Fishing the South Island of New Zealand

Six days, five rivers, zero fish.

You might think the previous sentence would be cause for mild distress, if, say, you were planning on spending the month of January 2014 fly fishing your way throughout the South Island of New Zealand. But stress is not ‘the Kiwi way,’ and at risk of sounding like a cliché, the truth is my lack of production on the rivers hasn’t bothered me one bit. If you look at the pictures I’ve posted below, perhaps you’ll understand why. It is hard to be irritated when surrounded by lush forests and crystal blue rivers literally every where one goes.

And truth is I should have caught at least two, arguably three, huge trout two days ago on a river that shall remain nameless, while being guided by the eagle-eyed Anton Richardson (who I highly recommend). We spent an entire day “sight fishing” for brown trout, which if you’re unfamiliar with the term essentially means you stalk the fish you plan to catch and get basically one shot to land them. Twice, I managed to get fish to take my fly and once I even managed to “hook up” for a brief, glorious moment before the wily trout raced downstream and under a downed power line, leaving me with the equivalent of fishing blue balls.

There’s more to the South Island than fishing, of course. Below, you’ll see a few pictures of the Interislander ferry that runs between the two islands here, between Wellington and Picton. The ride, while not cheap, is well worth taking if you plan to travel between North and South Island; the passengers are comprised of a motley crew of foreign tourists (ahem), Kiwi families, and derelict youth who inexplicably choose to sleep next to the elevators. It’s only a three hour ride and yet you have your choice between hot scones or watching a free magic show. (I later learned that artists ride free if they agree to perform on the ship, creating a whole gypsy cruise atmosphere to the experience.)

You’ll also see some pictures below from a trip I took with my lovely host family into Harwood’s Hole in Abel Tasman National Park. Apparently they filmed some of the dwarf-orc battles here in the movies that you may have heard were filmed in New Zealand. So that’s fun, but what was truly fantastic was hiking up to an incredible vista overlooking Motueka that’s perched on sharp limestone rocks.

Two other items of note. First, near the bottom are a few pictures of Te Puna o Riuwaka, also referred to as “the Resurgence” of the Riwaka river. This is the source of the river and according to the Department of Conservation sign, a very sacred place to the Maori. I watched water seep from a tropical rock wall into a big deep pool and then cascade into a rushing waterfall. Hard not feel at least a little mystical in that moment.

Second, check out that goat. He was chilling at a roadside pub on the road from Picton to Nelson. We should all strive to be as relaxed as that goat.