Thursday 9 June 2016

GLFC New Zealand Club Trip. April 2016
What a great trip we had. We left Melbourne airport at 11.35pm and arrived Auckland at 5.45am the next day. We struck some difficulty in hiring a car to take 6 people and had to wait another 5 hours for a suitable one to come in. Well worth waiting for though, as we ended up with an almost new Sangyong 8 seater.
We left the airport and travelled north, only to find we had gone the wrong way and were heading for the West coast not the East as planned. Our navigator was asleep!!  We travelled some 680ks instead of 330, but what the heck! We saw a lot of beautiful countryside. One thing we noticed were all the wild chooks and turkeys which apparently no-one bothers to catch for the pot. Finally, we arrived at Wangarda, the most beautiful sight you could imagine. There was only one hotel/motel and one Fishing Club which had heaps of trophy fish and photos on the walls and even the ceiling. The village has only about 50-100 inhabitants, and no SHOPS The marina is fairly new, with 20-30million $’s worth of game charter vessels and recreational boats. Our lodgings were at the Marlin Hotel, a very quaint older building, built about 100 years ago.
Twin share rooms with ensuites were excellent, but did not supply earplugs which were needed by some members. Our hosts were delightful people as were the locals who made us Aussies very welcome.
After 2 days being tourists, we boarded the Christena with skipper Kerry,  a wooden boat but very comfortable even in a rough swell.  
Stacks of King fish again, a couple about 1100cm or 10-15kg. Shaun Myers caught a snapper on the last day, 90cms inside the tail, about 26-28lbs. He had the biggest smile you have ever seen, our club Logo hangs proudly on the wall of the Marlin hotel.
Too much happened to write about really, all up a fantastic adventure and I would recommend it to all.

Don Henry.