Fishing for Gurnard

While we were in Greymouth recently we stopped at the local marina where we saw quite a few fishermen/and women surfcasting off the rocks. We chatted with a couple who were there from Tauranga - the wife was saying she'd love to move to here whereas the husband said he wouldn't but they did say that the most fish they catch seems to be Gurnard.

We did happen to see a pod of dolphins swimming past at the same time so that was a huge highlight for us. Since then I've also had my booster shot and I'm expecting B and my 3 adult children to get theirs too.

And speaking of the West Coast I have some news. We have decided to move to Greymouth by Winter of this year. B's job has been gradually slowing down up here and he has been offered steady regular work down there, my adult children and I can transfer our jobs from here to there. Our goal is to buy a house as properties are alot less expensive there so we are really excited so that is going to be our forever place where we don't have to move again.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Travel Tuesday, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Haere Mai

This dolphin sculpture in Paihia is near the waterfront and gives a "Haere Mai" meaning "welcome" in Maori to visitors arriving on cruise ships or on the ferry, of course with our borders being closed we haven't had any cruise ships in from overseas in nearly a year.

Anyway the plaque on the front offers a prayer for the sculpture and describes how we must take care of the dolphins for they are the mammals that originally led Maori to the Bay of Islands and Paihia.  This region was one of the first settled areas in New Zealand.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.  

Cable Bay sealife sculptures

Cable Bay also known as Taipa in Northland, NZ is just absolutely stunning. We stopped off here on our road trip to check out this beach and couldn't help but stop and admire these sculptures for sale on the grass verge.

These fish, whales, dolphins and other sea creatures are made from various types of wood and include pieces of paua shell for eyes and other decorations.

The young man who was selling them owns his own gypsy type truck and looked like a bit of a hobo but honestly those are the best type of people to meet in life.

Let me tell you I was very very tempted to buy some. They were ranging from $50nzd to $500nzd and they would've looked great on a wall in our apartment but sadly all of our money was destined to be spent on petrol and living expenses while we were up there.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday for this one :-)

Our day of Dolphin exploring

A few weeks ago my sister bought me a ticket for our local Bay Explorers who take people out on their boat to search for wildlife. At the time it was too windy so we postponed it to yesterday. The other half bought a ticket for himself so we got to the wharf bright and early (guess who left their coffee in the car).

The sun rising as we sat waiting for the rest of the people to arrive. Looked like it was going to turn out ok.

Scenery as we headed out through Tauranga's port - these are the cranes alongside the wharf, the area is lined with containers everywhere.

The area runs for several kilometers - these containers can be hired as far as I know.

Out on the open water, the sea was fairly calm and in places the depth of water got to between 40m and 90m deep, we sailed over several reefs as well.

After 3 hours on the water we arrived at Mayor Island which is owned by local Maori Iwi. Apparently you need a permit to set foot on the sand so we anchored offshore and heard all about how it is a pest free island with no dogs, cats, goats, rats, mice or stoats and is used as a breeding ground for endangered birds such as our native Kiwi.

On the way back we saw fur seals playing in the water and the skipper heard there were dolphins nearby, I think these were our common variety of mammals. They followed our boat and these ones I captured on my camera were part of a 200 large pod - such beautiful creatures, it saddens me when they get caught in fishing trawler nets or killed purposely.

And along our main Mount Maunganui beach these Orcas were seen hunting stingray on the coastline. These were 3, a dad, mum and a bay - the dad apparently had a bit missing from his fin but they were happy to hang around for a good 15-20 minutes.

All in all a fantastic day, the other half and I came home tired and sunburned but happy.