Kaikoura
| Kaikoura
is located about 2.5 hours north of Christchurch on the eastern coast of
the South Island (as indicated by the purple star). Kaikoura is a Maori
word, translated as "to eat crayfish." It is a popular fishing
ground as well as a tourist haven for whale and dolphin watchers. Instead
of doing the tourist thing, I spent four days in early December with a friend
Zeke, his fiancee Bridget, and a friend, Jo, at Zeke's family's holiday
house. The time was mainly spent fishing, pulling up craypots full
of crayfish,
enjoying the sun, playing backyard cricket, waterskiing,
eating fresh fish and
playing cards.
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| During
this weekend, I learned to bait hooks, catch fish, gut and scale them and
then fry them up in the pan. (Yum!) We caught a bzillion red perch
(naturally, the fish we had no interest in), as well as some blue cod,
mokie and butterfish. My first catch, however, was a barracuda. Not
exactly what I was going for.
Besides fishing, I learned backyard cricket, or tried at least. It's weird to watch baseball (or softball in my case) all your life and then try to hit a ball that comes at you after it has already bounced off the ground. Cricket is an unusual game, but it is starting to grow on me. In fact, the NZ women's cricket team, the White Ferns, just won the world cup over Australia in a very exciting final. |
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| Finally, I also enjoyed just sitting back and admiring the scenery of Kaikoura. The view is beautiful but undescribable, so I will let my pictures do the talking. Pictures of the mountains and the sea, fishing boats, and magnificent sunsets are included. |