Last weekend we (The Jennings 4 and the Fladgate's) left work early on Friday, packed up the car and boat, headed over to Haveloc and set off into the Marlborough Sounds, and more specifically a private island we had rented out called Pohuenui.
Haveloc is about 1hr from Nelson and has a really nice port/lunch ramp. There isn't a whole lot else there but its a gateway to the Sounds so gets a lot of holiday makers and locals passing through. Once we had got the boat launched we had the task of navigating our way through the maze like Sounds - and in typical Jennings fashion we had no map, no GPS, no idea really where we were going. Even our ever present saviors, the Fladgates (Campbell, Craig and families) weren't on hand to help as they had headed out earlier in the day. Anyway - how hard could it be? We found our way out of Haveloc OK and actually got 70% of the way there no problem - then the light began to fade, the water started to rough up, Buster got cold and we realised that we were actually in quite a lot of trouble. Just as the cold reality of the situation began to set in a boat came razzing out of the gloom but stopped about 200 meters away. I figured it was a fishing boat so continued to travel to our doom at full throttle in the hope that Jennings luck would prevail. The fishing boat then came after us and, when finally we paid it some real attention it turned out to be C&C coming to find us. I was so relieved its not true. Lisa nearly cried with joy. Anyway - with their GPS showing us the way we were soon mooring at Pohuenui island (in pitch black!) and getting ready for a fun weekend with no more getting lost! (And Mum - before you have a fit and write me the stock 'oh Paul' e-mail don't worry - a GPS is now top of our shopping list).
I wont go into too much detail on the Pohuenui - best just to check out their website (click here)
So - first impressions were 'idyllic'. They had Lamas, Ostriches, sheep, ducks, horses - which the kids loved. A stream ran past our house into the sea, we were surrounded by either crystal clear waters or green untouched mountains and the owner said we could use his Quad motorbikes whenever we wanted to burn around the island - music to my ears.
The first night C&C and I went off on the afore mentioned quads with their dogs running behind us to see if we could catch us a pig. The short version is that we didn't. We did however spend 5 hrs (got back about 2am) razzing around the countryside on the quads, climbing hills and watching loads of shooting stars whilst their dogs chased something round in circles. For C&C this left unfinished piggy business but for now bed was a nice place to be.
We all got up early and headed out on the boats to the edge of the open water (you could see the North Island just across the channel) for some fishing. To be honest it was pretty easy - we caught loads of undersized blue cod (so threw them back), 4 big barracuda (no good for anything but bait but fun to reel in), and some other random fish. Nothing huge but enough for evening tea. After lunch on a little beach Craig and I went out to grab some scallops. On the way there I saw a few fins in the distance coming our way. We thought they were dolphins (boring!) until we got close and saw 4 or 5 big Orcas cruising around. They were literally within touching distance and looking like they quite enjoyed the company. At that moment Campbell cruised up with the rest of the posse on his boat so we all got to hang out with the Orcas for a bit - which the kids loved. Campbell et al followed them back to right outside out house and stood on the jetty watching them chase stingrays around right under their feet before they cruised off on their way. Craig and I dredged for scallops and when we had our quota (100 - which took about 20 minutes) we cruised back to the house to get cleaned up. Dinner was nearly accounted for but with a muscle farm just around the corner Craig and I went and did a bit of poaching and grabbed a few bag fulls for our greedy bellies - I was looking forward to tea. When things finally got dished up we had also inherited some venison done in some kind of sweet Thai marinade that the island care taker had thrown our way. All in a very nice feed.
That night C&C went off again to get their pig. The story goes that they tracked one four legged oinker half way round the island (they are clever critters) before the dogs got onto it down by a beach on the far side of the island. They couldn't get own to it so returned home at 2am empty handed and a little tired.
Next day dawned a bit cloudier than the Saturday but still warm and dry - my red skin wasn't complaining. Campbell and me went out in their super boat early on the presence of seeing if we could find the pig on the beach. We cruised off (fishing rods primed) and, after sailing through a million jellyfish, couldn't find the pig so we went about grabbing a few fish. On the way back the water was like a pond so we gave their new 250bhp outboard some juice - Bluebird style. We got it up to about 60mph (which felt damn fast) before we throttled back. I think I need to work on Lisa to get our engine suped up a bit - you can never have too much power!
Once the kids were up and fed caretaker Paul took us out on some quads to show us round the island - it was pretty wild out of the bay and most of the ride we were scaling 30% slopes in one direction or another. Check out Flickr for a few pics (click here)
Once we had eaten down lunch we loaded up the boats and cruised back to Haveloc - no dramas to report I am glad to say. We got back to the port about 4pm, unloaded the kids and wives, put my boat on its trailer and the family in C&C's people carrier before heading back out to catch us a monster Snapper in the local hot spot - Kineperu sounds. The guy on the boat next to us when we were unloading had a MONSTER Snapper that weighed close to 20lbs so we had very high hopes indeed. Especially when he told me about Spot X where the big fish hung out. Well, as night drew in we had only caught about 4 spiny dog fish - about as desirable as a pike or old welly. We called it a day after 4hrs and no Snapper in sight. Ah well, its good fun trying.
So thats that - a pretty amazing weekend that felt more like a week. It took Buster about 10 minutes before he and the other kids went ferrell - they love the freedom of flying around and seeing nature close up, and it keeps them out of our hair for a bit as well, everyones a winner. I've put some of the pics on Flick if you fancy a gander.
A good mate of mine, Scott, is a mad keen surfer. Every week he is off somewhere searching out one wave or another, so yesterday I thought I would invite myself along. Surfing - how hard could that be? I've even seen dogs doing it on TV so had high hopes of 'hanging 10', getting a tube and generally busting some phat surfing mooves.... As with most of my best plans it didn't quite work out like that!
Garry asked me a while back if Nelson had any surf and the answer is yes. There are a couple of spots right next to town that, I've been told, are well worth a visit if the swell/weather is right. Part of the reason for these spots being here is the 13 km long boulder bank that was formed naturally over a few millennia (click here for a bit more detail - its a pretty cool thing).
Anyway - the weather was right yesterday (off shore wind and a bit stormy) so Scott borrowed me a very nice board, a wetsuit and some booties and we were off. We had to do a bit of walking across a deserted beach, swim across a tidal inlet, walk round a really lovely bay, but when we got there there seemd to me to be some pretty big waves, and plenty of them. There were about 6 guys there already so it was fun to watch them doing their thing and getting all inspired. After 5 mins of that we were in and I was trying, rather spectacularly unsuccessfully, to remeber how to duck dive whilst these big frothing rollers gave me a pummelling. Luckily for me there was a bit of an outward tide at the far end so you could just paddel to that and get sucked out to sea before cutting back across and lining up a good looking wave to get on - COWABUNG DUDE!!
To be honest I can't recall much about the next 3hrs we spent in the water - here though are my blurry observations:
- It was fun but bloody hard work. Even sitting on the thing was like riding a mechanical bull with a belly full of larger. I can confirm I got smashed up a lot.
- I managed to get onto 2 or maybe 3 waves properly - by this I mean that a big wave came, I turned and paddled like hell, then just as I thought it was going to pass me by I got picked up a blasted forward. At no point was standing up an option! I barely managed to get on my knees and waved my arms like I was having some kind of attack. Having said that it was really fun - I got carried for maybe 5-7 seconds and felt maybe 20% of what it must feel like to be a bona-fide surfer.
- Most of the time I spent getting pummeled in the surfy/white water bit. And I mean getting pummeled. I was thrown around, bashed down, winded, dunked, rolled and generally beat upon by nature. I even got sea sick at one point. It was actually pretty good fun but I must have looked like a total tourist. Who cares - it was a good laugh.
The waves actually broke on a sand bank made up of tiny pebbles (not sand) so, even though a bashing was had, there was no coral or sharp stuff to cut you. I do have a bruised nose and tired arms this morning but other than that I am ready for another go.
The other guys that were there must have thought that Scott was taking part in a 'care in the community' challenge as they were all friendly, supportive and willing to shout tips to me when my head was momenterily above water. I had heard that surfing can be a bit agro, especially if your splashing around on the best waves of the day, but I didn't get any of that which was nice.
So thats it - despite by mental anticiptaion, I was not a Kelly Slater waiting to be discoverd. I wasn't as one with the water (though I did do a no.1 in the water which cheered me up for 5 seconds) and I wont be getting a call from Quicksilver any time soon (more like TV's funniest moments!) but I will definately be heading out again and, if nothing else, trying to get myself stood up for a few seconds. I'll let you know how I get on.
For those of you who are into surfing, and fancy coming over here and doing some, then check out this website - its goy some pics and info on the Nelson surfing scene (click here)
Sweet as brah
