Fly Fishing Trip

Ian Ruthven (our guide for the day) picked us up at our hotel just before 7:00am Sunday morning, with all the supplies and raft in tow. We drove west from Taupo about one hour to the Mohaka River where we launched the raft and began our day of trout fishing. Basically the purpose of the raft is to get us downstream to good fishing spots that are not accessible by foot. We would load up in the raft and travel a bit, then beach it and fish for a while from the river banks. Once we were done with one spot, we would jump back in the raft and continue on. Overall we covered about 8 kilometers of river. Dave caught and released a 3.5

pound brown trout after many aimed casts right over the fish. Once he finally took the fly, it was a great fight to the end. Jill caught and released a small 2 pound brown trout and hooked a nice size rainbow trout, but failed to land the rainbow. We had such an awesome day on the river; breakfast, lunch, rafting, fishing, sunshine, and a great guide. It was a beautiful sunny day that brought both of our first brown trouts. We can't wait until our next opportunity to fly fish.

Travel

Thursday morning we made our way to Taupo to meet up with our fly fishing guide. We had our first lesson and acquired quite a bit of info and skills. The weather wasn't the best, but we enjoyed ourselves anyways. Even though we were wearing waders, our feet and toes were frozen by the end of the day. After our lesson, we kept heading west to Hawke's Bay. We stayed two nights on the west coast in a great little hotel. On Friday we went into Napier to go to TrainWorld. We had a great time checking out the model trains and letting our inner child out.

Then we drove out to Cape Kidnappers to golf. What a beautiful course... it was right on the tip of the Cape jetting out into the Pacific Ocean. It was an extremely hard course but well worth the amount of balls Dave lost. There were drop-offs and cliffs all over the place. On Saturday we headed back to Lake Taupo. We stopped along the way at Linden Winery for a tasting and Esk Valley Olives to sample olives and extra virgin olive oil. Then we stopped at the Mohaka River so Dave could try a little fly fishing. Because of technical difficulties he was unable to catch anything, but we did have a nice picnic lunch on the river bank. Then we continued on the road to get to our hotel.

Hamilton Zoo

Wednesday Oct 26th we drove south about 4 hours, past Auckland, just outside Hamilton. We are on our way to Hastings and Taupo to do some fly fishing. We weren't sure how long it would take up to get down that far in the North Island so we planned for a pit stop. Once we made it, we checked into our hotel which is on a mountain top, and then went to Hamilton Zoo. The zoo was relatively small, but very nice. There weren't many people at all so it was very quiet. We enjoyed walking around and being very close to the animals with not much barrier at all. Then it was back to the hotel to get some rest before we get back on the road in the morning.

Catching Snapper

Friday we went rock fishing (fishing from the land, that is made of rocks), but didn't catch anything. We had a nice peaceful time though. Saturday we went to the "IT" festival here in town. It was a wine and food festival with several live bands playing throughout the day. We had some great food and enjoyed the sunshine.

On Sunday, Jason took us out on his boat to catch snapper. Jill skunked the boys big time with not only the most fish, but also the biggest fish. Jill caught a barracuda and 2 snappers. Jason and Dave each caught one snapper. It was a nice calm day out on the water. We had a great time, but it was a little cloudy. We are ready for some hot summer days on the boat. Sunday night we joined our landlords and some of their friends to cookout and watch the Rugby World Cup final. New Zealand vs. France. The New Zealand All Blacks won!

One Month In New Zealand!!!!

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Whangarei Falls

Wednesday Oct 19th we drove south to Whangarei, which is about one hour. We hiked to Whangarei falls from A.H. Reed Park. The walk was along the river thru a couple cow pastures, over a suspension bridge, and through the forest. It was a gorgeous spot with a nice wooden bridge right over the river in front of the falls. We had lunch there and then hiked back. After the park, we went into the town and found a bowling alley. We bowled a few games and then did some shopping in a nearby shopping area. We went to a huge sporting goods store, a huge camping/outdoor store, and a huge housewares store. It was nice to have a "normal" shopping experience. Lots of aisles, loads of selection, sales, and products we recognized! Where we live there are only small stores; you don't realize the strange comforts of home that you miss. Now, if we could just find a Publix... (Just Kidding). It was a great day. Thursday we are off to the golf course!

Laying Low

The last several days we have kinda been laying low. We have golfed a couple times on two different courses. One day at the KeriKeri Golf Club and another at the Waitangi Golf Club. On Saturday our friend Jason came over and we hung out and played dice and card games all day out on the deck in the sun. It was a nice relaxing day. On Sunday we tried to go to the orchid and bromeliad show in KeriKeri, however we found out once driving over there it was only Friday and Saturday. But then we thought... well it's Sunday, while we are in KeriKeri we should go to the farmers market (which we know is held on Sundays), however it was 1:00 and the farmers market apparently is held from 8:00-12:00. A Day Late and a Dollar Short! (As Dave would say). We still managed to have a good time though, we stopped in Paihia and walked around for a bit, then headed home.