The Eagle has Landed

Our last days on the South Island (for now) were spent in the town of Picton, the gateway to the North Island. The first half of the drive from Kaikoura follows the shoreline of the Pacific. It closely followed the beaches and cliffs much like our Highway 101 in the States. The second part of the drive was through vineyards and more mountains. This is the country which supplies the world famous wines of New Zealand. We enjoyed a bottle from the Montana Winery found near Blenheim.

We spent the night in Picton and boarded the ferry for the North Island the next evening following Super Bowl Monday (International Dateline). Of the pubs found in this transportation hub, only one owner was astute enough in his entrepreneurial abilities to plan a Super Bowl party. I visited several pubs before finding his establishment, aptly named The Flying Haggis. When I walked in a day earlier to ask if they’d be showing the game, the local group of gentlemen in biker chaps verbally indicated to me how surprised they were that someone would actually watch that “match”. The nice lady tending bar was unsure if they’d televise it at the Haggis, but luckily for all, there was a hand written advertisement on a piece of notebook paper taped to the bottom of the television behind the bar. It stated “Super Bowl Monday Noon”. The place filled up on Monday with mostly Americans, the game was great, the owner was great, and we had a wonderful time.

The night before, I was able to feed the fishing addiction (surprised?) at a spring creek near Blenheim. This spring creek was around 20’ wide and ran 10’ deep everywhere. I was lucky enough to sight several LARGE brown trout despite fishing at dusk. This is a one-cast show. In other words, a person needs to get it right on the first cast or move on as these trout will not consider a second offering. My first cast to the biggest brown trout I’ve seen was perfect. The size 14 royal wulff floated downstream, followed by the 4x tippet, 10’ leader, and lastly the willow-colored fly line. The big brown’s nose came out of the water. He grabbed the fly. I waited patiently for an extra full second before setting the hook. Textbook-like, he was cleanly hooked. Unfortunately for me, a trout of this size will not tolerate any initial resistance even with the 4x tippet. He took one quick run and broke me off. Game over…

Following a great game between the Raven and Niners, we jumped on the ferry to Wellington. The waters of the Cook Strait were calm and we were treated to a series of rainstorms and rainbows along the way – beautiful.

The next afternoon we arrived in Palmerston North to begin school and work. Our first task for the week is to secure some housing.