A day in Opoutere

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Saturday - February 21 "veni, vidi, vici." Julius Caesar "The last thing, not so much." jss

The next morning around nine Glenda came by and we started my adventure. First thing we climbed a large volcanic hill which had been the site of a Maori fortress. The views were super. Can you see my tongue hanging out? She showed me the way the ferns unroll, a symbol often illustrated, and how to identify the various trees. Next we went into town to a bike shop and I bought a good, albeit very used, mountain bike. Went back to Opoutere for a mile ride on the long beach in front of her house. This is not easy unless at low tide, which we just missed. After an hour or so riding we went back to the bach, dropped off the bike and were getting ready to go see some inland forest when she spotted a young guy about 35 putting a small fishing boat she called a fizz into the water. In her polite yet forward manor she instantly arranged for me to go fishing for a couple of hours. Clinton Davies was very obliging, so with a little preparation (getting a life jacket) I was on board and headed out to sea. The exit from the estuary is narrow and shallow so leaving amounted to slow going until a clear way was apparent and then going full throttle through some pretty rough surf. My teeth still hurt two days later. We first put out a long line, baiting short lines attached to a longer heavy line that is set with a bobber flag and anchors. We then proceeded to troll the coast. Clinton insisted that I fish while he ran the boat. Over a period of an hour or so I caught (landed) four fish and lost two, one of which he though was a King by the way it jumped and spit out the hook. Back to the long line, caught two snapper. As he unhooked the second one I saw a familir looking fin glide through the water close by. "Is that a shark?" "Yep, sure is" and then he splashed one of the snapper in the water to get it to come back. It didn't (thank god) so we proceeded back to shore. Glenda met us at the boat ramp and we were off to see inland forest. At this point we had collected Beau, a basic border collie, she called a farm dog and departed for the owners farm. As we pulled through the first gate she shifted the truck into 4 wheel drive and down to the lowest gear. With this we proceeded to climb up the side of a fairly substantial hill with only an occasional trail clearly marking the way. Once at the top we had the most magical view of Opoutere and probably 50k of the coast line. My photos will not do this justice. Its getting late so down the hill, returned Beau to his owner and proceed back to get cleaned up for dinner. We went into town with a plan to show me a working man’s club (similar to the larger Elks Clubs in the US) These are chartered social clubs that provide a dining room, bar and recreational facilities. The idea is I can seek these out as I travel, have a meal and get to know more Kiwis The food was good and I returned home around nine and quickly asleep.

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Photos

the fern
those who were curious. This is a better view of what I had in my hand. It is the beginning of the fern leaf. all the little knobs will become leaves(?)

fishing
Clinton getting the rod ready for me

Glenda Betts
Glenda on top of the "hill" I wrote about along with Beau and her Jack Russell, "Candy"