Dredging for Oysters with Jack and The Nikita

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With a slightly sore head after a few too many "bulmers" last night I made my way down to the warf (pier) this morning to head out searching for oysters with Jack and his crew for the day.

It was a beautiful morning, with the sun casting lovely colors over halfmoon bay. I popped down to the warf and wandered about for a few minutes before the boat, the Nikita arrived. I noticed a crate of Speights beer sitting wrapped up on the warf, which seemed strange. I didn't think something like that would survive very long on it's own out in the open around here!

The Nikita arrived in shortly and thankfully Jack was on board, so I knew I was in the right place at the right time. I'd mentioned in the bar a few days earlier, before my trip to Masons that I'd like to head out on the water at some stage. Jack said he had to take a boat out for a spin - like a test drive, someone was interested in buying it and I could come along.

All started well. There was 5 of us on board all together. Jack the skipper, two locals (Gordan and Ivan) who were interested in sussing out the vessel and a sheep farmer (Andrew) from north of Invercargill, like me a tourist on the island looking to see what this fishing thing is all about! We got settled into the nice warm little cabin up the front while the fishermen checked out the engines and loaded the ropes and necessary fishing bits we would need.

The sea was pretty rough this morning on our trip out towards the spot where we would be searching for oysters. Pretty soon the effects of last nights feed of beers was evident on the crew. Thankfully I was able to hold on to my breakfast, but the other 3 (excluding Jack) all had to make trips to the edge to empty their stomachs. All i could do to not join them was keep myself busy on deck, look the other way and hope I didn't catch the smell of it! And they call themselves fishermen!!

We motored out to the point where we would start trawling. The dredge was dropped and pulled along the sea bed. It's a pretty crude form of collection but it works. A metal box with a net attached is connected to a long rope which is allowed to trail behind the boat traveling at slow speeds. The rope is then winched in and it's contents emptied out on deck. We trawled 3 times and got about 100 good size oysters, along with 100's of hermit crabs, various types of star fish and sea sponges.

To be honest I wasn't the least bit concerned in the precious cargo of oysters and had far more fun poking through the other stuff that was collected learning about the star fish and strange crabs! I attempted as much live rescue of these little critters as soon as they arrived on board. We had quite a few large albatrosses and locally called mollymogs sniffing about for the discarded dredge contents!

At the end of our session Jack split the oysters into 5 piles and we each went away with 20 fresh good sized oysters each. I've never tried oysters and wasn't even sure how I would access the meat inside!

I arrived back on the island around lunch time with a very distinctive green bag full of the days catch. I dropped by bits back to the hostel and went in search of someone who could open the oysters so I could figure out what to do next. It took a few hours, and by the end of the day almost everyone on the island knew I had oysters and needed them opened. Finally I was advised to go down to the warf, board the "victor hugo", a cod fishing boat and ask them for their help. On board late in the evening I found a group of fishermen (one of whom I had chatted to quite a bit the night before in the bar - Rex) who were more than happy to help me out, offer me recipes, coffee and beer (along with some other substances I won't mention!). Rex got a home made oyster knife with a pistol handle (a Stewart island invention I'm told!) and expertly opened up the shells and collected the contents for me. They were bloody good oysters I was told, in perfect condition and worth about 2.50 NZ dollars each - my catch was worth about 50 dollars! Nice!

With the shells discarded and the meat in a bowl I had to figure out how to cook them! I did try one raw, but to be honest it did nothing for me and tasted like snot! The plan was to sneak around the back to the restaurant and ask the chef if he would batter and deep fry them for me. I managed to get half way there, leaving with a cup full of batter to try the job myself back at the hostel. They may not have looked the prettiest when i was finished cooking them but they sure did taste amazing! The other backpackers who were staying at the Bunkers had earlier in the day tried to help me get into the oysters, so we shared the catch when it was cooked. Of course, I had to pop down to the bar to thank Jack, Rex and the chef for their part in making my dinner a yummy fresh fishy one!

As it was my last night on the island I stayed for a pint and a coffee and soaked up the last of the laid back Stewart island atmosphere while watching some provincial rugby on the tv before saying my good byes. I never expected to stay almost two full weeks here. The place caught me by surprise and I've loved every minute of the laid back relaxed pace among the 350 locals that have this wonderful place to themselves. Island fever has finally kicked in and my liver is asking me politely to leave and allow it some time to recover! Tomorrow I'm aiming for Te Anau, but i'm not sure if I can make it all in one day...only time will tell 😊

Maybe some day I'll return to Stewart Island and work for DOC in the national park...who knows!

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Comments

[Susan Whitley]

Oysters Yum
Hi there, I am an Islander living in Melbourne, I so loved your tale and your mention of Jack and the Nikita. You were lucky to get so many oysters, Jack must have found a good patch. I am glad you enjoyed your stay in our paradise. We don't advertise it too much as we like the peace. The locals, many my rellies, are a friendly bunch and am pleased they made you welcome. I had a chuckle about your liver and felt for you. Cheers Susan Whitley