Horrible Weather in Torrent Bay

 The Secret Seven travelled once again to Torrent Bay to stay at Dick's house. We were a bit short of divers (none) and boats (only one) and so we rented a runabout from Motueka. After a prolonged spell of fine weather we picked a bout of rain and wind to make our stay miserable. (December 2023) 

Easton's House at Torrent Bay

Our  first foray into the elements saw us lay a setline and then spend a long time finding it again and then taking all the baits from the hooks. For breakfast on the Saturday Dick braves the rain and collected a bucket full of mussels. Aah some seafood!

Falls River

Fishing and weather for the following days was miserable and so we had none to take home. Our better halves were not impressed. 

A highlight of the trip was taking some foreign trampers with packs that weighed a hundredweight or so from Torrent Bay across to The Anchorage in our boat so the did not have to wait several hours for the tide to go out and they could cross the lagoon. 

Food!

The next bit of entertainment was when one of the FW crew jumped from the boat at Kaiteriteri to find that the water was a little deeper than he anticipated. Fortunately he had left his cellphone on the boat. 

Off & Under

After a spell of good companionship and eating we dropped the hire boat off in Motueka and returned without fish to Nelson. Hopefully the weather and the fishing will be better on the next trip - French Pass next time. 

Here we go again!

 A Couple of new young wokkers joined the crew for our April 2023 French Pass/D'Urville Island trip. They brought with them a boat (The Phantom) - not the Ghost who Walks but a fine fishing / diving vessel. Chris was a fine diver (as was Johnny) who loved to catch crays but Chris was allergic to crustaceans and couldn't eat them. Fortunately the rest of the crew did not suffer from this disorder. 

Phantom

In the Fridge

On arrival we got a feed of fish from Current Basin  (after a 10am start from Nelson and a stop at The Brick Oven at Rai Valley in the rain.) Fortunately the rain stopped before we arrived at Webber's house in French Pass. 

On Sunday we went to the East Coast of D'Urville Island. The fishing was pretty poor but the divers collected lots of crayfish plus speared Moki and Greenbone.

Did someone say Crayfish?

On Monday we travelled to Bottle Point on the West Coast; The lads had fancy fishing gear and showed us how to catch kingfish on lures with no bait follower by large snapper. A decent sized mortgage would be required to obtain the fancy fishing gear needed to catch these brutes. The lads were very accommodating to the older blokes, and handed over their (expensive) rods to the older folk when they had hooked a fish so that the older brigade would have something to skite about - like Nick's 30Kg kingfish. 

Nick's Kingfish

On Tuesday we headed East across Admiralty Bay - past the Oil Rig and it's support vessels for a quick fish in bright, calm conditions to see if we could catch more snapper on lures. Johnny caught one, but released it again as it was deemed too large to keep. 

Home for a bite of lunch and to clean up, then back to Nelson again.

Oil Rig

The Secret Seven have a new adventure!

November 2022 A group of 7 Wokkers departed Nelson on 14 November 2022 for Torrent Bay.

Torrent Bay was chosen as the road to French Pass was compromised with major works being carried out on the road from Nelson to French Pass. Wokkers would have had to trailer boats via St Arnaud. So we were able to use the Easton Family accommodation at Torrent Bay. In order to get the tide at Kaiteriteri we left Nelson at 0900 hrs. Upon arrival one boat had a flat battery. The other was being parked on private land but the trailer had been removed. This caused much confusion as the trailer keys were in the boat which had been launched. However eventually we got under way 2 boats + 7 wokkers and all the gear (wok etc). Upon arrival Richard got his Quad bike and transported all to the house.

One wokkers had a first of the season swim (in front of tourists) trying to unload the boat. The usual happened when the boat and the jetty parted company. A great afternoon fishing just off shore with abundant snapper and cod. Next day turned out the same fine and clear. A lunch stop at the Falls River Inlet at high tide.

Lunch at Falls River

Next day was an early start 0530am to get the tide. (Boats were anchored around in the lagoon) Most were able to get up early and we expected great things with the early start.

Torrent Bay Jetty

One Wokker did catch a big John Dory

John Dory!

Fishing again was excellent with plenty of snapper. Some wokkers were able to see the recovered Kaka (a NZ large native bird) in the trees after we returned for brunch. The day saw another good haul of fish.

The catch.

George was able to dive on the Bark Bay reef over several days. And as requested was able to get enough Crays for us all to take one home. Plus, entrée before dinner. Our Chef and his assistant did a great job.

Cookie

Many thanks to the Easton family who made this very successful trip possible.

 

A Bloody Fine Stay.

Our November 2021 visit to French Pass & d'Urville Island was from Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st November 2021 It was memorable for a variety of reasons. The Blood Red Super Moon was seen - the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years! The sky was clear and we had a good view of it.

Blood Red Moon

A couple of Rugby matches featured and we had the luxury of Sky Sports to watch the NPC final (Waikato beat Tasman) and the Test Match - (France beat the All Blacks). Not a happy time for the local viewers.

Watching defeats on TV

Knitting?

The fishing featured Cod & Mussels from Current Basin on Thursday, a poor catch of assorted fish on Friday at the Rangitoto Islands, a rough trip and few fish from Greville Harbour on Saturday and our quota of cod from Current Basin in the rain on Sunday.

Linchtime at the Rangitotos

The Masked Stranger

Sashimi anyone?

Lunch Stop

Steve's new bait board,

Retrieving boats at French Pass

On the home front, we ate and drank well; Glen and Richard made Spring Rolls, but the proposed wine tasting competition was put off till another day.

Pie are round!

Maori Bread!

A small portion please!

Spring Roll Chefs.

A note:

The GPS function of a lost hearing aid is not very accurate in a region of poor cellular reception. The aid is still lost and the insurance company is poorer. (Have you ever heard of a poor insurance company?)

Dry July?

 Dry July? 

I think not. 

The Saturday of the Flying Wok trip was a terrific storm with heavy rain and strong Northerly winds. Nevertheless the trip went ahead although two of the wokkers elected to stay home and Tom left "Doris" in the Nelson marina and travelled to Webber's house in French Pass by car. 

While driving to French Pass we saw a lake before Rai Valley which had been pastures, It extended across the road through Ronga Valley. Several small slips over the road were cleared and the yard outside Webbers holiday house was a pond because of the blocked stream. 

The Saturday night dinner menu specified fish cakes but as the weather prevented launching George's "Bossanova" and the menu could not be changed, tinned tuna was obtained from the local store to make the fish cakes. 

The house TV had Sky Sports and so the All Black vs Fiji rugby featured as did the Tour de France race for the cyclists. 

A pond? No, it's the car park.

Sunday was a little better (weather wise) and so we made a couple of trips in 'Bossanova" to catch fish and mussels (as specified in the weekend menu) in Current Basin. Tom and Dick left early in the morning to return to Nelson to pick up "Doris"

"Doris" arrives.

Pelorus Jack was here!

A new game was introduced on Sunday night - Beer Tasting. I wonder if Stoke Brewery will sponser beer for the next Flying Wok trip!

Beer Tasting results & comments

Monday saw us travel North to the Rangitoto Islands where we caught fish - gurnard, snapper, tarakihi and blue cod. It was good weather with little wind, flat sea and only a little rain. As usual, we ate well. George caught a crayfish over 9 pounds. 

Crayfish for nine. 

George found his lost weight belt - it had fallen from his boat. The Webber graveyard has an appropriate sighn on the gate.

March 2021 - Here we go again!

 Nine wokkers went again to French Pass & stayed at Webber's old house. Two boats - Doris & Bossanova. Three vehicles. Motored to Rai Valley's Brick Oven shop for luncheon then on to French Pass on the Saturday. A quick fish for teatime food. All complained of tiredness so no cards that night. 

This adventure (March 2021) saw old & new things. The usual old things - fishing, food, drinks, card games & staying at Webber's house in French Pass. Old but new saw new/old foods. Along with mussels, snapper. smoked moki and fish pate we had freshly made quince jelly and bread & butter pudding. Not the bread & butter pudding that I remembered from boarding school but a gastronomic delicacy. More please, chef!

Other new items were the electric motor powered burley mincer. However after a bucket full of frames mincing, it broke down on a cod head and has gone to mincer hospital for repairs and a future trip. 

The mincer in action.

Our chef had entered the national (age category) cycle championships and brought his cycle and a fan to create a breeze while cycling on the spot. He claimed that he was "on the wagon" but somehow he broke this promise. 

Cycling to nowhere. Note the drink bottle on the chair.

On the way from French Pass to Greville Harbour we encountered a large pod of dolphins and so stopped off to see these creatures 

Dolphins

Both boats had setlines. aboard. On Sunday Doris laid the setline in Greville Harbour and were surprised to catch half a dozen gurnard. On the Monday Bossanova and Doris laid lines around the Rangitoto Islands. Bossanova were blessed with several snapper while Doris caught sharks - both Spiny Dogfish and Carpet sharks. So the laid the line again. More sharks!

 

Gurnard

We went fishing around here and were rewarded with a lot of Tarakihi - between the two boats we caught over forty Tarakihi by winding up above the bottom. If the line was left on the bottom, it was taken by a blue cod within seconds. 

2020 - Covid-19 trips

2020 Adventues

2020 was marked by Covid-19 pandemic. This resulted in the cancellation of the proposed March trip, but Flying Wok could not be put down for long, and the crew got togeter again in July and November for further trips. 

The July trip was marked by the absence of Brian (who was at a cycling event overseas) (though the North Island is as far overseas as we could get these days). Cooking duties were taken oner by our Sous Chef  and diver George. 

November saw the boys at it again. Memorable events were the weather - pouring rain, glassy calm and sunny, strong winds then cold and overcast for our final day. The changes to the shower / toilet facilities in the Webber's house were much appreciated but the chest freezer sufferred a mishap during renovations and had been retired. One of the wekas had sneaked inside and part eaten a loaf of bread. Also pecked was the bag of burley pellets. 

Blue Cod

Lunch at the Rangitoto Islands,

Cards.

Filleting fish

Doris

Dolphin

Pinot

Chef & diver George with tasty nibbles.

Bossanova

Weka strike!