Sunday was going out on my sister's boat. We went out towards the Hen and Chicken islands. The weather was great, with calm seas and a nice temperature. I caught a decent sized Kawahai which we later smoked and had with dinner.
I also, on the same line at the same time caught a White faced Stormy Petrel which became entangled on the line. When the Kawahai are 'running' and breaking water, thousands of these Petrels and other birds flock around to feed on the shrimp and other marine creatures that the Kawahai chase. It is an amazing sight. I carefully pulled the line in, and we reversed the boat as well until we could grab the bird and free it. It flew away none the worse for wear.
I then pulled the fish in. We had been joking as to whether someone could beat that by catching three different species on the same line - fish, bird and animal when a hump back whale surfaced not far from the boat. We cautiously followed it, keeping the legal distance and saw it surface several times before we left it. Fantastic. This was the closest I had been to a whale and I was most impressed.
Monday morning was kayaking. The bay was absolutely calm and it was sunny. We had a good paddle around before coming ashore and adding rocks to the breakwater we are building to capture a bit more sand for our 'beach'. Afternoon was sitting on the deck doing crosswords and reading. When it gets a bit cooler I will finish off some of the gardening that I was doing on Saturday (no chain-saw to be involved).
8 comments:
What a marvelous experience, seeing the whale so close. I envy you greatly.
What do you mean cooler?
It was 17 down here in Upper Hutt, what was the temp. up where you ae?
Where we 'ae' it was about 23 degrees this afternoon. I know that it 'wassnae steamin' but it certainly seemed hot.
Be careful of all that heat and blue sky and sea.
It'll turn you into a grumpy old man before your time.
His time is now.
Well, a few weeks ago really.
1970s?
What lure did you use to catch the kawai?
"What lure did you use to catch the kawai?"
A hook with some frozen mackerel on it.
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