbour, out onto Maori land. We had to stop on the way to pay $20 for a key to open the gate for access to the land. We were out on a flat open peninsula, with a beautiful view of harbour, ocean, sand dunes, and farmlands. Once we were there we unloaded and put the boat into the water. We headed out to catch snapper for dinner. We drove the boat across the harbour and onto a beach, scaring off some wild horses on the land. The beach we were on had remnants from the mining days. Years ago in this area they mined some type of mineral used to make asbestos. It was mined and loaded onto barges, then sent out of the harbor. There was an old barge rusting away on the beach and some old parts of buildings. It was pretty interesting to think that years ago there would have been loads of people working in this area and now it is a deserted beach that the environment is slowly converting back to the way it was. The waves and weather are slowly breaking up the barge, as the wind and sand work together to cover everything. We caught dinner and headed back to camp. We set up a makeshift tent using a tarp. We pulled it off the top of the van like a lean-to and used a fishing net to hold it up off the ground. While it was a bit ghetto, we used what we had! We cooked up our fish for dinner and set up our beds under the tarp. We sat around our fire for a bit and ate, then Marty played harmonica for awhile. It was a very peaceful place to be and a clear sky allowed us to see all the stars above. The next morning we woke up and got ready to head out

fishing. We took the boat across the harbour again, but this time headed out into the ocean. Once we were through the break we stopped at a rocky point to fish. We unloaded our fishing supplies and got to it. Even though Dave was fighting the waves crashing into him over the rocks, he still managed to catch a great 30 pound kingfish. We stayed in that spot about 45 minutes, then headed out since the tide was coming in and the swell was a bit hard to fight. Our next spot was way back into the harbour in a calm spot on a rocky beach. We caught some bait and started our fishing. There we caught a John Dory for our first time ever. Even though it was only a few pounds, it was a great size for the species, and exciting for us. Dave also caught a 40 pound kingfish in this spot, which put up a good fight. We ate lunch and packed up after several hours. We then stopped at a shell bank to spend a few minutes casting along the edge to see if anything was around. Even though there was no bite there, it was a pretty cool spot. It was like a sand bar sticking out of the water at low tide, but rather than sand, the entire 100 yard long, 5 foot wide bank was solid shells. Next we headed over to another beautiful beach and fished the rest of the day. We didn't get any more kingfish but we did catch a couple snapper in that spot. We headed in just before dark and packed up. After a very full day of land based fishing, we were ready to head home. We had such a great time. It's always nice to catch fish, but its even better to see more spectacular places in New Zealand.

Three Kings

Friday April 5th Dave left on "Back In Black", a 60 ft boat that he worked on a bit last year, to head to the Three Kings Islands. This group of islands is about 35 miles northwest of Cape Reinga, the most northern point of New Zealand's mainland accessible by car, where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet. The first night they anchored in North Cape and in the morning they began trolling toward the Three Kings. Three nights were spent at Three Kings, with tons of fishing. They caught 2 striped marlin while up there, along with 1 mahi mahi, and several squid. 

The area is teeming with wildlife. They saw several really cool species of birds including the Mollymawk, a type of albatross with wingspan from 6 to 8 1/2 feet wide. They also saw 4 types of whales, Pilot, Blue, Pygmy Right, and Killer. On Tuesday they began cruising back south and hooked up on a third stripped marlin near Cape Kari Kari . This one was the biggest of the trip weighing in at 346 pounds. After landing this one, they took the boat into Whangaroa Harbour to weigh in. Jill drove up about an hour to meet them for the weigh in. Once the fish was down

from the scales, we all celebrated. We took the boat over to Kingfish Lodge, a bar/restaurant/lodge on a nearby island. We hung out at the lodge and stayed overnight on the boat tied up to their dock. It was a great fishing trip for Dave. Last year there were plans to go to the Three Kings several times, but the weather never allowed it, so this was a much appreciated trip. The owner of the boat, Greg, had a perfect trip and enjoyed having Dave as crew, and Jill as a guest on the last night. On Wednesday the guys brought the boat back to Opua and concluded the trip. Success!

SOME OF THE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT NZ, and some I don't...

THE GOOD

• Full Service Gas Stations - Other people pumping your gas for you, and washing your windows! Why did the US stop having these?
• The Collective Dairy Yoghurt - It's not cheap, but it's the best yoghurt I've ever had, hands down. Especially the mango flavor!
• Trails/Tracks - There are endless places to hike and explore, and they are all well maintained.
• Energy Conservation - Even though every household has a dryer, everyone line dries their laundry. No need to use air conditioners, just roll your car windows down and open the doors/windows in your house.
• Meat Pies - The name says it all!
• Farmers Markets and Road Side Stalls - They are everywhere. I can stop and get unattended avacados on the side of the road and put my money in an "honesty box".
• Lamb - Yummy
• Pavlova - A delicious desert. You will not be disappointed.
• Unlocked iPhones - New Zealand is one of the only countries in the world that does not lock their phones. I can buy one here and use it anywhere.
• The Fishing - World Class

And the not so great

• Road Work - It occurs often here. The roads are only two lanes to begin with, so one way traffic is common. 
• Shopping - It's very limited, especially in the rural north.
• Cost of beer/liquor - A 12 pack will run you about $25. Liquor is about triple the price from the states. Wine; now that's affordable.
• Internet Data - I don't even know what a megabyte or gigabyte will get me, but they charge for each one here! 
• Mountain Roads - They are swirly, twirly, and whirly. Barf!
• Allergies - Lots of gorgeous landscape means lots of pollen.
• Media - It's about 3 months behind. 
• Medicine - It's expensive and the selection sucks! No Tylenol PM here. No Alavert. No huge "Sam's" or "Costco" size bottles. You can get some things over the counter that would be prescription in the states though. 

Black Rocks Dive

 Monday was the last day Libertas was in town, so one of the owners wanted to go out for one last fishing trip on it. The boat is going to Auckland to be sold, since a new boat is being built. Jill was invited to ride along, as Dave was working. We didn't catch any marlin, but we did have a great day on the water. The weather was awesome and the seas were calm. On Tuesday Dave went out fishing with Vinnie and his brother, and the ladies went exploring. The guys got skunked and came back completely starved because they forgot their lunches in the truck. They were out from 7 in the morning until about 6 at night, so they survived on just beer for 11 hours. All day they were planning who they were going to eat, and I think "The American" was chosen to be sacrificed. LOL!          

Meanwhile the girls were enjoying a bottle of wine at a local winery, Marsden Estate, and laughing that the guys were complaining. On Wednesday afternoon Dave, Jill, and Vinnie went out on the boat to dive for crays (Lobster). We went out to black rocks, and threw anchor. Jill stayed onboard with the dog, Gauge, as a lifeguard for safety. The first dive was about 40 minutes and the guys got 3 crays and about 40 green lipped mussels. We then switched spots and they went down for a second dive. This time they were down about 50 minutes and didn't get any crays. They did see a couple, but they were to small. They did however have a fabulous dive. This was the first time Dave has dove the Southern Hemisphere and he really enjoyed it. Everything is volcanic in this area, so the ocean floor has tons of caves, boulders, rock walls, etc. They did a bit of exploring on the second dive and really had a good time. 

Easter 2013

Easter morning we drove south and east out onto a coastal peninsula, Whangarei Heads, for a scenic hike. We hiked from the beach, through a cow pasture, and past an old military outpost. We then continued along to a nice bay in Bream Head Scenic Reserve. On our last leg back to the car, we passed quite a few cows. Dave decided to feed them our apple cores. One cow wasn't interested much and let his drop to the ground. The next cow ate his right up, and after we walked away he got a little frisky and started coming toward us. I guess he wanted more. We continued on our way and ended our hike. Then we drove the 1 1/2 hours home and had a nice dinner with our landlords and their daughter. It was a great social , Easter sunday meal with good people. We even got chocolate cadbury bunnies for easter from them. Yum!

Good Friday 2013

Good Friday in New Zealand starts a very busy holiday weekend here in the Bay of Islands. Lots and lots of people flood into town to spend the long weekend. Many bring boats and spend it on the water, while others just come to spend time on the beach and bar-b-que with family and friends. School's out, works out, and lots of businesses are closed. There's no alcohol to be sold, so planning ahead is essential. We chose to spend the day on the water fishing. 

Before we started our fishing, we made a pit stop on the boat at JB and Max's house on the water. JB, one of the owners of Libertas, and his wife Max have a great secluded vacation spot in the bay, accessible by boat, with a private beach and beautiful land. They had just arrived from Auckland on Thursday, and had some guests visiting as well. We visited there for a bit, then got going on our way to a great fishing spot. We went out to Bird Rock in the Pacific Ocean, about a 45 minute boat ride from Opua. We did several drifts around the rock with a sea anchor out to slow our drift. Dave caught 1 and 1/2 kingfish, as one was attacked by a bronze whaler shark just as he was getting it close to the boat. We saw the whole thing unfold, which was pretty awesome even though we lost half the fish. Jill, Barnaby, and Miranda didn't catch any keeper kingfish, but they did all get some keeper snappers along with Dave. The final keep was 10 snapper and 1 1/2 kingfish. We had an amazing time and even had a beautiful pink sunset on the run home!

KingFish

Dave has finished up the marlin tournament season here in New Zealand. He fished the Zane Grey on a local charter boat, then he fished the Truckers and Loggers tournament on Libertas. They didn't do so well in either attempt, but it was still a great experience on the water with a few small catches of sharks and small snapper. We did get a chance to go out on the water with friends a couple of times. Most recently we went out with Vinny and Mark in the evening and did quite well. Jill landed a 33 pound kingfish, known to Americans as a pacific yellowtail or hamachi (which is the farmed version). It was a fun fight and an accomplishment on a stick bait. We also got 3 snapper, which we promptly ate on our way home at Vinny's local fish-n-chips shop, Vinny's Takeaways. It was nice just stopping in town and having our fish fried up right away. Delicious! It was a successful trip. 

Marlin On!

Monday and Tuesday, March 4th and 5th, Dave was out on Libertas II fishing with two of the three owners of the boat. On Monday they caught and released 1 striped Marlin. On Tuesday they caught, and kept 1 striped Marlin. The two days were absolutly beautiful with perfect weather. They saw several groups of Marlin on both days which made for a real spectacular trip. On Tuesday evening they came into Russell Marina and Jill met them there to weigh in the fish. It was about 210 pounds. After leaving the marina we all went for a boat ride to drop the owners off at their property and have a few cocktails at their spectacular house on Mount Landing. It was a wonderful evening and a great end to the two day fishing trip. Dave couldn't have dreamed for a better first fishing trip back in New Zealand. The marlin was sent to the smoker and schedule to be picked up a couple days later.

Back Country Fly Fishing

Friday we were up early getting ready for another fly fishing day. We left Trout Beck with our guide Jason and headed southwest into the Tongariro National Park. After about 45 minutes in the car, we parked and got onto his 4-wheeler and began the 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) treck into the mountains. It was a tough ride over rocky terrain with 3 of us. In addition to trying not to fall off, we were also busy ducking and leaning trying to keep from getting branches in the face. Once we made our way well clear of civilazation, we unloaded and headed down to the Whanganui River. We bushwacked for about 45 minutes trying to find a way down to a great pool in the river we could see from above, but it was to steep from all angles, so we backtracked a bit to a more accessable area. We did see a huge wild mountain goat though, which was interesting. Once the fishing began, it was only a matter of minutes before Dave had hooked up and landed 4 fish in the first pool. 2 were small rainbows and 2 were larger rainbow between 5 and 6 pounds. They were great fights, 3 of which headed quite a ways down river and gave Jason an extra hard time to net. Jill was busy following along with support, encouragement, and most importantly cameras. We spent the next couple of hours working our way up river where Dave got a couple more great Rainbow trout. Along the way we saw several blue ducks, which are highly endangered in New Zealand, so it was a real treat to see them in the wild. We stopped and had a picnic lunch on the riverbank and then went back at it. A couple more were caught after lunch, then it was time for the final cast on a rainbow we saw feeding on the surface. Dave casted a dry blue blowfly, which landed perfectly and floated right over the huge fish. The trout came right to it and sucked it in. Dave struck and hooked up, then after a moment the fish was gone. The hook just wasn't set good enough in the trouts mouth, so Dave didn't land the huge fish. It was however, a great last cast and hookup on dry fly. We then trecked back to the bike and headed in. We had such a fabulous day on the river in the middle of a beautiful place. It is so amazing to be so far away from everything and enjoying the surroundings.

Fly Fishing Lake Otamangakau

Today we headed out fly fishing on Lake Otamangakau, which is known to be a great trophy lake, early in the morning to spend the day. It's a beautiful spot surrounded with volcanic mountains, one of which just erupted a few months ago, and is still billowing out smoke. We started off great with Jill landing about a 4 pound rainbow. It slowed down to a crawl for about the next 5 hours, with just one very small catch by Dave. After a picnic lunch Jill missed a couple, then landed a nice 6.5 pound rainbow. Dave hooked up a couple of times in the afternoon and lost both. :( Even though it was a much slower day than expected, we still had a fabulous day with great weather.

We've Arrived in NZ

After about 30 hours of travel we have made it to Trout Beck Fishing Lodge near Turangi NZ on Lake Taupo. Our flight from DFW to LAX was very enjoyable. We flew Virgin America for the first time and we both were very impressed with the service and updated plane. Our Air New Zealand flight from LAX to Auckland went well. There was a bit of turbulance for a few hours toward the end of the flight, but we did manage to get some sleep and were happy throughout the flight. Once we landed we got thruogh customs without any issues and caught a cab to pick up our car. Last year we rented a used car from Rent-A-Dent which was easy, so we did the same this time. We got a VW Polo, which is the smallest car we've ever driven. It is hillarious to watch Dave drive, because he looks so huge in the tiny hatchback. It is a four seater, and much bigger than a smart car or Fiat, but it is still much smaller than what we are used to. It was comparable to playing Tetris trying to fit all of our luggage in the car. We took the 7'6" fishing pole out of the case and it just barely fit from rear hatchback window to front windshield. There certainly isn't any room for anything else.  We had about a 4.5 hour drive south from the airport to the B&B we are staying at for a few days. We stayed here last summer to flyfish, and we had a really great time and established a friendship with the owners. Since Dave is going to be busy sportfishing the rest of the time we are here, we decided if we were gong to do any flyfishing, we better squeeze it in at the begininning of our trip. So rather than drive north to the Bay of Islands, we drove south to catch trout. We arrived totally exhausted, but happy to be here. A shower and a good meal is an extra wonderful thing after traveling for that long!

It's not "Good-Bye", It's "See You Later"

The last several days have been full of good-bye's, hugs, love, and words of encouragement. We left Key West on Feb 19th after spending a wonderful weekend with Dave's family. We then stopped to see some of Jill's family in Palm Beach and Melbourne FL. Currently we are at Jill's parents' house, which we leave tomorrow, and then we will be at Dave's dad's house for 1 night. After all the visiting, we will be on our way to New Zealand Sunday!! We are so excited to get there and dive back in. We plan to spend a few days fly fishing, then it's back to work for Dave. Looks like it will be a busy few months for him on Libertas.

The Next Chapter

After coming home from New Zealand in the spring of 2012, we quickly realized what our next step in life would be. A permenant move to New Zealand was a must. Of course after being so far away, we enjoyed family and friends whom we had missed terribly while gone, and the FL weather was more enjoyable than ever before, but something had changed in both of us. We just couldn't get over the wonderful and beautiful place we had left. So the planning began... Lots of questions and concerns went through our minds, but we have been determined to make the move.
Our plan is to arrive in New Zealand in February, spend 3 months, then head to Australia for 6 months. The 3 month period in NZ will allow us some time to explore our options for purchasing a house and to gather information for our relocation. The 6 months in Australia will give us a new place to explore with a holiday working visa before Jill turns 30, at which time she will no longer be eligible. The Australian holiday working visa is similar to the one that we traveled to NZ on, which is designed for the younger generation to travel and supplement their trip with income from part-time work. We have both always wanted to go to Australia, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity before we settle in and we will still be within reach of NZ.