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.