Whitebaiting

Woke early but didn't get up for another hour or so - the temperature felt very low (mental note - don't leave little windows open in van overnight!) Still managed to get away at a decent hour with the goal of returning to Mokihinui to see the whitebaiters do their thing. The trip back was somewhat uneventful and the weather had a very West Coast feel to it - wet, windy and cold which did not make me feel much like getting out and about. I did note though there are plenty of things to do in this neck of the world so am adding a return trip to my 'must do' list.

Made it to Mokihinui in time to catch a host of whitebaiters on the river trawling for the wee slivers of gold. Had a chat with Eric and Robynne who I met yesterday and they introduced me to a few of the follks who, it seems, are 'regulars' and meet up once a year to trawl this river in the hope of catching a good few pounds of this local delicacy.

This chap is one such fisherman. A local, by all accounts, with a tendency to keep pretty much to himself. He reminded me a lot of an old salt from a children's book - heaps of character written into his weathered and craggy face.

The thing with the weather being wild, wet and windy (it's got gradually worse through the day) is that when I made it to Punakaiki I was hopeful of the blowholes actually blowing! They didn't disappoint :) It was absolutely howling a gale and freezing cold but the huge swell blowing in from the west meant that, for the first time, I actually got to see the blowholes doing their thing! Wow! Such huge forces - booming sounds, sea-swells and sea-spray. It really was worth freezing my butt off for!

Had hoped to drop in to see friends for a cuppa this afternoon but a text from them told me that wee A has suspected whooping cough. Poor wee thing :( I'll steer clear and hope to catch them next time I'm down this way.

So that was today. Despite the weather being anything but nice it's been another truly wonderful day.